Early years (1982–1986) Blind Idiot God was formed in 1982 in
St. Louis, Missouri when its members were teenagers. Before adopting
free jazz and
dub influences, they essentially played
hardcore punk, with their songs being roughly one minute in length. During this time, they socialized within the St. Louis hardcore scene, including members of Drunks with Guns and
Ultraman. After failing to find a vocalist that shared their musical aspirations, the band opted to continue as an instrumental outfit. After hearing their self-produced cassette demo,
Greg Ginn of
Black Flag signed them to
SST Records, and the band moved to
Brooklyn in 1986.
Debut album and critical acclaim (1987–1988) The band began searching for a producer who would be willing to work with their mixture of
noise,
dub and
heavy metal. Originally, Hawkins wanted to enlist the aid of British producer
Adrian Sherwood, known for his work with numerous
reggae groups as well as his contributions to the
industrial hip hop ensemble
Tackhead. In January 1987, Blind Idiot God entered B.C. Studios to record with producer
Martin Bisi, who they had met through composer
Bill Laswell. Their debut album, the
eponymously titled
Blind Idiot God, was released on
SST Records in 1987 and received critical acclaim. While gnerally categorized as
heavy metal and
noise rock, the music also hinted at
free jazz and
European classical music influences, with its final three tracks showing strong influence from the
dub genre. The virtuosity of the band's players was praised in an article for
Electronic Musician, which said "Andy Hawkins' guitar dips and swirls, chases its tail, and ultimately screams its existence, while Ted Epstein and Gabriel Katz lend form and substance on bass and drums respectively. At 19, 20, and 21, the trio is young enough to dazzle with potential. Jazz, heavy metal, reggae, art music - B.I.G. has elements of all of these, yet establishes their very own recipe."
Underground success and second album (1988–1992) The success of Blind Idiot God's first album coupled with powerful live performances earned them recognition in underground music circles. The band soon began collaborating with
avant-garde composer and saxophonist
John Zorn. Zorn contacted the band after attending one of their performances at
CBGB's and professed his enthusiasm for their work along with his desire to collaborate with the group. The band joined him onstage on numerous occasions to perform improvised music, Zorn compositions and even in his John Coltrane cover band "Ascension" which featured infamous 2 minute versions of Coltrane compositions like
A Love Supreme and
Ascension. Praising the Blind Idiot God's knack for memorable melodies and rapid tempo-changes combined with Laswell's production,
EAR Magazine declared
Undertow superior to their debut and "as addictive as a pot of strong coffee."
Third album and hiatus (1992–1996) Released four years later, the band's 1992 album
Cyclotron was seen by some as lackluster due to the reliance on ideas previously explored and absence of distinct experimentation. In 1993, Blind Idiot God and
Henry Rollins wrote and recorded the title song for the movie
Freaked, marking the first and only time the band collaborated with a vocalist. On April 13, 2016 the Blind Idiot God embarked on their "Raise the Titanic" tour, which marked the band's first live shows outside of the United States. Concurrent with their tour,
Before Ever After was reissued for worldwide distribution. In 2017, the band announced the re-issue of their second album
Undertow. Set to be released on October 13, the newly remastered release is to include two versions of "Freaked", a collaboration with former
Black Flag vocalist
Henry Rollins and Blind Idiot God's sole composition to feature vocals. They also announced plans to re-issue
Cyclotron. == Musical style ==