Blind Illusion

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orming in late 1978, Blind Illusion was an institution in the SF Bay Area for years, going through numerous lineups and musical styles (for example, at one point they were a progressive rock band). The original formation consisted of David Godfrey (later of Heathen), guitarist Mark Biedermann, bassist Alvin Petty and drummer Bret Hern, but by the time they were ready to record in 1987, only Biedermann remained, along with drummer Mike Miner, guitarist Larry LaLonde (fresh from Possessed) and a budding eccentric bassist in one Les Claypool. The resulting debut album they recorded a full ten years after their founding, The Sane Asylum (1988), was a thrash metal album. Soon enough, however, this lineup broke up, with LaLonde and Claypool finding fame and fortune with Primus, and Blind Illusion faded into obscurity, known as one of those one-hit wonders.

Biedermann went on to occasionally do session work for bands like the aforementioned Heathen as well as Blue Oyster Cult. There was talk of releasing a long-lost second album entitled The Medicine Show that featured LaLonde and Claypool, but that never happened. Finally, in 2010, a new Biedermann-led lineup featuring Danny Harcourt (bass) and Robert Nyström (drums) released a sophomore album in the form of Demon Master (2010). Bearing absolutely no similarity to the previous album, or thrash metal, drawing more from pyschedelic rock, seventies prog, blues, and funk.

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