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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLIND ILLUSION Announces “STAGE FLIGHT: Live At The UC Theatre” Featuring Original Vocalist David White
Progressive Thrash Metal Pioneers Capture Historic 2025 Performance for New Live Album Due October 16, 2026

BERKELEY, CA — Progressive thrash metal pioneers Blind Illusion are set to unleash their new live album, STAGE FLIGHT: Live At The UC Theatre , on October 16, 2026 through Hectic Records / Bleeding Priest Records . The release captures a historic 2025 performance featuring original Blind Illusion vocalist David White , recorded at the UC Theatre in Berkeley, California, during a special celebration of Exodus’ 40th anniversary of Bonded by Blood .
For fans of Coroner, Watchtower, and Exodus , STAGE FLIGHT: Live At The UC Theatre showcases Blind Illusion at full power, bringing the band’s progressive approach to thrash metal to the stage in a performance that connects the group’s legendary past with its continuing evolution.
Originally established in 1978 , Blind Illusion has spent nearly five decades carving out its own distinctive place within the underground metal landscape. Led by mastermind Mark Biedermann on lead guitar and vocals, the band’s current lineup features Phil Cosentini on drums, Avery Thurman on bass, and Martin Lacour on lead guitar.
The new live album also serves as another chapter in the remarkable history of Blind Illusion and its landmark debut, The Sane Asylum . Originally released in 1988, the album has gone on to become regarded as a classic of progressive thrash metal. The record featured Biedermann alongside guitarist Larry Lalonde , bassist Les Claypool , and drummer Mike Miner , delivering now-classic tracks including “Vengeance Is Mine,” “Death Noise,” “Kamikaze,” “Smash The Crystal,” and “Blood Shower.”
Biedermann’s musical history extends well beyond Blind Illusion. In 1987, while working with legendary producer Sandy Pearlman , he contributed rhythm guitar and guitar leads to four songs for Blue Öyster Cult’s Imaginos , working alongside musicians including Joe Satriani and Robbie Krieger of The Doors .
Blind Illusion continued to evolve throughout the following decades. The band returned in 2010 with Demon Master , shifting toward a more traditional heavy metal sound. In 2014, bassist Harald Oimoen of D.R.I. joined forces with Biedermann and helped inspire a return to the progressive thrash metal style that defined The Sane Asylum .
Further lineup changes followed, including a 2017 incarnation featuring Doug Piercy of Heathen and Anvil Chorus on lead guitar. The band released the 2018 EP and toured Europe. In 2020, legendary Death Angel drummer Andy Galeon joined Blind Illusion, contributing to the band’s Wrath of the Gods album, released in 2022, followed by additional European touring and festival appearances.
In 2024, Blind Illusion introduced its current lineup and returned to the live stage. Then, in 2025, the band reunited with original vocalist David White , performing alongside Exodus, Death Angel, and Nukem at the UC Theatre in Berkeley on Paul Baloff’s birthday as part of the celebration surrounding Exodus’ 40th anniversary of Bonded by Blood .
That performance became the foundation for STAGE FLIGHT: Live At The UC Theatre .
The story didn’t stop there. Blind Illusion later appeared at the Frost and Fire V Festival in Ventura, California, where the band performed The Sane Asylum in its entirety for the first time in its history, giving longtime fans the opportunity to hear the influential album performed live as a complete work.
With STAGE FLIGHT: Live At The UC Theatre , Blind Illusion once again proves that nearly five decades into its existence, the band remains a vital force in progressive thrash metal. The release captures a significant moment in the band’s history while celebrating the music, musicians, and underground metal spirit that have kept Blind Illusion moving forward since 1978.
STAGE FLIGHT: Live At The UC Theatre will be released October 16, 2026 as a 12-inch vinyl LP , pressed at 33 RPM , through Hectic Records / Bleeding Priest Records .
Release Information

Artist: Blind Illusion
Title: STAGE FLIGHT: Live At The UC Theatre
Release Type: Live Album
Genre: Progressive Thrash Metal
Release Date: October 16, 2026
Label: Hectic Records / Bleeding Priest Records
Catalog Number: Hectic 009
Format: 12″ Vinyl LP
RPM: 33
UPC: 810213561508
Current Lineup

Mark Biedermann – Lead Guitar / Vocals
Martin Lacour – Lead Guitar
Avery Thurman – Bass
Phil Cosentini – Drums
Blind Illusion
Established 1978
Progressive Thrash Metal
For Fans Of: Coroner, Watchtower, Exodus, Heathen 

Connect: 
https://blindillusion.bandcamp.com/album/stage-flight-live-at-the-uc-theatre
https://www.instagram.com/blindillusionofficial
https://www.facebook.com/officialblindillusion
https://ffm.to/bclink1
https://www.hectic.com/product/blind-illusion-live
Contact:
David Hecht
Hectic Records
david@hectic.com

photo by Tomi Mäenpää (On October 9th Cruz Del Sur Music will release Let the Posers Fall!, a new album by the Finnish doom band Cardinals Folly. This provided an occasion for our Comrade Aleks to re-connect with the band for an extensive new interview with Mikko Kääriainen that we present below.) A band like […]

The post AN NCS INTERVIEW: CARDINALS FOLLY appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.

Over the weekend, Say Anything’s Max Bemis canceled a run of solo concerts after a 17-year-old girl posted allegations of inappropriate interactions on the Say Anything subreddit, sharing screenshots of what appears to be months of sexually charged exchanges over text and social media. In announcing that cancellation, Say Anything’s social media accounts cited “the need to prioritize his mental health and personal well-being.” The allegations have come out just before the release of Cherry Soda, a new collaborative album from Say Anything and Wavves. Now, Wavves frontman Nathan Williams has weighed in.

The post Wavves’ Nathan Williams Addresses Max Bemis Allegations Ahead Of Joint Album Release appeared first on Stereogum.

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Weeks of drought might have turned London’s Victoria Park into Arrakis, but like the Spice, the heaviness must flow. Outbreak’s takeover of All Points East brings new acts, old favourites returning, and the headlining set that proves Deftones have transcended from a band to a full-on experience. 

Words: Kate Allvey  //  Photos: Emma Stone

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Basement

‘Time Waster’s tumbleweeds of modern grunge herald the welcome return of Basement to the capital after their long hiatus. There’s an easy stampede to the front to see what they’re doing now they’ve evolved beyond emo, and the new status quo is melodic echoing snapshots that progress into booming slippery realness that encourages dramatic MTV-era pauses to let the emotion sink in.

Deafheaven

Let’s bring the Coachella vibes to one corner of our desert. Cosmically heavy, they bring a pit for those who need it and room to contemplate if you just want to let the waves of gorgeous shred wash over you. George Clarke’s growls keep Deafheaven grounded in their classic metal heritage and provide relief from the heat with a torrent of drums.

Mannequin Pussy 

Missy Dabice drops vocals like an anti-siren song, drawing us in with solidarity and curiosity, cavorting through ‘I Don’t Know You’s fields of riot grrrrl distortion. They’re the uncompromising, sophisticated siblings to Amyl And The Sniffers, with machete riffs to challenge and invigorate. ‘Control’ channels old school punk rebellion in magnificently tumultuous style; all babydoll eyes to distract you while they’re throwing a brick through your window.

Recluse

Recluse’s raw sound attracts more and more followers with every show they play. The way they drift through outrage and into soundscapes makes each brief set a punk journey, and if you aren’t pitting, you’re nodding along to their ferocious sentiment and rip-roaring screams.

Clarion

Are Clarion the perfect accompaniment to a Sunday afternoon in the park? Songbird vocals on ‘Cover Me’ veil a bold riffing edge that motors straight into ‘Blue Fairy’ with the kind of energy that Kim Deal would be proud of. Considered and vibrant, and even more dynamic under the huge arching X Stage which their sound fills along with the dust, Clarion are an exceptionally cool respite to the day’s heaviness.

Ecca Vandal

If you want taut, indefinable energy, look no further than Ecca Vandal. Jump like gravity’s flipping to screeching guitar then bounce to a sound that’s our favourite parts of everything during an uproar of a set that threatens to break out of the confines of the X stage and spark a street party to shake the looming tower blocks. Absorbing, infinitely danceable, and incredibly exciting.

AFI

The ex-goth-pinups-turned-post-punk-legends bring a mature show to the West field packed with hits to sandwich their latest tracks. Opening with ‘Girl’s Not Grey’ feels like a payoff of a lifetime of fandom for the crowd packed into the thin slice of shade, and ‘Love Like Winter’ sends the moustachioed Davey Havok into a one man dance-off. The path to their current incarnation is laid clear when ‘Holy Vision’ explodes into their set, but they’re more than capable of chucking in an anthem or two when ‘Beautiful Thieves’ comes out to play.

Amyl And The Sniffers

If there was ever a doubt that the Aussie punk sensations could pack a whole field, that’s been swept away with a flick of a bombshell-blonde curl. ‘Do It Do It’ brings the party; all you need is the right attitude and the right riffs and everything else just flows when you’re Amyl And The Sniffers. “You know it’s gonna be a good set when I’ve already lost one of my eyelashes,” laughs Amy Taylor, just before the big groove that evolves from ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’. Their pep, grit, and cartoonish ultra-human energy makes them a force to be reckoned with.

IDLES

‘Levitator’ makes for a gutsy opener from the mighty Idles. Their presence is huge and incendiary, and their posse is ready to go from drumbeats of ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’, roused by Joe Talbot’s everyman preaching. As the sun sets to frantic drum breakdowns, their infectious bravado and bass struts feel both abrupt and necessary. Horse impressions, anti-pop sax and a whole lot of rabble rousing make IDLES the main pull for more than a few festival-goers.

Deftones

This isn’t just a headlining set. Deftones have become so much more than a band; they’re a full body, total immersion experience now, with a show that slides deftly between hypnotic states. From behind the smoke, the opening to ‘Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)’ sparks an eruption as we surge into action. Deftones seem to float serenely against the bustle of the crowd, underscored with a gentle glow, as we’re led from ‘Around The Fur’ into ‘My Mind Is A Mountain’. Perhaps they were made for a space this massive, we think, as ‘Feiticeira’ echoes among the trees, vibrantly alien. Phones raise gently to capture the bass emptiness of ‘Mascara’, a sprinkling of flowers in the cooling night air. 

The music takes first place with the band as a mere medium for their vision. We get an “Alright! Let’s boogie!” from Chino Moreno half an hour into their set, but this isn’t the kind of show that needs a charismatic presence onstage. We’re here to lose ourselves for ninety minutes to a band who conjure whole worlds from memory and imagination if you let them. ‘Rocket Skates’ is bursting with blistering contradictions, and like the other newer songs, slots into their set effortlessly, but when they drop a headbanger like ‘Change (In The House Of Flies)’ or ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’, we are momentarily reminded that they are still one heck of a rock band when they chose to come back down to Earth. Whatever plane of existence they’re inhabiting, tonight could be their finest festival set in the UK to date.

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Click the image below to see more pictures from Outbreak at All Points East

When she is at her absolute best, Mary J. Blige makes some of the most viscerally human music you ever heard in your life. That’s what she has been doing ever since she arrived in the ’90s. Her voice registers raw, convulsive emotions — heartbreak, betrayal, joy, indignity, distaste for hateration and holleration in this dancerie. When she sings something like “Real Love” or “I’m Goin’ Down,” you feel it in the pit of your soul. That’s what makes her one of the greats, why her extremely of-the-moment commercial R&B records feel timeless. That’s also why it’s such a fucking drag to see her in a commercial for Suno, the generative AI music platform.

The post Mary J. Blige Did A Fucking Suno Commercial appeared first on Stereogum.