Acid Bath - New sensations of death

Acid Bath represent one of the most fascinating, atypical and revered names on the sludge and doom metal scene of the '90s. Hailing from the swamps of Louisiana, they forged a unique sound: a lethal blend of death-metal aggression, hardcore leanings and decadent blues. After the tragic, premature death of bassist Audie Pitre in 1997, the band split up, consigning their two albums to legend and gathering, decade after decade, an ever more wide-ranging following. Now, almost thirty years on, Acid Bath are making a stunning return to the stage for a world tour in 2026, which will also include Italy for an unmissable date in Milan. In this interview, Dax Riggs and Sammy Duet reflect on their unexpected global success, on the band's dark legacy, and on the demon that drove them to come back.

In my retrospective for OndaRock, I described Acid Bath as a rare anomaly: a band that sat slightly outside the mainstream of its era, yet still kept an extremely loyal following for three decades (myself included). Today your streaming numbers are remarkable and you're gearing up for a major tour in 2026. How are you processing all this? Does it feel like the world has finally tuned into your frequency, or do you still feel like those Louisiana "outcasts"?

DAX: Yeah, we were like the outsiders' outsiders. We lived shut away in our own mental trips. And now it's like our heads have exploded.

SAMMY: I mean, there are always misfits around, you know? There's always one more person out there you'd like to reach, but when I look at the scale this thing has taken on, I feel good about it.

For me, your sound has always been an unstable mix, able to swing from acoustic blues laments to death-metal roars within seconds. Your '90s bio described you as “wild boys too full of blood for their own good”. How has your relationship with that emotional and physical intensity changed now that you're no longer kids? Is it harder to channel that specific rage today?

DAX: Sure, these days we're riddled with aches and pains in exactly the body parts we used to play with. But the rage is real. The mental short-circuit is always right around the corner.

SAMMY: No, it's not hard at all, because I was born pissed off and I'll die pissed off, hahaha! From that point of view we've always been proper misfits anyway. So I don't think that feeling ever goes away... even as you get older and change, that stuff stays stuck to you. It never fully leaves you.

For almost thirty years, the end of Acid Bath was defined by the tragedy of losing Audie Pitre. What clicked in 2025 that made you feel it was finally the right time to pick this legacy back up? Do you feel like you carry a piece of his spirit onstage with you every night?

DAX: Our brother Audie Pitre is with us, always and forever. We carry him with us and he watches over us, he's "our little black angel."

SAMMY: Absolutely, I feel like Audie is with us at every show, no doubt about it. But if you're asking what actually kicked off this whole reunion… you know, I ran into a guy in Mississippi. I was at this T-junction. I think they call it the crossroads (“the crossroads”). I signed a contract with this gentleman dressed in black, said his name was Lou. And I think his last name was Cifer. I signed in blood, so yeah: basically we got back together because I made a pact with Satan and sold him my soul.

Your lyrics are surreal, macabre and often brutal. Looking at the crowd today, you see a generation of fans that includes people who weren't even born when those records came out. What does it feel like to see twenty- and thirty-somethings screaming those lyrics back at you? Do you think your dark style resonates differently today than it did in the '90s?

DAX: I feel like today we're literally living inside my nightmares.

SAMMY: I don't think much has changed. Back then, whoever got it had already picked up on that “dark” aesthetic and was drawn to it. Today, with the world we find ourselves in, let's just say we're not exactly living in the happiest society ever. So I guess our stuff hits more people nowadays. How to put it… a wise man once told me: “dark times breed great music”.

The Louisiana swamps and that sense of isolation seem like an “invisible member” of the band, essential to your sound. Now that you're taking this music around the world in 2026, do you find that “Cajun Hell” (also made famous by Exodus) is a specific geographical place you've left behind, or a mindset you carry with you wherever you go?

DAX: When we started out, down in the bayou we were right in the middle of the “Satanic Panic”, that's what “Cajun Hell” is. But it's precisely in the dark, majestic beauty of those merciless swamps that our God lives.

SAMMY: I think we've got that stuff rooted deep in our souls, and anyone who makes music and truly comes from Louisiana will tell you the same thing. It's not something that fades with time. You can go anywhere, any corner of the planet, but a piece of that darkness will always be part of you.

Your bio states that your influence on the modern metal scene is undeniable, and we can definitely hear traces of your DNA in tons of today's sludge and doom bands. Do you keep up with contemporary heavy music? Does it ever happen that you hear a new band and think: “Hey, they sound like what we were doing 30 years ago”?

DAX: Absolutely. All the time.

SAMMY: There are new bands I listen to and that get me going. But when it comes to hearing a band and saying “hey, they sound like Acid Bath”… well, my idea of what Acid Bath is, musically and lyrically, is pretty different from everyone else's. Sometimes a friend comes up to me and says: “Check these guys out, they sound just like Acid Bath!”, I listen to them and think: “That's got nothing to do with us”. I think we have our own idea of what our sound actually is, unless it's blatant plagiarism. People come tell me to listen to song X by band Y because they're just like us… I listen, and I just don't hear it. I mean, it's cool that they're influenced by us and that they say so, I really appreciate that. But personally I don't see the influence, unless they're openly ripping us off.

On July 6th you'll be playing a huge show in Milan, at the Ippodromo Snai La Maura, alongside giants like System of a Down and Queens of the Stone Age. It's an eclectic lineup that perfectly mirrors your own style, straddling different musical worlds. What can Italian fans expect from this show? And above all… is this tour a way of coming full circle, or the start of a brand new chapter? Can we hope for a new album?

DAX: We'll give you our souls (since we don't need them for anything anymore anyway), ha ha.

SAMMY: It's going to be an interesting show, for sure. You know, I've always had a great time in Italy, every time I've played there in the past with other bands. I'm sure it'll go off without a hitch. But as for new music or opening up a new chapter… who knows? We'll see. That's one question I really can't answer!

(12/05/2026)

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