Over the course of time some artists evolve with their works and others stay the course with what has worked in the past. Bryan Erickson, known by fans and peers worldwide as Velvet Acid Christ, has always had madness to his methods and a hell of a lot to say socially. Since the ground-breaking Neuralblastoma in 1995 VAC has fused dance-oriented, dark Electronica hooks, rambling Trance and Rave effects with crunchy Industrial drum kits and distorted harsh vocals to create monster club hits worldwide while leaving fans with lyrics and images meant to provoke discussion on a visceral artistic level. After a decade of constant club play (which saw 9 more studio albums and various singles) VAC changed up the style quite a bit for 2006’s Lust For Blood. Adding acoustic guitars, live drumming and some slower - but no less creepy - compositions, Erickson showed he was starting a new phase of the project. The result, while generally critically acclaimed, seemed to be a mixed bag with fans. The new album The Art Of Breaking Apart continues strongly down this path.

Right away long-time fans will notice (and likely react to) the vocals. Gone is the creepy vox distortion that has been a VAC trademark and in its place is Bryan’s actual raw voice. This works extremely well with the oftentimes heavier and far more introverted lyrics. It even recalls touches of Nirvana and Human Drama at the low points. In fact, raw is a word that could describe the whole album: The lyrics are more personal, the atmosphere is more ambient this time around, and the instruments (including the synth hooks) are more organic and simplistic. “Silver,” the final track on the album, even contains a 17-minute interview with the band on where the album came from, who Bryan and his co-collaborator Todd Loomis are and what the album means. If you decide to purchase this it makes the vinyl or CD a must have simply for the interview since the online versions don’t carry it. I don’t normally advocate this but I would encourage people to listen to the interview first since it preps you A LOT for what the album is.

With that disclaimer out of the way Harsh Electro fans can take heart. While the album overall has more of a new Rock vibe there are still power tracks to be had. More attentive fans will spot that “Tripped Out” and “Phucked Up Phreak” are updates with new sound effects and gear and should be considered all-new tracks. “Caustic Disco” is an aggressive, beat-laden club romp that ranks among their best ever and “Killed in Space” is an instrumental of the Industrial Rave variety that could easily have been on a classic like Fun with Knives. In terms of the ‘new’ sound “The Art of Breaking Apart” is a plaintive, depressing acoustic ballad that will hit you in the gut as hard as any Rock band could while “Black Rainbows” is a hybrid number with acoustics and synthesizers blended into an Ambient miasma of emotion.

In the end this album proves that VAC as a project has a huge future as long as it can keep up with its own limitless imagination. To me the new wrinkles don’t necessarily move the band forward or backward in any sense. Rather, this is a logical lateral movement of style that some fans will flock to and others won’t. I love this record a lot and would comment it may be their best yet in terms of production value but a case can certainly be made by longtime followers that it’s too much of a departure from what they want/expect. Perhaps by stripping his world down to its cold and depressive core Erickson can impart The Art of Breaking Apart to fans who want to learn.

Must have tracks: “Tripped Out,” “Black Rainbows,” “Phucked Up Phreak,” “The Art of Breaking Apart,” “Caustic Disco,” “Silver (album version).”

For fans of: Combichrist, Covenant, SITD, Suicide Commando, Accessory.