Acid Drinkers

Acid Drinkers
Acid Drinkers in 2008
Background information
Origin	Poznań, Poland
Genres	Thrash metal Heavy metal
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Metal Mind Productions 1998–2002 Music for Nations (Under One Flag) 1989–1993 Warner Music 1996–1998 Sony Music Entertainment 2002–2004 Mystic Production 2007–present
Website	Official Website
Members
Tomasz "Titus" Pukacki Darek "Popcorn" Popowicz Maciej "Ślimak" Starosta Wojciech "Jankiel" Moryto
Past members
Robert "Litza" Friedrich Przemek "Perla" Wejmann Tomek "Lipa" Lipnicki Aleksander "Olass" Mendyk †

Acid Drinkers are Polish thrash metal band formed in September 1986 in Poznań. Acid Drinkers were formed on September 21, 1986 consisting of Tomasz "Titus" Pukacki (vocals, bass) and Robert "Litza" Friedrich (guitar, vocals). The band's style from back then to present is thrash metal, with influences of heavy metal. Acid Drinkers are one of the most important bands in Polish thrash and heavy metal world.

History

Line-up soon expanded as Dariusz "Popcorn" Popowicz (lead guitar) and a drummer Piotr "Chomik" Kulk (shortly after replaced by Maciej "Ślimak" Starosta) joined the band. With this line-up the band worked on its own compositions; such as "Barmy Army", "Del Rocca" and "I Mean Acid". Within a month of the band's creation, Titus was called to join the army and left the band for two years. The others did not intend to idle their time away; Litza and Popcorn undertook a reactivation of the band named Slavoy. Soon both of them received a proposal to play for reputable groups: Popcorn from Wolf Spider, Litza from Turbo.

After returning from the army, Titus tried to reactivate his first band, Los Desperados. His attempts misfired and Titus himself, after meeting with Popcorn, decided to reform Acid Drinkers with Litza and Ślimak. Their debut took place 26 August 1989 on Wyspa Słodowa in Wrocław. That performance was actually the beginning of the band's true career. Rumors about a new, excellent metal group swiftly spread across Poland. Soon afterwards the Acids received an opportunity to record an album and continue walking along their path of glory. With this line-up there emerged their best-known classics, including their debut, Are You a Rebel?, Vile Vicious Vision and their most famous, Infernal Connection. At the end of 1998, Litza decided to leave the band. Przemysław "Perła" Wejmann, a vocalist and guitarist and a leader of Guess Why, replaced him. With "Perła" on board, Acids recorded three albums Amazing Atomic Activity, Broken Head and Acidofilia. At the very beginning of 2003, Perła made up his mind to leave the band. It took almost a month before the new guitarist was chosen. The new member turned out to be a well-known frontman of an already disbanded group – Illusion – Tomek "Lipa" Lipnicki. Together with Lipa, the Acids recorded a well-received long-play, Rock Is Not Enough. After over a year of cooperation, the new guitarist left Acid Drinkers for his own project, Lipali. His place in the band was taken over by Aleksander "Olass" Mendyk from None. The new member of Acid's crew quickly integrated himself into the band and was an active member. The band released a critically acclaimed album Verses of Steel, with most of the songs written by the new guitarist. On 30 November 2008, Alexander Mendyk died due circulatory failure, in Cracow, at the age of 29. He has been replaced on 9 May 2009, by a new member , Wojciech "Jankiel" Moryto.

To date, Acid Drinkers are widely considered the best and most spectacular thrash-metal band in Poland. Their popularity has gone far beyond the typical metal music sphere. The Acids have played over 500 shows e.g. on Jarocin festivals, Metalmania, Węgorzewo, Przystanek Woodstock or Odjazdy. The Acids performed there as foreground celebrities. They preceded performances in Poland by, among others, Deep Purple, Megadeth, Bruce Dickinson, Sepultura, Paradise Lost and Slayer. Moreover, many known Polish artists such as: Edyta Bartosiewicz, Kazik Staszewski, Tomek Lipnicki, Patrycja Kosiarkiewicz or Grzegorz Skawiński took part in Acids’ recordings. Acid Drinkers were four times (on 1998, 2000, 2004, 2009) awarded with a Fryderyk in the hard and heavy category, and received in 1998 from TVP 2 the "Złoty bączek" (Golden spinning top) award for being the best music group from Poland. Additionally, they were acknowledged as one of the five best Polish bands of the 1990s (together with Hey, Kazik Staszewski, Edyta Bartosiewicz and O.N.A.) by journalists and readers of Tylko Rock (Only Rock) magazine.

Members

• Tomek "Titus" Pukacki – vocals, bass (1986–present)
• Darek "Popcorn" Popowicz – lead guitar (1986–present)
• Maciek "Ślimak" Starosta – drums (1986–present)
• Wojciech "Jankiel" Moryto – rhythm guitar, vocals (2009–present)

Past members

• Robert "Litza" Friedrich – rhythm guitar, vocals (1986–1998)
• Przemek "Perła" Wejmann – rhythm guitar, vocals (1998–2002)
• Tomek "Lipa" Lipnicki – rhythm guitar, vocals (2003–2004)
• Alex "Olass" Mendyk – rhythm guitar, vocals (2004–2008)

Discography

Albums

• Are You a Rebel? (1990)
• Dirty Money, Dirty Tricks (1991)
• Strip Tease (1992)
• Vile Vicious Vision (1993)
• Fishdick (1994)
• Infernal Connection (1994)
• The State of Mind Report (1996)
• High Proof Cosmic Milk (1998)
• Varran Strikes Back: Alive! (1998)
• Amazing Atomic Activity (1999)
• Broken Head (2000)
• Acidofilia (2002)
• Rock Is Not Enough, Give Me The Metal (2004)
• Verses of Steel (2008)
• Fishdick Zwei – The Dick Is Rising Again (2010)

Videos

• 15 Screwed Years (2004)
• The Hand That Rocks the Coffin (2006)

Singles

• 3 Version 4 Yonash / Acid On The Dance Floor (1994)
• Pump The Plastic Heart (1996)
• Walkay To Heaven (1996)
• (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (1999)
• Swallow The Needle (2008)

Compilations

• Speed Kills 5 – Head Crushing Metal (1990)
• Speed Kills 6 – Violence of the Slams (1992)
• Maximum Overload (2002)

External links

• Official site
• Acid Drinkers on MySpace