Current Members:
Bryan Erickson (a.k.a. Hexfix93, Disease Factory) - lead vocals, composition, guitar, lyrics, mixing, production, various
Early projects, early changes, and first albums (1990–1995)
In the early 1990s, Erickson and Grigory, both residents of Colorado, brought together their shared interest in creating music to record a series of demos. With the addition of Gary Slaughter and Chris Workman, the group attempted several bands, including Disease Disco Factory, a parody of then-popular Dance group C+C Music Factory. Following a turbulent period for Erickson and Slaughter, Workman left the group. Slaughter and Erickson experimented with two new side-projects, Cyber Christ and Vortex. Cyber Christ explored a harsh and melancholy sound that was a sharp contrast to the group's other projects. When Erickson discovered that the term "Cyber Christ" had been used in the 1992 film The Lawnmower Man, he renamed the band Velvet Acid Christ in honor of a bad acid trip. The Vortex project was merged into Velvet Acid Christ to form one body of work.
In 1994, Workman returned to assist with the band's self-produced gothic-styled demo tape, Fate. Given encouraging response from friends, the band followed up with other self-produced albums, 1994's Pestilence, a dance-oriented album, and 1995's Neuralblastoma, a harder-sounding album.
Erickson, along with friends and minor contributors Steve Bird and Dan Olson, started the brief-lived record label Electro Death Trip (EDT) Records to better promote these recordings. In 1995, the three began distributing hand-made CD copies of Fate, Pestilence, and Neuralblastoma for resale in local music shops.
Label interest, touring, and a troubled rise (1996–2000)
Slaughter and Workman temporarily left the band during the first half of 1996 as Erickson continued the project alone, handing out copies of Velvet Acid Christ's recordings to industry representatives, including musician Bill Leeb of industrial pioneer Front Line Assembly. Leeb passed the music to Thorsten Stroht, a media promoter with European label Off-Beat Records. Off-Beat A&R negotiated a deal with the band.
For their first Off-Beat release, the group submitted 1996's Church of Acid, a compilation of selected tracks from Velvet Acid Christ's first three albums with an additional two new tracks, Disflux and Futile. Church of Acid was well received in Europe, and Futile became a regularly played track in many nightclubs across the continent. In 1997, United States label Pendragon Records released Church of Acid in America, though the two new tracks were removed due to a lack of trademark clearance for television samples used in the songs.
The band's next album, Calling Ov the Dead, was rejected by Off-Beat for not sounding edgy enough, prompting Slaughter's permanent departure. With the assistance of Bird and Olson, the band addressed the label's concerns and released Calling Ov the Dead in late 1997, with American distribution following through Pendragon in 1998. In the process, Erickson had accumulated a substantial financial debt.
With a line-up consisting of Erickson, Stroht and German musician Ingo Beitz, the band toured Europe in 1998 with Off-Beat label-mate Suicide Commando, which attracted the attention of Metropolis Records, the largest industrial label in United States. The parent label of Pendragon, Metropolis distributed the album Neuralblastoma, as a partnership that would endure.
Velvet Acid Christ spent the majority of 1999 in the studio, first collaborating with Germany's Funker Vogt on a remix EP entitled Velvet Acid Christ Vs Funker Vogt: The Remix Assault, then shifting to Velvet Acid Christ's next full-length recording, Fun With Knives. With Workman an occasional contributor, Erickson sought production assistance on Fun With Knives from the bands Luxt and 4th New Army. Fun with Knives, released by Metropolis and new Off-Beat sub-label dependent, became the band's best-selling album. Sales were propelled by the singles Decypher and Fun with Drugs, and by the track Slut, which featured vocals from Luxt's Anna Christine.
In spite of the success of the band, stress had led Erickson into depression and increased drug abuse, which channeled into the creation of the band's next album, Twisted Thought Generator. Simultaneously, the band toured Europe with industrial acts Project X and Stromkern and toured the United States and Canada with bands Din_Fiv and Haujobb. The line-up of the band during this period was unstable. Workman, citing a conversion to Christianity, resigned from the band with a request that his name be retracted from all previous albums. The first leg of the European tour consisted of Erickson, Bird and Stroht; the second leg, Erickson and Olson. The North American tour was performed by Erickson, Stroht and drummer Paul Lipman. With various contributors, Erickson completed Twisted Thought Generator. Due to lingering disputes, he withdrew the band from Dependent Records and submitted the album to Metropolis.
A change of pace, new early material, and beyond (2001– present)
Erickson placed Velvet Acid Christ on a short hiatus in 2001, as he abandoned his dependence on drugs in favour of exercise and a vegan raw foodist diet. Newly clean, Erickson created the 2003 album Hex Angel: Utopia/Dystopia. Though critical response was mixed, Hex Angel: Utopia/Dystopia ranked #1 on Germany's Deutsche Alternative Charts (DAC) for four weeks after its release, and the album's single Pretty Toy reached #18 on the Billboard Alternative Chart during the same year. The album also marked the band's short-lived return to Dependent Records.
Erickson spent 2004 releasing and reissuing some of Velvet Acid Christ's earliest material. With the four-volume compilation series Between the Eyes, the band published a collection of its singles and B-sides, then followed with subsequent re-releases of Fate (Vol. 2), Pestilence (Vol. 3), and Neuralblastoma (Vol. 4). The band also offered free MP3 downloads of Dimension 8 and Oblivion Interface on its website until early 2005. Dimension 8, which had been available as a hidden bonus on Twisted Thought Generator, and Oblivion Interface (informally known as Between the Eyes, Vol. 5) provided fans with previously unheard work from the Cyber Christ-Vortex era of 1991–1994.
In 2005, Erickson collaborated with guitarist Todd Loomis on a new album, Lust for Blood, which was released on September 26, 2006. With Lust for Blood, the crew labored intensively to create a new overall sound while maintaining the band's original characteristics. Following its release, Lust for Blood ranked at the top of Germany's DAC for four weeks; the album's single release, Wound, ranked on the DAC's singles chart for eight weeks and held the #1 position for four weeks.
In 2009, Erickson began to create the next LP with minimal input from Loomis this time when he was working on his project The Twilight Garden. The result was The Art of Breaking Apart, released October 27, 2009. This LP was a tribute to bands like Current 93 and Death in June and brought VAC many new fans while making the others angry at the new direction of the music.
In 2010–2011, Bryan Erickson teamed up with William Anderson of Louisiana. William did a ton of sampling, and Bryan made a bunch of VAC B-sides that turned into Toxic Coma tracks. The project had a revolving door of members, again Bryan being the main constant. They released a LP entitled Satan Rising under Toxic Coma on Metropolis Records. It fused the techno sound of Fun With Knives and the brutal black humor of Toxic Coma. Erickson then began to write more music for future VAC LPs.
In October 2012, Velvet Acid Christ released their tenth LP entitled Maldire. The release marked a return to the dark electronic sound. Erickson formed a live band and toured extensively (2012-2014) to support the album. The latest album entitled Subconscious Landscapes was released October 28, 2014. A remastered Greatest Hits compilation was released by Metropolis Records on May 6, 2016.
Discography:
Studio Albums
1994 - Fate
1994 - Pestilence
1995 - Neuralblastoma
1997 - Calling Ov the Dead
1999 - Fun With Knives
2000 - Twisted Thought Generator
2003 - Hex Angel (Utopia/Dystopia)
2006 - Lust for Blood
2009 - The Art of Breaking Apart
2012 - Maldire
2014 - Subconscious Landscapes
Compilations / Demos / EPs / Singles
1992 - Oblivion Interface (demo re-released in 2004)
1993 - Dimension 8 (demo re-released in 2000)
1996 - Church of Acid (1994-1995 compilation)
1998 - Neuralblastoma (1994-1995 compilation)
1999 - Fun With Razors (remix EP)
1999 - Decipher (maxi-single)
1999 - Fun With Drugs (maxi-single)
1999 - The Remix Wars: Strike 4: Funker Vogt vs. Velvet Acid Christ (remix EP)
2001 - Dial 8 (maxi-single)
2003 - Pretty Toy (maxi-single)
2004 - Between the Eyes Vol. 1 (singles compilation)
2004 - Between the Eyes Vol. 2 (re-release of Fate)
2004 - Between the Eyes Vol. 3 (re-release of Pestilence)
2004 - Between the Eyes Vol. 4 (re-release of Neuroblastoma)
2006 - Wound (maxi-single)
2009 - Caustic Disco (maxi-single)
2016 - Greatest Hits (remastered compilation)
Blood
Velvet Acid Christ Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As if you were crying blood
As if the whole world was bleeding
And every person was covered in blood
Like if every being was torn from above
And the wounds bleed deeply, furiously, and unending
Like the blank stare of a billion bleeding souls
Like the wretched air that burns you like hot coals
Like your soul covered with dirt and mud
Like the entire world is covered in your blood
Something dreadful, something painful
Something evil, something ugly
Something wicked, something wretched
Something horrid, something morbid
Like the stingin in your eyes, like the frozen skies
Like when your eyes pop out of your head
Like your fingers fall off dead
Like when your back is skinned
Like when the real pain begins, begins, begins
Something dreadful, something evil
Something wicked, something horrid
Something hurting
Something bleeding
Something bleeding
Something bleeding
Something bleeding
Blood, Blood, Blood
The opening stanza of Velvet Acid Christ's "Blood" is a vivid and metaphorical depiction of a scene that is both terrifying and gruesome. The first few lines are likening the experience to "tears of blood" coming off the hands, as if the entire world were bleeding and every person was covered in blood. The image being painted here is that of an unimaginable amount of blood that is both pouring out of the people and the world itself, which gives the idea of an apocalyptic scenario. The metaphor of the "being torn from above" suggests a catastrophic event that may be outside of human control. The next lines of the song make clear that the wounds are deep, furious, and unending, as if there's no stopping the flow of blood from people's bodies. The stanza concludes with the idea that the entire world is now covered in blood, which gives the impression of an irreversible event.
The second stanza of the song continues with the theme of the first but lists a wide range of graphic images that are meant to make the listener feel the horror and pain being described. The lines "Like the stingin in your eyes, like the frozen skies" suggests the pain experienced in this apocalyptic world is both physical and psychological. The following lines create a mental picture of people falling apart, limbs falling off, backs being skinned, and ultimately culminating in the "real pain" which seems to be the worst pain of all. The final lines of the song simply repeat the word "blood" three times, bringing the listener back to the repeated metaphor of the insurmountable amount of blood that is covering everything.
Line by Line Meaning
Like tears of blood that roll off your hands
As if you were shedding blood from your eyes in the form of tears
As if you were crying blood
As if you were in excruciating pain and experiencing internal bleeding
As if the whole world was bleeding
As if the entire world was in pain and agony
And every person was covered in blood
And every person in the world was suffering from internal bleeding
Like if every being was torn from above
As if every living being was brutally torn apart from the heavens
And the wounds bleed deeply, furiously, and unending
And the injuries caused are severe, causing continuous blood loss and excruciating pain
Like the blank stare of a billion bleeding souls
As if looking into the eyes of a billion people who are all in pain and suffering
Like the wretched air that burns you like hot coals
As if the air is polluted with a burning sensation that is highly uncomfortable
Like your soul covered with dirt and mud
As if your soul is tainted and weighed down by impurities
Like the entire world is covered in your blood
As if the pain and suffering you are experiencing is so intense that it is felt by the entire world
Something dreadful, something painful
The overall feeling of intense pain and suffering
Something evil, something ugly
The feeling that this pain and suffering is caused by something with malicious intent
Something wicked, something wretched
The feeling that this pain and suffering is the result of something vile and disgusting
Something horrid, something morbid
The feeling that this pain and suffering is associated with something gruesome and disturbing
Like the stingin in your eyes, like the frozen skies
As if the pain and suffering is so intense that it feels like your eyes are being constantly stung and the outside world has become a frozen wasteland
Like when your eyes pop out of your head
As if the pain and suffering is so intense that it feels like your eyes are about to burst out of their sockets
Like your fingers fall off dead
As if the pain and suffering is causing your body to slowly deteriorate and decay, with your fingers falling off
Like when your back is skinned
As if the pain and suffering is causing you to feel like your back is being ripped apart and flayed
Like when the real pain begins, begins, begins
As if the pain and suffering has only just begun and is going to continue to become even more intense
Something dreadful, something evil
The feeling that this pain and suffering is not something natural, but rather has an evil force behind it
Something wicked, something horrid
The feeling that this pain and suffering is directly related to something that is twisted and vile
Something hurting
The intense level of physical and emotional pain that is being experienced
Something bleeding
The constant and unrelenting blood loss that is associated with this pain and suffering
Something bleeding
The overall feeling that everything is covered in blood and that there is no escape from this pain and suffering
Something bleeding
The insistent reminder that this pain and suffering is constantly causing blood loss
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Bryan Erickson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Innovation&Beyond
I fucking love this song , love to hear it with headphones in complete darkness makes me feel powerful and energetic
Vampyrian616
Amazing song esp. Bryan on the piano is absolutely well played! Grunge darkwave I love it
VincentL7
Very creepy song. Love it, but the part where the screams are heard from the 'a tale of two sisters' movie is not as creepy as I thought, the lady's just chocking with something that she ate and didn't get along with her stomach. When I first heard her gasps in the song I thought she was being killed by a ghost or something.
monroe40206
They use movies in some of their songs. Like from the movie Seven.
Chaos
I thought the same! :D
Valery Diblaim
no puedo recordar cuando la he oído la primera vez, es increiblemente insoportable
Vampyrian616
I love the whole album as well
T x
Addicted to this song, this music, this escape.
Poison Empress
Love this
Mikey Yates
Not everyone can relate to shit like this. Having spent nights sweating out horrible opioid addictions, relapsing ... fucking up....ripping up everything I love trying in futility to get some relief in this life of rot and mirrors, decay and spinning. These songs make me feel not so alone..