Fun with Knives

Amazon.com
A curiously accessible album from Bryan Erickson, a.k.a. Velvet Acid Christ. Much more listenable than his past efforts (which were burdened with noisy sound effects and sludgy production), Fun with Knives seems to make a play to the dance floor with a cleaner sound that rests squarely on bouncy keyboard lines and sequenced grooves. Even Erickson's vocals, though still distorted and lyrically violent, have been softened a bit. Unfortunately, song titles like "Fun with Drugs," "The Dark Inside Me," and "Psycho" (with its creepy, Illusion of Safety-like samples) won't win him many friends in a post-Columbine High School shooting world, but such are the themes gothic-industrial music traffics in. In the end, Fun with Knives is a solid 74 minutes of industrial dance music that should please fans but won't do much to advance the genre. --Steve Landau

Tracks:

Decypher
The Dark Inside Me
There Is No God
Icon
Fun With Drugs
Speedball O.D.
Psycho
Slut
Apflux
Fun With Knives
Caught
Track 12
Track 13
Track 14
Track 15
Track 16
Track 17
Track 18
Track 19
Track 20
Track 21
Track 22
Track 23
Track 24
Track 25
Track 26
Track 27
Track 28
Track 29
Track 30
Track 31
Track 32
Track 33
Track 34
Track 35
Track 36
Track 37
Track 38
Track 39
Track 40
Track 41
Track 42
Track 43
Track 44
Track 45
Track 46
Track 47
Track 48
Track 49
Track 50
Track 51
Track 52
Track 53
Track 54
Track 55
Track 56
Track 57
Track 58
Track 59
Track 60
Track 61
Track 62
Track 63
Track 64
Track 65
Track 66

Amazon.com

A curiously accessible album from Bryan Erickson, a.k.a. Velvet Acid Christ. Much more listenable than his past efforts (which were burdened with noisy sound effects and sludgy production), Fun with Knives seems to make a play to the dance floor with a cleaner sound that rests squarely on bouncy keyboard lines and sequenced grooves. Even Erickson's vocals, though still distorted and lyrically violent, have been softened a bit. Unfortunately, song titles like "Fun with Drugs," "The Dark Inside Me," and "Psycho" (with its creepy, Illusion of Safety-like samples) won't win him many friends in a post-Columbine High School shooting world, but such are the themes gothic-industrial music traffics in. In the end, Fun with Knives is a solid 74 minutes of industrial dance music that should please fans but won't do much to advance the genre. --Steve Landau

Customer Reviews:

FUN WITH KNIVES IS VERY FUN INDEED.......2006-07-23

well my favorite tracks would have to be Decypher, The Dark Inside of Me, Slut, Psycho, Caught, and Speedball O.D. i believe that this is perhaps one of VAC's greatest albums ever. it is extremely dark and twisted and at the same time danceable. with various types of synths and melodic trancelike beats, prepare to travel into the mind of a serial killer.....

Overused sampling and slightly FLA wannabee-ish.......2005-07-13

I bought Fun With Knives yesterday when I had not even heard anything by VAC, I'd heard they were good, and it was 10$... so I was like "what the hell" and went with it. I do not regret the decision, but I'm not overjoyed by it. The album is a very solid industrial album, bleak, deep, slightly dancy and overall very dark and angry. Fans of "The Downward Spiral"/"Broken" era Nine Inch Nails, "The Mind is a Terrible thing to Taste" era Ministry, Skinny Puppy or Front Line Assembly can not really go wrong here. Sadly, this is more similar to Front Line Assembly's Implode than basically anything, even other FLA albums. It is good, but takes the genre in no new directions, and considering the possibilities that electronica has, it is somewhat disapointing.

My only other gripe is the sampling, there is way too much of it. The "this place is a tomb" or "are we dealing with an epidemic??" on FLA's Implode stuck in my head for a full day after hearing them. Fun With Knives is so overloaded with samples, and they were powerful when I heard them, but minutes later all I would remember was something about violence, killing people or drugs and not much else. Sometimes things are better when used with restraint.

Despite this, it is a good goth/industrial electronica album that will not leave you disapointed. Be warned - I doubt you will be blown away with it either.

One of my favorite industrial albums.......2004-08-15

I have been searching high and low for "Fun With Knives" for a couple of years now. A friend of mine introduced me to a couple of songs by VAC on some cds she burned for me and I immediately was hooked. It is rare for me to find a cd that I love immediately, "Fun With Knives" is one of those cds. I loved this cd the second "Decypher" blasted through my stereo's speakers. The album is heavily techno-influenced which made listening to the music much more pleasing to my ears. Bryan Erickson definitely has one wicked sense of humor. Just look at his lyrics like "Fun With Drugs" and "Sl*t". For Luxt fans, Anna sings lead vocals on the song "Sl*t" which is one of the standout tracks on this cd for me. The music at times did remind me of Front Line Assembly with the atmospheric samples but for the most part I thought the music had a distinct identity of its own. I read somewhere that Bryan Erickson wanted to create a more pop orientated track ala Delerium hence the song "Sl*t". As accessible as the song is, I didn't think it came anywhere close to Delerium's current music. That's just my POV. I love that song anyways. It is one of my personal favorite tracks on the cd. I just love Anna Luxt's seductive vocals. I think "Fun with Knives" is a good introduction to Velvet Acid Christ for anyone who is curious to hear their music.

Fun with Acid.......2004-08-13

When I told a friend of mine that I just bought Fun with Knives, he told me that The Velvet Acid Christ is cool but weird. He is right. Bryan Erikkson has a really odd sense of humor. I like his style. Influenced by Ministry, and Nine Inch Nails, he creates angry but powerful industrial dance floor music that just makes you want to go crazy. He even adds in samples of movies,ie-Fun with Drugs has Johnny Depps begining monologue from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". Speedball is a song you can listen to when you are just really pissed off at your boss. Go out and get this album!

Okay and obvious.......2004-02-26

More than many other industrial albums, or whatever genre or sub-sub genre you want to throw this in, Fun With Knives seems almost too obvious, providing exactly what you would expect from the cover art and track titles.

Providing exactly what you advertise is not wrong, in fact, it's admirable in some way. But the problem is there's nothing really spectacular here, and I'm left wondering why this should be seen as any better than a good portion of Skinny Puppy or some of FLA's better work.

The biggest gripe is the sampling, of course. Sampling can be great, but working an entire piece around a big chunk of the drug speech from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is beyond obvious. C'mon. Good sampling can leave you with a quote in your head that means nothing alone but has bee given weight in the song. You don't want to know the samples already, especially on an overly cliched drug song.

The dark, industrial sound is all there. Select certain synths over a 4/4 beat, and it's industrial, select different synths, and it's another sub-genre...etc. There's a good energy, there's mischief and some demented thoughts, it's basically a pretty good album, but not very distinguished in the end--it won't hold up.

Recommended if you like VAC, or music of a similar vein. But you may find yourself thinking you had the same ideas before you played the album...

Album Review: