Evil Blizzard
Rotting In The Belly Of The Whale – Crackedankles Records
Evil Blizzard isn’t a band to play by anybody’s rules (let alone their own) so it’s been all change since they released their last album. Adding guitar to their multi-pronged bass assault has opened up new musical avenues, as has the arrival of Hawkwind’s Mr. Dibs and while previous albums were recorded in one or two takes, this effort was over three months in gestation. Still influenced along the Sabbath-PiL-Killing Joke axis, Evil Blizzard have widened their palette to encompass electronica and goth, and while this might be an anathema to their core fan base, more open-minded souls will be rewarded with a richly textured album that’s at once darkly discombobulating and strangely enticing. However, long term fans needn’t worry, this is still the same bunch of genre-hopping maniacs producing music that’s united by its own eclecticism meaning that the space rock vibe of ‘Lullaby’ nestles next to the post-metal title-track effortlessly. Over a decade since they first burst onto the scene, Evil Blizzard are still finding new ways to confuse and confound their fans, and long may that continue.
Review by Peter Dennis