by Zaum’s new track/video for “The Enlightenment (Part I) is full-on atmospheric with heavy Middle Eastern elements. Presented as a sci-fi interpretation of the Egyptian God Osiris, the video tells of a man’s quest for eternal life. Musically, the first spends a lot of time building atmosphere before the vocals come in. Having never heard Zaum before, I expected to hear a vocal style closer to black metal or even death metal, but it was surprising to hear a cleaner approach. Watch the video on this page.
Hailing from Moncton, New Brunswick, the award-nominated and -winning mantra doom duo Zaum will start a month-long tour of Canada beginning August 28th, in Saint John, New Brunswick. Support on the tour will come from Sweden’s Firebreather, whom they toured Europe with last year. See the list of dates below.
The tour is also in support of Zaum’s latest album, Eidolon, released during October 2016 via label I HATE Records with distribution via Plastic Head/Sony Music throughout Europe and Century Media in North America. Since the album’s release the band has been touring heavily in Europe performing in multiple countries with the likes of Pentagram and Cauldron and festivals including Roadburn last year (with the likes of Baroness and Chelsea Wolfe). The band has also garnered multiple award nominations and wins most recently a 2018 East Coast Music Award for Loud Recording of the Year.
Zaum‘s Kyle Alexander McDonald (bass/vocals/synth/textures) commented about the track:
Being that I’m a giant fan of the work of Seth Smith and Nancy Urich (of Cut/Off/Tail) due to their unique and unconventional approach to filmmaking – I felt Seth’s David Lynch-esque perspective could be a bizarre yet intriguing take on ‘The Enlightenment’ for people to consider. Their work (like our music) inspires and encourages thought rather than providing literal answers. I’m thrilled with the result and hope people open their minds to the layers of potential reality.
McDonald also had some words about the tour:
We’re floored to have Firebreather join us for this Canadian tour, much of which was a makeup for the cities we missed last summer. We toured three weeks across Europe with the three-piece Swedish stoner doom band and are very close with them, both personally and also intertwined with them lore-wise within Zaum. Their lead vocalist Mattias sang a part on our last album and will be performing that live with us here in Canada for the first time. Our intentions are to head directly into the studio afterwards and finish album #3 with a 2019 release in mind.
Zaum Canadian Tour Dates:
w/ Firebreather
08/24/18 – Saint John, NB @ Secondspin *
09/13/18 – Ottawa, ON @ Orange Art Gallery **
09/14/18 – Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo **
09/15/18 – Sudbury, ON @ Townehouse
09/16/18 – Hamilton, ON @ Doors
09/17/18 – Barrie, ON @ Foxx Lounge
09/18/18 – TBC @ TBC
09/19/18 – Kitchener, ON @ Hellcat
09/20/18 – Windsor, ON @ Windsor Beer Exchange
09/21/18 – Toronto, ON @ Coalition T.O.
09/22/18 – Quebec City, QC @ Scanner (venue change from Vietnam)
* denotes ZAUM only!
** denotes tribal dance artist Nawal Doucette performing in ZAUM
About Zaum:
Zaum is a passage toward the dark realizations of the old world; a monolithic doomy mantra based meditative experience forged by bass and drums interwoven with sitar, woodwind, string, and synth textures. Based in Moncton, NB – observers experience a tranquil resonance whereby the astral and physical planes can co-exist and be understood from a natural perspective.
Zaum Is:
Kyle Alexander McDonald (bass/vocal/synth/textures)
Christopher Lewis (drums/percussion)
Rock Hard \m/
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