Review: Velvet Acid Christ – 'Dire Land (The Remix Album)'

VELVET ACID CHRIST
'Dire Land (The Remix Album)'
METROPOLIS RECORDS

Velvet Acid Christ the musical vehicle of Bryan Erickson should need no introduction. Having spent over 20 years blending industrial, ebm, trip-hop, and trance into pioneering albums such as 'Church Of Acid', 'Fun With Knives', and 'Twisted Thought Generator' spawning a host of club orientated classics in the process.

2015 sees Erickson return with the remix album 'Dire Lands' which sees guests such as God Module, Decoded Feed Back, Dead When I Found Her, Assemblage 23, Dead Hand Project, and Controlled Collapse add their spin to cuts from the previous two VAC albums 'Maldire' and 'Subconscious Landscapes'. But that's not all as the album goes beyond the usual remix fare to include a couple of extra treats in the form of remakes of 'Sex Disease' and 'Even Now' along with a new mix of 'Lust' and a cover of Dead Milkmen’s 'Big Time Operator' featuring Rodney Anonymous.

The album as a whole preserves and enhances the club appeal of the original tracks with the contributions from Decoded Feedback, Assemblage 23, and Controlled Collapse. While the likes of 'Lust', 'Sex Disease', 'Big Time Operator', 'Even Now', and 'Dystvonya' add to the variety at work on the album. It is a diverse and satisfying track list that is dance heavy but also perfect for intimate listening.

The production is pretty consistent throughout the album. With the original tracks and the remixes emphasising different elements of the Velvet Acid Christ palette the album doesn't have a particularly uniform direction. But the final mix down and mastering keeps everything on the same page nicely.

As far as remix albums go this is a pretty solid one with a diverse range of approaches plus some not to be missed additions to keep things interesting. You could argue that it is one geared more towards the long-time fans of the band, but it is still a pretty decent primer and companion to those who have only recently become familiar with VAC.  

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