Blind Illusion The Sane Asylum

Blind Illusion 'The Sane Asylum' (Combat/Under One Flag 1988)

By the time Speed Kills 4 'Speed Kills.....but who's Dying?' was released in 1989 I'd caught up a lot with the scene that I was first introduced to by Speed Kills 3 and I already had quite a few of the tracks which were presented. However, amongst the unknowns two songs stood head and shoulders above the rest; 'Chalice of Blood' by Forbidden and 'Bloodshower' by Blind Illusion.

'Bloodshower' sounded a little odd, the production values were somewhat less beefy than their Bay Area contemporaries, but the riffs, tempo changes and skittering drums were great and the 'mosh part' took up most of the song which was great. I loved the song and sought out the LP, finding it some months later in Avalanche with the telltale cut/slice through the cover that usually meant the record was a reject, or maybe an American promo, I've never worked it out. The vinyl has 'Combat' on it rather than 'Under One Flag' which suggests it is a US press.

'The Sane Asylum' features songs that were written as early as 1978/9, 'Death Noise' and 'Kamakazi', and the styles of the songs vary as much as their ages. This isn't a consistent thrash album; it isn't even a consistent album. The dreaded 'progressive' word can be used to describe many of the noodlings on show and that's not really much of a surprise as the band consisted of Les Claypool, soon to be of Primus, the band that do the South Park Theme, and Larry LaLonde, ex of Death Metal pioneers Possessed and also soon to be of Primus.

Let's just say that the musicianship is excellent with great solos, the occasional bass slap and really excellent drumming. Are the songs as good as the talent on show? No, not really. 'Bloodshower' is still an absolute classic, so much so that I really wanted In Decades Decline to cover it for a Thrash Metal compilation which unfortunately never happened, but the rest, apart from maybe 'Vengeance is Mine' , fall quite a bit short.

'The Sane Asylum' is an album which sends some metal fans into paroxysms of joy, leading them to call it the greatest album of all time. That is nerdish hyperbole from those who want to see something more than there is in their little band that they think nobody else has heard of. 'Master of Puppets' crushes this album on every front, even when it comes to being progressive. Although maybe Metallica saw a threat as the production lets the album down greatly and that was apparently handled by an uncredited Kirk Hammet.

Blind Illusion get quite a write up in Jeff Wagner's 'Mean Deviation' in which they are described as representing the 'hippie haven' side of San Francisco and recording an album that '...stuck out like a sore thumb amid other thrash albums of the era' an album which '..rode a loose, jammy vibe..' and featured songs which were '..swirled with the essence of pot smoke and essence'.

Mainstay and band founder, Marc Biedermann, reformed the band, 30 years after their inception, in 2009, released a second LP 'Demon Master', and played a bizarre gig where Blind Illusion songs were mixed in with a set of blues rock jams with local musicians. Like 'The Sane Asylum' he's still contrary and different, which should be applauded.

Peace