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)
Speedball O.D
Velvet Acid Christ Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the back room where I started
From the beginning to the end
What do you want? do you pretend?
Right through the fucking mirror
Right through the fucking wall
Right through the fucking mirror
Right through the fucking wall
Crushed into a million pieces
Chop you up, and put you in the garbage disposal
And rip your head off
And crush your neck with a fucking ten-inch knife
Punch a fucking bullet right through your brain
Right into the part of insanity, insanity
Right down in the middle of your forehead
With a razor blade on your cheek
To make you pretty, make you bleed
Right through the beginning, through the mirror
Riding it backwards in the back room
Don't you understand?
I'll chop you up into a million pieces
I hope you fucking die
I hope you fucking die
Well I hope you fucking die
Well I hope you fucking die
Right through passivist, passivist
Right through the passivist
Through history into your brain, we walk backwards
Understand religion is the only card you play in your hands
I'll pull a knife, I'll cut your neck
I'll chop your head off, I'll break your legs
I'll chop your legs off and put you in the freezer
Watch you freeze, freeze, freeze
Fucking die, fucking die
Fucking die, fucking die
Watch your room, through your head in the room
Where you are bleeding, from a circle
I'll clean up your body parts with a fucking vacuum cleaner
The lyrics to Velvet Acid Christ's song "Speedball O.D." depict a disturbing and violent scene. The singer is threatening someone, telling them they hope they die and describing in graphic detail how they would dismember and dispose of their body. The repeated lines, "Right through the fucking mirror / Right through the fucking wall," give the impression that the singer is unhinged and disconnected from reality.
The use of violent imagery and language in the lyrics reflects the aggressive and confrontational sound of the music. The distorted vocals and electronic beats create a sense of unease and discomfort, adding to the overall feeling of the song as a frightening and unsettling experience. It is possible that the song is a commentary on the destructive nature of drug addiction, with the title "Speedball O.D." referring to the dangerous and potentially lethal combination of cocaine and heroin.
Line by Line Meaning
Listen to reason
Pay attention to what I'm saying and try to make sense of it
In the back room where I started
In the place where everything began for me
From the beginning to the end
Throughout the entire experience
What do you want? do you pretend?
What are you trying to achieve? Are you being fake?
Right through the fucking mirror
Straight through the reflective surface
Right through the fucking wall
Straight through the partition of the room
Look into my eyes, I hope you die
Stare into my gaze as I wish for your death
Crushed into a million pieces
You will be destroyed into tiny fragments
Chop you up, and put you in the garbage disposal
I will cut you into parts and dispose of you
And rip your head off
I will forcibly detach your head from your body
And crush your neck with a fucking ten-inch knife
I will break your neck using a sharp, long blade
Punch a fucking bullet right through your brain
I will shoot a bullet directly into your brain
Right into the part of insanity, insanity
Penetrating the area of the brain responsible for insanity
Right down in the middle of your forehead
Directly at the center of your forehead
With a razor blade on your cheek
Dragging a sharp, thin blade across your cheek
To make you pretty, make you bleed
Causing both aesthetic improvement and injury
Right through the beginning, through the mirror
Going back to the start, through the reflective surface
Riding it backwards in the back room
Reversing direction while in the starting location
Don't you understand?
Do you not comprehend the severity of my words?
I'll chop you up into a million pieces
I will dismember you into countless fragments
I hope you fucking die
I have a strong desire for your death
Well I hope you fucking die
I really, really hope you die
Right through passivist, passivist
Straight through the pacifist mentality
Right through the passivist
Through the person who advocates for peace
Through history into your brain, we walk backwards
Traversing time and entering your mind, in reverse
Understand religion is the only card you play in your hands
Realize that the only tool you have at your disposal is your religious beliefs
I'll pull a knife, I'll cut your neck
I will take out a weapon and sever your neck
I'll chop your head off, I'll break your legs
I will detach your head and fracture your legs
I'll chop your legs off and put you in the freezer
I will amputate your legs and store your body in a cold container
Watch you freeze, freeze, freeze
Observe your body become colder and colder
Fucking die, fucking die
Die violently and aggressively
Watch your room, through your head in the room
Observe the surroundings, through the eyes of the victim
Where you are bleeding, from a circle
The spot where the victim is bleeding, forming a circular shape
I'll clean up your body parts with a fucking vacuum cleaner
I will use a household appliance to remove the remains of your body
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@chainz1129
I heard a band cover this once... very nice. Def a fav
@Ryokawshi
I had the beginning of this as a ringtone lol
@feebdaed
i had this song as ringtone a few years ago
@lemmixxxshow1044
Greatest Ever. My boy had a thing, a thing to say.
@Explosive-Variety
underrated
@3V1L3MP1R3_TM
epic jam just add some original visuals!!!!!!!!!!
@DM12128
Holy fuck this takes me back...
@ChristopherRhudy
I...umm... (mumbles to self) I mean the cartoon that I'm writing in my head... has a dude... who did a speedball to this song on a whim... it matches well... too well. (he said as he typed this message) I think this children's cartoon is going to rock, he added.
@isaacgraham5727
It’s pretty funny actually I used to post on this super dweeby Final Fantasy message board back in 1999-2000 or so. Turned out one of the moderators on that site also ran the official fan page for Velvet Acid Christ and was (some sort) of friend with Bryan Erickson. Which is how I discovered this band xD
@TH3WATCH3RS
fun with knifes? sound legit