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Velvet Acid Christ
Between the Eyes Vol. 2

Metropolis Records

Posted: Thursday, March 16, 2006
By: Stephen Sodergren

Continuing his journey into his own past, Bryan Erickson's Velvet Acid Christ releases his second retrospective album in the Between the Eyes series. This second volume contains a great representation of where Erickson and Gary Slaughter, his fellow collaborator (now ex-VAC member), were in 1994, around the time of the original European release of Church of Acid, VAC's first full-length release. The disc is comprised of demos and outtakes of the Church of Acid sessions, as well as some finished tracks taken from that album to create a well-rounded view of how such an innovative band began. Church of Acid, as you may be aware, was given two separate releases: the original European release and the American release that contained a track rearrangement from the European disc with some tracks and versions replaced with different versions or entirely new tracks. Between the Eyes Vol. 2 takes from both of these versions as well as the rare and out-of-print Neuroblastoma that was limited to 2,500 copies. Some of you who own all of those releases are wondering, "Why should I buy an album in which I have all of the tracks already?" Well, this album also includes tracks which were previously unreleased such as the mellow Cure-influenced "Falling Snow," the dark and echoed synthesizings of "Rain For 27 Days," and the exhilarating trips into Hell known as "Decent to Darkness," "Hail to the Dead Souls," and "Killing Me," as well as the fun Sunday morning pre-church track "I'm Gonna Wrap Myself in Your Intestines." Well, isn't that special? Come on now, you know you want this album! Once again, Between the Eyes Vol. 2, like its predecessor Between the Eyes Vol. 1, is for the die-hard Velvet Acid Christ fans and Erickson released it for that reason. If you are into them, then you will love every bit of it. If you aren't familiar with VAC, you may find a new love with this release and see what you have been missing. And just so we are clear on this, if you disagree with any comments or opinions in this review, I will wrap MYSELF in YOUR intestines!