Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve has reworked DOOMSQUAD’s Pyramids on Mars, which Clash Magazine describes as, “Flushed with electronics, the eight minute re-work is genuinely stunning: a languid, wide-open re-work flirts with lysergic realms while remaining rooted to urban claustrophobia.” Listen to the remix of the track via Soundcloud below.
Having formed in 2012 siblings Trevor, Jaclyn, and Allie Blumas soon began to explore trance and electronic beat making. Their shared fascination with dance culture, rhythm, and the unknown, along with their lifelong immersion in the arts, began to manifest as a collective ethos. Before long, DOOMSQUAD had mushroomed into a full-scale art project.
Inspired by some of their favourite artists — Georges Bataille, Richard Tuttle, Tanya Tagaq, and Genesis P-Orridge — DOOMSQUAD travelled to the New Mexican desert to write and record ‘Total Time,’ creating dark, pulsating beats interspersed with hypnotic, incantatory jams. Upon returning home the band continued to draw inspiration from the Toronto arts community, their friendships and connections led to some fortuitous collaborations, including one with Canadian avant-garde legend, Mary Margaret O’Hara, whose otherworldly vocals grace The Very Large Array. The driving, dirty bass lines and analogue layers of effects come care of Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck), who produced and mixed the album.
The record features a number of other contributors: Mike Haliechuk of Fucked Up plays guitar. Industrial noise experimenter David Foster aka HUREN offers vocals on Russian Gaze. Colin Fisher and Brandon Valdivia of free-jazz duo Not the Wind, Not the Flag bring instrumentals. And galactic twins Josh and Jesse Hasko, who perform as North America, are also a crucial part of ‘Total Time’ and are now members of DOOMSQUAD’s live act.
‘Total Time’ track listing:
1. Who Owns Noon in Sandusky
2. Pyramids on Mars
3. Collective Insanity
4. Its the Nail That Counts, Not the Rope
5. Solar Ass
6. Farmer’s Almanac
7. The Very Large Array
8. Eat The Love
9. Russian Gaze
The band has also announced a string of UK/EU tour dates – see the full details below.
DOOMSQUAD tour dates:
Saturday 17th September – In/Future Festival, Toronto
Friday 4th November – Iceland Airwaves Festival
Tuesday 8th November – Café Video, Ghent, Belgium
Wednesday 9th November – The Waiting Room, London (tickets)
Thursday 10th November – Oakford Social Club, Reading
Sunday 13th November – The Old Pint Pot, Manchester
Monday 14th November – Komedia Studio, Brighton
Tuesday 15th November – Het Depot – Leuven, Belgium w/ Peaches (tickets)
Wednesday 16th November – Hafenklang, Hamburg, Germany (tickets)
Thursday 17th November – P8, Karlsruhe, Germany
Friday 18th November – TBC, Zurich, Switzerland
Saturday 19th November – TBC, Leipzig, Germany
Sunday 20th November – Urban Spree, Berlin, Germany
Tuesday 22nd November – Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Wednesday 23rd November – Vera, Groningen, Netherlands
For more information on DOOMSQUAD, visit handdrawndracula.com.
