Three albums in just over five years may not be the industrious level of the ’70s behemoths who churned out releases annually. But for South Africans Acid Magus, it is an impressive turnaround and credit to their DIY ethos that they are able to do it.
Acid Magus – Scatterling Empire (Mongrel Records)
Release Date: 21 February 2025
Words: Paul Hutchings
Acid Magus was a familiar name, but whether I had ever really heard this five-piece play is open to debate. Regardless, their third album, Scatterling Empire, which comes relatively close to the heels of 2023’s Hope Is Heavy, provides the listener with a sprawling kaleidoscope of influences and sounds over the 45 minutes on offer.
There are thick, chunky riffs aplenty, psychedelic passages that twist you inside out and a sound that could be contemporary but could just as easily sit in the ’70s. 
Acid Magus badge themselves as experimental, and in many aspects of their sound, they are very much what they say. The intriguing combination of The Sword, Red Fang and Mastodon hits you front and centre as the band explode into life.
It is a swirling hybrid pattern that swamps the airwaves, Anrico Jeske’s strong vocals bringing life to the lyrical content, with the inspiration quarried from deep, searching the complexities of human history, particularly the devastation brought by colonial conquest. It is subject matter that is not comfortable, but the Praetorians do not have any quandaries about putting out such potent topics.
With the first three songs, War, Incantations and Wytch combined stretching over 21 minutes, this is not a short, sharp hit of an album. Instead, we get immersed into the complexities of the musical workouts that evolve almost organically around Jeske.
Guitarists Keenan Kinnear and Brendon Bezuidenhout tone things down dramatically at part, with the down elements of fuzzed-up riffs coming to the fore. It’s a heady brew that sees passages of thunderous stoner rock combine with more traditional Heavy Metal segments to great effect.
Cleverly, the band use a couple of short interludes to provide opportunities to catch the breath. Ascendency and Absolution are the tracks, both a mere minute long, but they do provide that necessary moment.
Listening intently to this band over several days, there are so many influences that leap out, all combined with their own flavours. Elements of Sabbath, Kyuss, Red Fang, Zeppelin, Cream, Hendrix, all are scattered throughout the album. Nowhere more so than in the shortest full song, Emperor, which stands tall in the centre of the release.
Elsewhere, the brooding cavernous presence of Citadel, a heaving, sprawling eight-minute goliath, also grabs the emotions and pulls you in deeper.
Scatterling Empire certainly asks the questions. Throughout the ebb and flow of this release, there is the opportunity to question. As the band say, “the album invites listeners to question, reflect, and imagine a world where culture and identity stand resilient”.
It’s certainly a grower which absorbs, tantalises and demands repeated plays. It took a while to get involved, but such is the addictive quality of this organic and complex release, that it has continued to get regular plays post review.
The band, which comprises Jeske and guitarists Keenan Kinnear and Brendon Bezuidenhout (who adds backing vocals), bassist Roelof Van Tonder and drummer Jethro Vlag, should be loudly applauded.
This is a truly creative piece of work.
