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)
Masked Illusion
Velvet Acid Christ Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your weak-minded state
So you crawl on the floor and grasp at the wires
And crush your head with a ten pound lie
So you'll pretend to pulverize
Every muscle in your head
Silly dreams, silly lines
Compromise on this place in time
You are a fire, a fire with walls
In my mind
In my mind
Oh, I see you fall down on the floor
Pain for mercy, pain for breath
No one hears your cries so just forget it
Oh, I push myself out a ten story building
Watch my bones shatter on the pavement
For all the world to see
What do you dream?
Do you feel it up in the sky?
Or do you fold your arms?
Fold your hands and pray to a god
Oh, I wear the mask
I wear the mask
Hallucinate, your broken state
You fall to the floor where you can't see
Any light and the walls talk to you
Crawl on the floor and grab at the wires
Hesitate for a second
Look back at the walls in your world
No eyes, no time, just freeze and fucking die
What do you dream?
You close your eyes
And fold your arms
Do you pray in the sky
In the sky, up in the sky?
I wear the mask
I wear a mask
Move in slow motion
The walls are bending back and forth
You can't relate
And you don't remember who you are
You close your arms around your head
And you fall to the ground
And you wish that you were dead
What do you dream?
Close your eyes
In pain, hesitate
The dream of a separate state
Oh, I feel you
I dream you
I hold you
Oh, I wear the mask
I, I wear the mask
Wear the mask, wear the mask
Wear the mask, oh wear the mask
We're the mask
The lyrics of "Masked Illusion" by Velvet Acid Christ paint a picture of a disturbed and hallucinating mind. The singer is experiencing a mental breakdown that is causing him to see walls talk to him, crawl on the floor, and grab wires in a desperate attempt to regain control. He contemplates suicide and wonders whether there is a separate reality or if it is all just a delusional state of mind. Despite the chaos, he wears a mask, which could be a symbol of his desire to hide his true self, or perhaps it is a metaphor for the facade of sanity that he tries to maintain in front of others.
The chorus with the repetition of "I wear the mask" indicates that the character is struggling with an internal conflict. The mask could represent the false persona that he presents to the world or the internalized pain and sorrow that he struggles to express. The lyrics paint a picture of a mind ravaged by anxiety, depression or other mental health issues, and the singer's actions appear to compound his misery.
Overall, "Masked Illusion" is a powerful follow-up to "Fun With Drugs," another Velvet Acid Christ track released the same year. Both songs share a similar theme of self-destruction, addiction, and mental illness. The lyrics of "Masked Illusion" are a haunting portrayal of the chaos and despair that can result from untreated mental health conditions.
Line by Line Meaning
Hallucinate, devastate
Experiencing hallucinations that cause immense devastation.
Your weak-minded state
Being in a vulnerable mental state.
So you crawl on the floor and grasp at the wires
Feeling so overwhelmed that you resort to crawling and grasping at anything around you for support.
And crush your head with a ten pound lie
Feeling so burdened by lies and false beliefs that it feels like a crushing weight on your head.
So you'll pretend to pulverize
Trying to cope by pretending to have control and power over your situation.
Every muscle in your head
Feeling tense and stressed out to the point of causing physical discomfort in the head.
Silly dreams, silly lines
Feeling like your hopes and aspirations are worthless and meaningless.
Compromise on this place in time
Feeling like you have settled for less than you deserve in your current circumstances.
Don't you see what's in front of me?
Feeling like others are oblivious to the struggles and challenges you are facing.
You are a fire, a fire with walls
Feeling like a passionate and intense person, but also trapped and limited by personal barriers.
In my mind
In my mind
Reflecting on personal thoughts and feelings that are only in one's own mind.
Oh, I see you fall down on the floor
Pain for mercy, pain for breath
No one hears your cries so just forget it
Imagining someone suffering and in extreme distress, feeling helpless and ignored by the world around them.
Oh, I push myself out a ten story building
Watch my bones shatter on the pavement
For all the world to see
Fantasizing about self-harm and suicide, perhaps as a form of escapism or attention-seeking behavior.
What do you dream?
Do you feel it up in the sky?
Or do you fold your arms?
Fold your hands and pray to a god
Questioning the nature of one's own hopes and dreams, wondering if there is any significance or divine purpose to them.
Oh, I wear the mask
I wear the mask
Acknowledging the façade and pretense that one puts on to fit in with society or to hide one's true self.
Move in slow motion
The walls are bending back and forth
You can't relate
And you don't remember who you are
Experiencing a dissociative and disorienting state where everything seems surreal and unfamiliar, and one's sense of self is lost.
You close your arms around your head
And you fall to the ground
And you wish that you were dead
Succumbing to despair and feeling like death is the only way out of a hopeless situation.
Close your eyes
In pain, hesitate
The dream of a separate state
Experiencing emotional pain and uncertainty, and perhaps longing for a sense of isolation or escapism.
Oh, I feel you
I dream you
I hold you
Clinging to feelings of love and connection, even in times of turmoil and distress.
Wear the mask, wear the mask
Wear the mask, oh wear the mask
We're the mask
Repeating the message that everyone wears a façade and hides their true selves, and perhaps calling for people to be more honest and authentic.
Lyrics © OBO 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.