Acid Drinkers
The State Of Mind report

One Sunday evening, I get home just in time for "Hell's Kitchen," my favorite show dedicated to metal. It's been ages since we had a program like this on TV for a hard and impure metalhead... too bad it's on Viva Polska, and I can't understand a damn thing the host says (but that's no big deal!). And then a video featuring the Acid Drinkers comes on: strong, these young Anglo-Saxon guys. I look into it and realize that assumption couldn't have been more wrong!

The Acid Drinkers are a Polish metal band and released their first album in 1990. Needless to say, I found nothing in Italy, except for this "The State Of Mind Report" from 1996. I never imagined I'd be interested in a band like this. The album, honestly, isn't very original but deserves to be listened to and reviewed because it contains at least a couple of gems.

After the good opening track "Private Ego," comes "Two Be One," almost worthy of Exodus (who I think our Polish guys are quite inspired by): Titus's voice (unknown singer/bassist) is really powerful, with catchy little choruses, while Mangood's drumming hits hard. Then another great track, "24 Radical Questions": the music is tight but spiced up with some really remarkable solos. A note on the lyrics, which have a vaguely political flavor from the title, with the last line cynically saying, "If I'm a politician/Do I steal like the ones before". Then it moves to another track that reveals the marked influences of our drinkers, titled "Solid Rock I"; and indeed, the song is very solid and heavy, personally on first listen, it felt like hearing some '90s American metal band crossed with Lynyrd, but the track gains credibility and its own identity with each listen, confirming itself as one of the best on the album. After "United Suicide Legion," a track certainly well played, although the one that excites me the least, we get to the two best tracks of the album: "Pump The Plastic Heart," five particularly rich minutes, although vocally, Titus, though valid, doesn't convince me here (too repetitive!), and the fantastic "Maximum Overload." This song is characterized by powerful and driving riffs, a great impact from the drum-bass pair, while the singer manages to give his best without trying too hard; also noteworthy are a couple of really excellent solos. After so much power, they stay on good levels but lack creativity with "Solid Rock II" and "Wild Thing," the first track is a repeat of the previous song, although played in a different version, while the second is a good instrumental piece. Finally, the album closes with "Walkway To Heaven," with lyrics of a classic lovesong, which, however, doesn't suffer from the chronic inflation that now affects the ballad genre, thanks to particularly catchy music.

In short, this, though certainly not what serious critics would define as a seminal (or sperminal, who knows?) album, is a good honest work, albeit with some highs and lows, from a former cover band, tight and equipped with good technique that has created great songs, but, it is reiterated, it falls short in some points regarding originality.