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Velvet Acid Christ
Lust for Blood

Metropolis Records

Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007
By: Nate Rand

One had to wonder at this point how long Velvet Acid Christ would be content with releasing the same album year after year. Was there a time during which massive brainstorming occurred, only to be cast aside for fear of losing an audience that have proven they are resolutely unable to make anything other than a positive value judgment regarding VAC's work? Apparently this is so, and we are now witnessing some of these scrapped ideas come to light. It is too bad that what has surfaced would have been better off on the cutting room floor. Instead of coming across like a legitimate growth in VAC's sound, these "new" ideas feel like tacked on efforts to "diversify" a stylistic output rather than redefine it. The casual listener will notice several blatant nods to classic death rock on Lust for Blood, such as a poor channeling of dead goth icons on "Parasite" and the spacey, raincoat guitar playing on "Crushed." While one has to give credit to VAC for stepping outside of its well defined parameters, one must also own up to the fact that it is too little, too late.

In addition to the new stylistic elements on display within the confines of Lust for Blood, there are some notable absences. Chief among them would be the energy typical of VAC's work in the past. There are almost no instances during which the pace on this album rises above a slow amble, and while the increased emphasis on down-tempo pieces may be appealing to some, it will instead impart the message that the group has officially run out of gas to most. Instead of integrating a newfound sense of dynamics into their traditionally aggressive style, VAC has opted to pop a handful of Quaaludes and ride off into the sunset with the e-brake on. In so doing, they have also forgotten how to steer, for Lust for Blood showcases a spectacular lack of direction while simultaneously managing to avoid interesting landmarks along the way. Even though this release is markedly different from previous efforts in several ways, it still suffers from the same basic problem: a fundamental lack of identity. Who are you really, VAC? At this rate, we may well never know.