Acid Drinkers: Are You a Rebel? (remaster)

It's clearly evident that Poland's Acid Drinkers are one unique bunch of guys. Certainly not a household name, they relish in blazing their own path of chaotic thrash metal that's equal parts humor and aggression. Surprisingly enough, they've been stomping that trail since 1990, the year their debut album first hit shelves on an unsuspecting public. Still active to this day, the band seems intent on never pandering to the mainstream and, instead, focusing on writing the kind of music that got them to the dance in the first place. Although, with song titles such as "Barmy Army," "Woman with the Dirty Feet," and "Nagasaki Baby," this might be the weirdest dance you ever attend. With such an eclectic sound, nailing down influences for these guys can be tough. They certainly don't copy anyone's sound directly on Are You A Rebel? Metal-wise, you can certainly hear shades of Anthrax in the tunes. From the perspective of launching wide-scale humorous assaults on all bounds of decency and complacency, Acid Drinkers are more akin to a band like Dead Kennedys. In other words, subtlety feels like a cold, hard slap in the face when listening to this record! It's really only for fans of the thrash metal genre, and even still, it won't appeal to everyone in that group. In fact, some might find this music to be slightly immature and disposable. Lyrically, everything is fairly low-brow, which creates an interesting dynamic when paired with the consistent heaviness of the musical arrangements. Opening track "Del Rocca" is a rare exception to the humor, reportedly about the experiences of one of the band's friends in the Army. The vocals are somewhat grating due to lack of melody but the guitar playing is continually exciting from start to finish. Pair that with the hammering drums and there's a feeling of frenzy, half abnormal excitement meets half emotional disturbance. Listening to songs like "I Mean Acid (Do Ya Like It?)" and "F--- The Violence (I'm Sure I'm Right) gives you an idea of how aggressively self-assertive these four musicians really were in 1990. Do all the experiments work? Certainly not, but you can still hear a noticeable energy in this recording almost twenty years later. Obviously, the band members were full of fresh, raw vitality while recording Are You A Rebel? and embraced going off on their own weird musical tangents, no matter what anyone else thought of them. The songs might not be all that memorable, but the effort is undoubtedly there.

Track Listing

1. Del Rocca
2. Barmy Army
3. I Mean Acid / Do Ya Like It ?
4. Waitin' 4 The Hair
5. L.O.V.E. Machine
6. F... The Violence (I'm Sure I'm Right)
7. I Am The Mystic
8. Woman With The Dirty Feet
9. Megalopolis
10. Nagasaki Baby
11. Moshin' In The Nite
12. Mike Cwel

Added: May 22nd 2009
Reviewer: Keith Schwier
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2007
Language: english

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