Velvet Acid Christ

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Velvet Acid Christ
General information
Genre (s) Electro-Industrial , IDM , Goa-Trance , Trip-Hop
founding 1990
Website www.velvetacidchrist.com
Founding members
Bryan Erickson
Keyboard, drums
 Grigory Bilham (until 1992)
guitar
 Chris Workman (until 1992; 1994–1995; 1997; 1999–2000)
Current occupation
Vocals, keyboard, guitar, bass, synthesizer
 Bryan Erickson
former members
Gary Slaughter (1992–1997)
Dan Olson (1997–1998)
Steve Bird (1997–1998)
Josh Wilson (1999)
Lisa Wilson (1999)
Paul Lipman (2000–2003)

Velvet Acid Christ ( VAC for short ) is an American band from Denver ( Colorado ). It was founded around 1990/1991 by Bryan Erickson and Grigory 'Grig' Bilham.

history

Before VAC was founded, Bryan Erickson (aka Disease Factory, Disease or Phuckhead) was active in various bands, such as: B. O-Pop, Disco Disease Factory ( parody of C + C Music Factory , which became famous with the hit Everybody Dance Now ) and Toxic Coma (music that consists exclusively of samples).

In 1992, Grigory Bilham went to jail for having committed several thefts. Since Erickson now lacked a keyboard player, he and his friends Gary Slaughter, Dan Olson and Steve Bird decided to focus on the fun project Toxic Coma. Gradually, Gary Slaughter bought a few synthesizers to revive VAC with Erickson in 1992. Although they initially operated under the new name Vortex , they later changed their name back to VAC. Between 1992 and 1994 they released several tapes, including remix tapes, all of which were sold as limited editions of 50 copies.

At the end of 1994 the label Electric Death Trip Records (EDT) was founded to distribute the new CDs within the USA. In 1994 two albums were recorded: Fate and Pestilence . With titles like Futile , Dead Flesh and We Have To See We Have To Know are the first VAC hits. In mid-1995 they released the metal- knotted CD Neuralblastoma . Influences from Godflesh , Ministry , Napalm Death and Nine Inch Nails are evident on this CD . That same year, work began on the next album, Calling Ov The Dead .

In the early summer of 1996 Thorsten Stroht heard about the CD. He worked for the German independent label OFF BEAT and was responsible for the merchandise stand of Front Line Assembly at the time. He liked the CDs. Thorsten Stroht and Stefan Herwig offered Erickson a record deal . In November 1996 the CD Church of Acid was released in Europe , which contained an OFF BEAT! Selection of the first three CDs. Slaughter came back for a short time, but this should rather serve to promote the album through interviews and photo opportunities. As the relationship between Workman and Slaughter deteriorated dramatically, Workman suffered a nervous breakdown and no longer wanted to be listed in the Church of Acid booklet .

After a remix for Suicide Commando and the maxi-single The Hand , which was rather moderately successful, Gary Slaughter left the band for good. Workman returned to the band and now played under the pseudonym Baphomet . Furthermore, Steve Bird and Dan Olson became permanent band members for a short time. With these three members, Bryan Erickson completed the concept album Calling Ov The Dead after a beta version by OFF BEAT! had been rejected because it had too few dance elements. In March 1998 the album was released. Five songs were from the time with Gary Slaughter, but songs like Malfunction , The Calling (F *** Sh ** Motherf ** ker Mix) or BSAT 2 dominated the CD. According to Bryan Erickson, 80% of the CD came from his pen; the other band members were listed as musical assistants.

In late summer 1998 there was a club tour with Suicide Commando. Since Chris Workman was not interested in going on tour, OFF BEAT! Find substitute musicians for the live implementation of VAC. The decision was made for Thorsten Stroht (formerly clinic ) and Ingo Beitz ( cold colors ). The three really got to know each other on tour. With hits like Malfunction , The Hand or Futile in tow, VAC was able to register its first successes.

Shortly after the tour, an Art Church of Acid Part 2 called Neuralblastoma was released. Half of it consisted of tracks from the original Neuralblastoma and was supplemented by tracks from the Fate and Pestilence albums. At the same time, Erickson started work with Chris on the next concept album, Fun with Knives . In spring 1999 Remix Wars Vol. 4 - Funker Vogt vs. Velvet Acid Christ released. Bryan Erickson brought some guest musicians into the studio to conclude Fun with Knives . With Josh and Lisa Wilson on the synthesizers and Lisa von Luxt as a guest singer, the CD Fun with Knives was released in April 1999 . At the same time, the maxi single Fun with Drugs was released in the USA under the name DECYPHER due to fears of censorship . On the album influences from Goatrance ( Decypher and Fun with Drugs ) to Trip-Hop ( Slut ) and the pop-heavy icon were processed. A planned US tour had to be canceled because Erickson broke his foot. For this he toured Europe with a constantly changing line-up from spring 2000 to late summer 2000. The highlight was the performance at the Doomsday Festival , where even Skinny Puppy celebrated their comeback.

Twisted Thought Generator was released in November 2000 . Some audio files from the early days between 1993 and 1994 have been added to the CD in order to offer fans a double CD at a single price. Bryan Erickson was persuaded to go on a US tour with Haujobb and DIN FIV . He was supported by Thorsten Stroht (synths) and Paul Lipman (synths and electric percussion). In March 2001, the Maxi-Single Dial 8 was added to the Twisted Thought Generator album with some remixes and a video clip for Decypher .

From 2001 to 2003 Bryan Erickson underwent a nerve and body treatment. He quit drinking, smoking, all other drug use and the consumption of junk food , began to play sports, made new friends and finally continued work on the next album Hex Angel (Utopia: Dystopia) . In October 2002 he announced the release of the maxi single Collapsed . In September 2003 the CD Hex Angel was released. The influence of noise and power noise bands (such as NoiseX , Converter or Imminent Starvation ) was also new . His maxi Pretty Toy made it to the Billboard charts and the album also had some hits.

Between November 2003 and March 2005, the Between the Eyes series was published. With these releases he followed up on the older albums Church of Acid and Neuralblastoma , which had been out of print for a long time. The series consisted of four parts, which contained older material from the Fate , Pestilence and Neuralblastoma albums, as well as older singles and B-Sides. On August 25, 2006, the single Wound was released, which is the harbinger of the album Lust for Blood, which was released in September on Metropolis Records.

style

The style of music combines a variety of influences. The musical spectrum ranges from electro-industrial and IDM to trip-hop , Goa trance and metal . The virtuoso and in this form outstanding game with electronic effects and speech samples appears artistically particularly interesting. The basic mood is often combative and aggressive and characterized by fast rhythms and distorted singing. Thematically, the themes of despair, mendacity, drugs, betrayal, but also love and hope are taken up.
Sometimes there is a mess with the music that can certainly be understood as a mirror of the mastermind's mental state. But there is also plenty of room in VAC's music for melancholy melodies.

Discography

  • Fate (1994)
  • Pestilence (1994/1995)
  • Neural Blastoma (1995)
  • Calling Ov The Dead - Beta (1996)
  • Church of Acid (Best 1994-1996) (1996)
  • The Hand (released on Quadrophobia and O-Files) (1997)
  • Calling Ov The Dead (1998)
  • Neural Blastoma - Church of Acid Part 2 - (1998)
  • The Remix Wars Vol. 4 - VAC vs. Radio operator Vogt (1998/1999)
  • Fun with Drugs / Decypher (1999)
  • Fun with Knives (1999)
  • Fun with Razors (4-track CD in the Fun with Knives Box) (1999)
  • Twisted Thought Generator (2000)
  • Dimension8 (as MP3 on the Twisted Thought Generator) (2000)
  • Dial8 (2001)
  • Pretty Toy (2003)
  • Hex-Angel (Utopia: Dystopia) (2003)
  • Between the Eyes Vol. 1 (Singles, B-Sides, Remixes 1996-2000) (2003)
  • Between the Eyes Vol. 2 (Fate 1994) (2004)
  • Between the Éyes Vol. 3 (Pestilence 1994–1995) (2004/2005)
  • Between the Eyes Vol. 4 (Neuralblastoma 1995) (2004/2005)
  • Oblivion Interface (as MP3 on the official site) (February to August 2004)
  • Wound (MCD) 2006
  • Lust for Blood (2006)
  • The Art Of Breaking Apart (2009)
  • Maldire (2012)
  • Subconscious Landscapes (2014)
  • Dire Land (The Remix Album) (2015)
  • Greatest Hits (2016)
  • Wreck (2017)

Web links