Blind Illusion - Demon Master

San Francisco’s Blind Illusion finally gets together after a two-decade-plus hiatus and releases its second full-length, Demon Master. After 1988’s impressive Insane Asylum (which I bought in my junior year of high school!) the band tries once more to dip into the well to wet its palate. The band has certainly grown and is revisiting its roots in straight-forward heavy rock with some serious blues-based tunes sprinkled with funk as well as some fast-paced traditional metal compositions that border on Sabbath-like riffing. Marc Biedermann croons and slithers out his vocals with all of the syrupy ease of Log Cabin over hot cakes. His nonchalance and easy delivery makes the album so much more enjoyable. His voice obviously aged and bellows in a bit lower register, yet still resounds nicely.

Not to take anything away from Robert Nystrom (drums) or Danny Harcourt (bass), the music on Demon Master is very sensory; it sticks to your brain like a thick, doom-laden haze most often achieved through intense introspection but also with aid of chemical enhancers, whatever your particular mode of transportation might be. The casual simplicity is masked by deep-carved arrangements throughout that will certainly make you want to listen to it on a regular basis. The influences range from the late 60’s fuzz right up to early 80’s doom, all with a true touch of modern flavor.

The great thing about this album is it stays ultimately true to the band’s late 70’s roots in traditional heavy metal, all the while expanding on that sound to an impressive plateau. The Sane Asylum had definitive moments of thrash and some technical speed, making it one of the finer releases of the period. The latest release shows a slower, yet still very heavy Blind Illusion that rolls over you like a moving van filled with cinder blocks. The casual fan of traditional metal will definitely find favor with Demon Master, as should some fuzz-rock fans, doom metal heavies, disciples of funkadelic, prog-rock freaks and plain old Blind Illusion fans that may have worried that the latest installment wouldn’t hold water.

Standouts for me are “Mahakala,” “Midnight in China,” and “Heaven’s Devils,” which sounds like a modern metal blues track. I love the old-school late 70’s feel of the production with every instrument viable and discernable. Blind Illusion may have taken a couple of decades to get back to us, but accept them with open arms because the layoff has been worth the wait.        

Release Date: July 7, 2010
Label: Demon Master 

TRACK LISTING

1.  Merger
2.  Mahakala
3.  Heaven's Devils
4.  Precurser - Demon Master
5.  Gargantuan
6.  Midnight in China
7.  Cajun Fang
8.  Storm Cloud

Total playing time:  43:05

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*Comments:

Reviewer: Chris

July 17, 2010