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Blind Illusion are one of those bands that casts a long shadow without a lot of actual output. The band has existed, in one form or another, since 1978, with a long hiatus from 1992 to 2009, and this is only their third full-length album. Their debut, The Sane Asylum, had a legendary rep when it was released in 1988, but it didn’t apparently sell very well, and now it’s major claim to fame is that Les Claypool played bass on that recording. The band reformed in ‘09—or rather, vocalist/guitarist Marc Biedermann and some guys he recruited—and put out an album called Demon Master, which apparently nobody liked. Now, 12 years later, we have this, the grandly titled Wrath of the Gods.

I have to be honest and say I never heard this band before. Their debut wasn’t easy to find back in the day, and the presence of Les Claypool is not really a selling point for me, so I had never looked them up in the years since. That said, I find myself liking this album, even if I can’t say how it compares to past efforts. This is nicely heavy, and the riffs have a lot of flair without verging too much into technical territory. Biedermann’s vocals are a sneery Thrash style that I find nicely retro, and the songwriting has enough variety and energy to keep things interesting. If you like genuinely old-school Thrash, then this will hit the spot.