Acid Drinkers-Fishdick

Metal Mind
1994/2009



By 1994 Poland's craziest thrash band Acid Drinkers had knocked out four studio albums. They were no stranger to cover songs having already slipped their versions of tracks by the likes of Metallica and Deep Purple on their releases. Fifteen years ago doing an album of all covers (or just about all covers in this case) wasn't quite as common of a ritual as it would soon become. Although I liked their previous covers, I would not be too hot on this idea. The reason being that their covers were frequently bizarre and very much different from the originals. While they worked amidst the originals would they get old on an album of just odd covers? Unfortunately the answer is yes. The band slices and dices up covers of songs from Motorhead, Pink Floyd, AC/DC and of course KISS with varying degrees of success. Their cover of Sabbath's "N.I.B." with it's basic rap bits and animal like noises works well. Their cover of "Another brick in the wall" manages to be fairly engaging with calculated pacing. However others like "Ace of spades" and "Highway Star" just had me thinking how much better those covers by Sodom and Metal Church were. I guess that means there was a certain novelty to their covers when they appeared amidst primarily studio material. Here it's like they have an EP full of likable covers and the other half sound rather bland. This re-issue contains a different version of "N.I.B" as a bonus track.

Acid Drinkers-Vile Vicious Vision

Metal Mind
1994/2009

From their debut in 1990 Poland's Acid Drinkers instantly established themselves as being more than just a thrash band. At the heart of the music was thrash, but they mixed all kind of odd styles, sounds and whatever they could throw into the mix. At times they sounded like a cross between the Dead Kennedys and Anthrax. By "Vile Vicious Vision" something was definitely changing in this band. The first aspect was that they were definitely slowing down and the thrash parts were becoming few and far between. Okay, maybe that just a product of the times as a number of thrash bands were opting to slow down. Besides being fast these guys had a quirky approach and frequently pulled in numerous different unexpected part and passages. At first I wasn't sure if I had gotten used to their style or if they had just cut down on the surprising parts. Upon a second play I think it's the second reason. At least for about the first perhaps 3/4 of the album the band seems far more subdued and even predictable (at least for them). Granted being less predictable for this band is well above average for most other bands. There are still a number of moments where they just take off on odd paths, but they had certainly toned it down on this release. There are some fine moments and the last three tracks all demonstrate Acid Drinkers at their chaotic best, but this album is certainly weaker than the previous discs. This re-issue includes lyric booklet, a bonus tracks and two video clips.

Acid Drinkers-Striptease

Metal Mind
1992/2009


The year was 1992 and metal was being swept away by grunge in many circles. However Poland's Acid Drinkers didn't seemed phased or concerned about the shift. If anything they seemed more than content to continue on in the direction that they had established with their first two efforts. This album includes a whopping fifteen tracks full of thrash, foolishness and other oddities. Almost everyone gets in on the action this time around as "Titus", "Litza" and "Popcorn" all contribute vocals. Always big on covers, the band contributes two here with an acoustic version of Metallica's Seek & Destroy. It is sung by a polish artist, Edyta Bartosiewicz. The second cover is "Menel Song/Alway's Look on the Bright Side of Life", a remake of a song by Monty Python. Both fit it very well with the band's less than typical approach. Their mix of thrash, punk and off the wall arrangements works wonders in large part to their sense of humor and unrestrained enthusiasm. When I can pin down influences I hear Anthrax, Dead Kennedys, Tankard (minus the beer soaked lyrics) and they even toss in some Guns n' Roses inspired bursts as well. Acid Drinkers were more than just a joke or novelty band though. The music is tightly woven and the flow is spectacular. They were about being off the wall than getting some cheap laugh and that's a large part of their appeal. It also gave their material a fresh feel that still works today 17 years after the fact. My only regret is that I didn't hear this back in 1992. The re-issue includes a lyric and two live bonus tracks.

Acid Drinkers-Dirty Money, Dirty Tricks

Metal Mind
1991/2009



Poland's Acid Drinkers were back for their sophomore effort in 1991. Now I wouldn't go as far to say that they had mellowed since their debut, but they were overall less chaotic this time around. The Dead Kennedy's influence is perhaps even greater this time around. These guys were still rooted in thrash as well, say similar to Anthrax. However none of that quite does justice to the gung-ho direction of Acid Drinkers. They take metal, punk, hard rock and stir it all up in the pot and then pull just various elements from their arsenal as they see fit. Having that kind of take on their music allows for it to be both surprising and exciting. At a time when many metal bands were becoming all too predictable, these guys seem to have more than their share of ideas and they were not afraid to use them. They also benefit from not caring much about labels or sticking to one style. They pretty much just did what they wanted to. Obviously they had more varied influences than some of their peers, but these guys knew how to pull it off as well. Pulling off this style isn't something that everyone could do. This kind of insanity has to have a flow to it to really work, but apparently this band had the kind of skill and personality to make it look easy. This disc didn't have quite the spontaneous feel of the debut. It's close, but the debut just had more pace and style changes. Still this is another fine chapter in their career of this long running band. The re-issue includes a lyric booklet and a live version of "Street Rockin" from 1996 as a bonus track.

Acid Drinkers-Are you a rebel?

Metal Mind
1990/2009


I never heard of Poland's Acid Drinkers back in the day. I think I only heard the name in recent years despite the fact that they are still around knocking albums out. That's a shame because they really were/are something special even here on their debut. By 1990 thrash had been around for several years and there were plenty of bands who were just going through the motions and hoping to achieve success by just straight out copying bands like Slayer, Exodus and the like. This band were on a track all their own. Sure, they had some definite influences. I would say Anthrax, Tankard, Dead Kennedys and DRI all come to band, but that just the tip of the iceberg. I guess the easiest way to explain it is to just to say that these guys were nuts and I certainly mean that in the most complimentary way possible. It's thrash and crossover, but they are way too quirky and crazy to be restrained by such basic labels. They knew how to play fast, loud and heavy, but then they just take off on a tangent and slap in whatever they wanted. Obviously they did what they liked and didn't think twice about whether it was metal enough or whatever. I can respect that approach and what's more is it comes off brilliantly on most occasions. Never has chaos and humor been so unexpected yet worked so well. The element of surprise helps this disc because it was hard to tell what they were going to do next. I am sure that this wasn't and still isn't for every thrash fan, but I found it to be fresh even though it's almost twenty years later. The only remotely negative thing I have to say about this disc is that I wish that I had heard it when it first came out in 1990, but at least I am getting to hear it now. This Metal Mind re-issue includes a lyric booklet and several live and demo tracks.