KATE'S ACID - Hellbender (LIM. SLIPCASE ED.*BEL HEAVY / SPEED METAL)

High Roller Records 2026 -  Brandnew BEL Heavy / Speed Metal with Kate on Vocals (ACID)

Kate De Lombaert - Vocals

Geert Annys - Guitars

Camilo “Thunder Screamer” Ortega - Bass

Ashley “Ash” Ysewyn - Drums            

The one and only Acid, formed in Bruges in 1980 (and initially called Precious Page), are widely considered to be one of the very first speed metal bands on the European continent. Lead vocalist Kate de Lombaert, guitarists Dirk Simoens (Dizzy Lizzy) and Donald Devers (Demon), bassist Peter (T-Bone) and drummer Geert (Anvill) recorded three highly regarded albums for Giant Records – »Acid« (1983), »Maniac« (also 1983) and »Engine Beast« (1985) – before breaking up sometime in the mid-80s.

In 2019, Kate de Lombaert decided to resurrect the band and eventually got together with Mathieu Trobec (bass), Gilles Reuse (guitar), Andreas Stieglitz (guitar) and Bastiaan Andriessen (drums) under the name of Kate’s Acid.

They appeared live at Keep It True Rising in 2021 and once again at Keep It True in 2023, where a live album was recorded. A year later, »Blowing Your Ears Off« was released on High Roller Records to great critical.

»Hellbender« is the name of the first studio album by the newly formed Kate’s Acid, featuring nine brand-new compositions. The new line-up of the band consists of guitarist Geert Annys, drummer Ash and Camilo (Thunder Screamer) Ortega, from Columbia, who is active in the band Axe Steeler and supplied most of the bass parts, with Kate handling the vocals, of course. The recordings were done in Belgium and Colombia and the mix in Germany (Berlin) in the studio of Jacky Lehmann.

“I wanted to make a new studio album for a very long time, but did not find the right musicians,” comments the legendary singer on the evolution of »Hellbender«. “I asked myself repeatedly, who could record some new songs with me? I needed some musicians who would have some spare time and were on the same level. Last year I found that person (Geert Annys, who wrote all the songs together with Kate), so that’s when it all started. It was time for me to break the silence. In my opinion, this new album is full of great songs, and I like to share them with old-time fans and new, enthusiastic rockers.”

“It’s still old-school metal to me,” she continues. However, Kate is not sure if »Hellbender« feels more like the fourth regular Acid album or the debut platter of Kate’s Acid: “Kind of both, especially when you listen to the song ‘Hellbender’, the story of ‘crazy curly’ (from »Engine Beast«) goes on, but more than 40 years later. Most of the lyrics were also done by T-bone (bass player of Acid). So, to me, it is still Acid. The name Kate’s Acid is just a formality. Of course, there’s a gap of more than 40 years between the three original Acid albums and »Hellbender«. There are new musicians in the band and technology has moved on. Multi-track recordings by computer make it a lot easier to create new songs. However, the music is still very much influenced by the NWOBHM, and my voice is still the same. My favourite of the three original Acid albums is »Maniac«, and the weakest to me is »Engine Beast«, although there are a few good songs on it.”

The new album »Hellbender« is indeed full of great songs, like the speedy “The Lightning Conductor”, a biker anthem named “Riding Out” and of course “Do Not Burn The Witch” (naturally, no relation to the Venom tune of the same name on »Black Metal«), making it a natural contender for the legitimate successor to »Maniac«. And there is also a first on the album, the epic “Air Raid”, kind of a ballad … “Well, for everything there has to be a first time,” laughs the legendary Kate, “so why not a ballad? The lyrics were written by T-Bone and Ash, and if you listen to the song, you can almost feel the pain and destruction of what currently happens all over the world. But at the end of the song (last note), there’s still some hope left, I call it the note of hope.”

With the new album »Hellbender« being ready for release, Kate thinks that playing Keep It True Rising in 2021 and Keep It True proper in 2023 was the catalyst for the actual re-birth of Acid: “Yeah, that’s where it all started again. Oliver Weinsheimer asked me several times (for more than ten years) to come and play at Keep It True. It was not easy, the search for good musicians was long and hard, and I even had to change the name of the band (because some jealous prick claimed the band’s name to prevent me to go on). But nothing could stop me, and in the end, I succeed, and we finally made it. I am still grateful we could do it. It was a great experience. Thank you Oliver, for believing!”

MATTHIAS MADER

01 Hellbender

02 Taking Back My Wings

03 The Lightning Conductor

04 Riding Out

05 Do Not Burn the Witch

06 Valkyrie

07 Buccaneers

08 Stormchaser

09 Air Raid