The two members of New Brunswick doom metal duo Zaum—vocalist/bassist Kyle Alexander McDonald and drummer Christopher Lewis—got the self-described “mantra doom” band together in 2013 and released their first record, Oracles, shortly after, in 2014.
“We just hit a point where we both weren’t busy musically, and I kind of realized that I wanted to make a very concentrated effort to finally bring my full vision of songwriting and ideas to fruition, and Chris was totally down to get behind the kit again because it had been some time since he’d been drumming,” says McDonald. “All the previous bands I’ve played in, it’s always been a conjoined effort with songwriting, but this was the first time that I’ve had my creative perspective be the only one, for the most part.”
Zaum’s sound largely revolves around bass and drums, complemented by sitar and synth textures. The band are on their third Canadian tour, but it’s not just North America where they’ve found an enthusiastic fanbase.
“It’s an unbelievable experience; we’ve played in 19 countries now,” says McDonald. “We’ve done six tours overseas, mainly in Europe. Our record label is actually based in Sweden, and we also have a publicist and our agent who are both also in Europe. So we tend to focus on Europe, but of course we’re from Canada. There’s no question that [Canada] is one of the most beautiful countries to tour in the summer, and we have so many very close friends here.”
One thing that makes Zaum stand out is the process through which they create and play their music. Because McDonald happens to be an experienced sound engineer, the duo are able to produce all of their own tracks. The catch, however, is that they purposely strive to keep their music sounding raw, underproduced, and—as they put it—“monolithic,” all the while infusing their records with their doomy mantra metal sound.
“We have this thing with our songwriting that I guess is a little different,” says McDonald. “We approach it with a concerted effort to try and underproduce the material as much as possible. You know, all these bands are always getting producers, and of course that’s a huge thing in the industry. Zaum, with what type of thing it is, it felt best to approach it in as primitive a way as possible. I’ve recorded over 200 records, but I’ve seen the whole process of how it always works; it’s interesting to take this completely different way about things, and you get different results that way.”
Zaum
9 pm, Wednesday August 16
$10, Logan’s Pub
loganspub.com