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)
Decay
Velvet Acid Christ Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's too late now to get out of sight
It's too late now to try and run away
It's too late now all our lives are decay
We sit alone
Watch the world explode
Watch everything unfold to dust
Now in the light of misfortune
And hide the whole away
To show decay of stability
You will all just die in detest
We won't feel a thing
Now we all flip into infinity
We live our lives
We feel so cold inside and desolate for now
Are we just misfortune
A sickness disease
A life of cancer or just hiv
Your life is fading away
Your time is slipping away
The force of life is draining away
Welcome to the night
Where you will die
Forever in this hell
You created for yourself
Forever and ever repeating the doom of nothing but a slave
The lyrics of "Decay" by Velvet Acid Christ portrays a grim outlook on life and the inevitability of death. The opening lines suggest that it is too late to fight, hide or run away, and that everything is decaying. The singer of the song is watching the world explode, suggesting a sense of apathy or disillusionment towards society. The mention of "light of misfortune" indicates that the character has experienced some sort of personal tragedy or hardship which has caused them to retreat and "hide the whole away." The song ends with a bleak outlook on the future, where death is inevitable and one is doomed to repeat their mistakes.
The song is tinged with feelings of hopelessness, despair and a sense of resignation towards death. However, the lyrics also suggest that one can take their "feelings back" and perhaps gain some measure of control over their lives. The progression of the song from a sense of desolation to a more resigned outlook towards death may suggest a sort of acceptance or understanding of the finality of life.
Line by Line Meaning
It's too late now to start the fight
There's no point in trying to resist anything at this point.
It's too late now to get out of sight
Trying to hide or escape from the situation won't work anymore.
It's too late now to try and run away
Any attempts to flee are futile.
It's too late now all our lives are decay
Everything we had has slowly degraded and fallen apart, and it's too late to change that or fix it.
We sit alone
We're isolated and disconnected from everything around us.
Watch the world explode
We're witnessing everything around us fall apart and crumble.
Watch everything unfold to dust
Everything we knew and cared about has deteriorated into nothingness.
Now in the light of misfortune
Our current situation is seen in a negative light, as if we're experiencing a sickness or disease.
Now we take our feelings back
We're finally recognizing and accepting our emotions, perhaps after having suppressed them for a long time.
And hide the whole away
But we're still trying to keep these feelings hidden from the world around us.
To show decay of stability
Our lives have lost their solidity and predictability, and we're now more aware of that than ever before.
You will all just die in detest
Others around us are stuck in a similar situation and will eventually be consumed by their own hatred and negativity.
We won't feel a thing
We've become so desensitized and apathetic that nothing can affect us anymore.
Now we all flip into infinity
We're being drawn into an unending and inescapable pit of despair.
We live our lives
Although we are still alive, we're not truly enjoying life or living it to the fullest.
We feel so cold inside and desolate for now
We're emotionally numb and drained, feeling abandoned and alone.
Are we just misfortune
We're questioning whether our situation is a result of mere bad luck or if we're responsible for our own suffering.
A sickness disease
We're feeling like our situation is similar to that of a sickness, spreading and taking hold of our lives.
A life of cancer or just hiv
We're comparing our situation to that of a life-threatening disease that slowly kills us from the inside out.
Your life is fading away
We're aware that everything we had, including our own lives, is fleeting and gradually disappearing.
Your time is slipping away
We're acknowledging that we have a limited amount of time left and it's gradually slipping away from us.
The force of life is draining away
Our energy and vitality is being drained from us, and we're slowly losing our hold on life.
Welcome to the night
We're entering a dark and ominous stage in our lives, perhaps one of hopelessness and despair.
Where you will die
We're acknowledging the inevitability of our own death, which is looming closer by the day.
Forever in this hell
Our current situation is already a living hell, and it's going to be that way indefinitely.
You created for yourself
We're recognizing that we bear some responsibility for our own suffering, having brought about our own downfall in some way.
Forever and ever repeating the doom of nothing but a slave
We're powerless to escape the vicious cycle of our own despair, and are doomed to continue suffering indefinitely - feeling like nothing more than a mindless slave to our own negative emotions.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Julian Cennamo
on Pain
This is a song about coping with failed relationships and a broken home. The lyricist has been triggered by a life event- most likely a breakup. The event is particularly tragic because it brings back haunting memories of fear and abandonment experienced in childhood.