Evil Blizzard @The Ruby Lounge, Manchester, UK
09.07.16
Alejandro De Luna
I’m not sure if I could call this a normal gig…
It is instead, a freakish feast of chaos and coordinated cacophony – a utopian wonderland for bass fetishists and devotees of anarchic music. Evil Blizzard is a dark and unique creature, taking some of their influences (Black Sabbath, The Fall, Hawkwind, The Stooges, Killing Joke, Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground) and genres like Krautrock, Space Rock, Doom, Post-Punk and Psychedelia to unexplored territories. The Preston-based band features 4 roaring bass guitars and a singing drummer – all infamously dressed up with macabre masks and eccentric customes. Just by the bizarre structure of the band and the weird looks, you can expect that this live event will be beyond peculiar.
Evil Blizzard’s line-up includes a glam creature on glitter pink and platform boots looking like a zombified and twisted version of Jobriath with a grotesque mask; then you have the Spinal Tap-esque long-haired-headbanging-leather fetishist with a ghoulish smiling mask; then the tall Texas Chainsaw Massacre doppelgänger with a ‘bloostained’ lab coat; and the androgynous flasher wearing a Chinese cheongsam; and of course, the drummer, looking like a messed up version between Ledger’s Joker and one of those sect enthusiasts on Kubrick’s Eye Wide Shut.
READ FAT WHITE FAMILY @ ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER [REVIEW]
Through an artillery of blasting bass guitars, hypnotic barricades of sound and the drummer’s Hawkwind-esque vocals, Evil Blizzard effortlessly – and unconsciously – invite the audience to engage in mosh pits and stage invasions of an inconceivable level – during the last song, when the noise and chaos reached its peak, Evil Blizzard even grants control of their instruments to the stage invaders whilst one of the band members leads the sonic pandemonium.
At an Evil Blizzard gig there are so many events happening at the same time that is hard to scan what’s really going on. Think off a small, packed and sweaty venue. Now think off a chaotic song reminiscent of Hawkwind’s ‘Born To Go’ (Space Ritual). Then add the pantomime freak show dishing out a demolishing barricade of noise; stage invaders plundering the scene; veteran and over weighted Mancunians moshing with slaughtered pig masks and plastic hatchets, later joined by some members of Evil Blizzard; stage diving attempts; audience members kidnapping the instruments; and a guy in a disturbing mask unexpectedly joining the chaotic scene to play sax.
Evil Blizzard is beyond entertaining. Unpredictable and musically complex. Original. Obscure. Loud as fuck. Primitive. Sinister. Visually shocking. Sonically disturbing. Anarchic. Chaotic. They are like any other band in the UK at the moment – a rare music incident with merciless stamina that will leave you speechless and buzzing in your ears for a while. This doesn’t happen so often in music.
