")[12][13] Others included Iron Maiden, Mr Bungle and Faith No More[1] (whose Angel Dust he cited as "the album that hits you at age sixteen that will more than likely be there for you your whole life).

[14] He has described his initial style of guitar playing as coming from a "a real trained metal, prog-rock background", characteristics which he would mute in his early career in favour of a less virtuosic approach.

[13] During the mid-1990s, Vennart attended the Popular Music course at the University of Salford, where he met the other members of Oceansize, forming the band in 1998 following a Mogwai concert.

Mike Vennart's solo career proper began in 2014 with the Bandcamp download-only single “Operate” on which he was joined by another former Oceansizer, Steve Durose.

In an interview with Total Guitar, Vennart confessed "I’d wanted to do something for years, even before the old band broke up – I’d had a hankering to do something a little more egocentric, I suppose, because Oceansize was very much a collaborative, painfully fucking democratic collective.

"[5] In an accompanying review, Alex Lynham wrote "it would be an understatement to say that modern progressive rock fans have high expectations for this album.

It’s been well worth waiting for…"[21] Writing in Sputnik Music, review Sulkenigma deemed The Demon Joke to be "a fantastic album" and greeted "the feeling of high expectations being wholeheartedly met", while noting a few comparisons to Biffy Clyro and "Audioslave in the style of Cardiacs" and observing "there's a new found purity and conviction in Vennart's words, even when he's singing about soldier businessmen or the directionality of where a lie goes when it requires death… Mike is finally doing what the *** he wants to do and his cronies from past endeavours want nothing more than to indulge his brilliant mind… (It’s a) small but powerful and sugary sweet cake of long lasting delight.

"[24] While fitting comparisons to New Order, The Blue Nile and Mew into his own review for The Progressive Aspect, Jez Rowden noted that "Vennart has said “I wanted to be experimental and unusual and still write pop songs", and so he has for a good number of years now and here he has put together a sparkling release, cunningly and lovingly crafted from relatively simple parts, the arrangements and dedication to intoxicating melodies building them into more than their individual face value might attest...

There are no fiddly extended instrumental workouts, these are songs plain and simple, an album of short sharp shocks that benefits from the brevity to give expansiveness without undue length.

Its a mini-goliath that refuses to be relegated to its size… less immediate than its predecessor, but given time it’s a far deeper and more rewarding listen – with plenty of trademark catchiness wrapped up in a weirdo rebellious spirit.

"[28] Baker added "taking a more expansive and progressive route then its predecessor The Demon Joke, songs are now flowing liquids ready to fill any space that it may find itself in...The whole works soars on a bedrock of twinkling synths and a buoyant guitar tone, trading in heavy riffs for more ephemeral hooks...

"[28] Writing for The Soundboard Reviews, Luke Nuttall gave the album six marks out of ten and noted "the fact that To Cure a Blizzard Upon a Plastic Sea is ostensibly about maturing as a person while retaining brief hints of childhood wonder (which is why some of these track have titles like "Donkey Kong" and "Robots in Disguise") serves as a handy analogy for the album itself, one whose focus ends up at smoother, less noteworthy passages with a sense of real excitement only showing up in short bursts.

The likes of "Binary" and "That's Not Entertainment" are deeply entrenched in the softer ‘70s style of prog, but with the borderline Britpop tones of "Friends Don't Owe" or "Sentientia"s big, theatrical strokes condensed into the album’s most immediate hit, the effort to make this a more diverse listen is definitely appreciated.

Even amidst the constantly shifting sounds, very few actually stick in the long run, and it leaves the overall longevity of this hour-long album as something to be desired... that deeper level of depth isn't really there, and To Cure a Blizzard... can be a rather hollow listen because of it.

[1][17] This eventually led to the recording of a stand-alone Vennart single, "Dick Privilege", inspired by the events and pressed on "gammon-coloured vinyl" for release in March 2020.

[31] In the publicity material, Mike Vennart commented "this album was written quickly during lockdown, and features an altered line up from our usual outings.

Joe Lazarus is on drums, Charlie Barnes contributed the exquisite piano parts, and Ben Griffiths of Alpha Male Tea Party added some massive bass to three tracks.

It’s easy to imagine a range of aspirant post-Mars Volta progheads eyeing up the song’s transition from a camp piano bridge to a crushing tail-end as something they could potentially make their own, but there’s an uncommon sense of conviction in the sequences of distortion that briskly transform the track’s latter end from charming to chilling.

These shifts in tone aren’t prog gimmickry; they’re formidable songwriting from a steady performer, and if Vennart rounds it off with the most savage screams he’s belted out in quite some time, all the more kudos to him.

The cohesion and sheer heft undoubtedly produce Vennart’s finest solo work to date, deftly covering a lot of ground to provide an experience both visceral and intoxicatingly beautiful...

Alternative sounds, metal scope, mathy intensity and psychedelic bursts of colour are moulded into something mature and masterful, dripping with melody and gut-punch heaviosity.

Music-wise, we receive bits of everything he has composed so far, going from softer post-rock to explosive pieces… The way Vennart toys with less conventional approaches to the songs’ structures maintains an element of surprise.

Also, for the most part, he avoids classic distorted guitar chords, enhancing instead the heaviness of the bass and drums in order to fill the spaces where usually those would soar up front.

"[35] In 2023, Vennart formed the extreme metal band Empire State Bastard alongside Biffy Clyro singer/guitarist Simon Neil and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo.

[1][4][36] Although he has used other guitars (including the Fender Jazzmaster and the Gibson SG), Mike Vennart favours the Squier Stratocaster "pretty much all the way... I’ve had (it) since I was eleven, and the only original thing is the wood.

We’ll buy more gear.’ I was like, ‘That guitar – I don’t have any other bit of gear where I’m like, ‘Without that, I’m nothing.’’...”[13] An overview of Vennart's pedalboard in 2015 revealed a Death By Audio Echo Dream 2 for delay (backed up with Boss DD-3 and DD-7 pedals); an Electro-Harmonix POG 2 polyphonic octave generator; a Danelectro Fab Tone (“for when I just want to kill everyone"); a Dwarfcraft Shiva Fuzz ("real volatile, horrible; it’s not nice"); an Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork (replacing a DigiTech Digital Whammy); and three units by Green Carrot Pedals – a Cornstar distortion pedal, a Dirty Radish boost and overdrive, and an Infatuator.