Doodseskader

Belgium’s Doodseskader share new single ‘It’s Not An Addiction If You Don’t Feel Like Quitting’, taken from their debut album Year One out 18th November via Isolation Records which is a victorious testament of tackling life’s obstacles head first.

Translating to “death squad” in English, Doodseskader is made up of singer/bassist Tim De Gieter (Amenra, Every Stranger Looks Like You) and singer/drummer Sigfried Burroughs (Kapitan Korsakov, The K).

 ‘It’s Not An Addiction If You Don’t Feel Like Quitting’ almost wrote itself. Ever since the first song they ever made, they decided to give the tracks their final names at the time of writing - the combination of the music and name shaped the identity and subject matter of the lyrics.

Addiction has many forms and faces, which the pair (and in a broader context everyone) have dealt and struggled with. Too much of a good thing can become a bad thing, and sometimes a bad thing just seems too good to quit or kick. The track mirrors all stages of it; it starts off quiet and inviting, the ethereal highs in the chorus, and ending violently.

Sigfried says of the track, “I feel that my time to change has come, perhaps since I became a father. I'm ready to get rid of old habits that felt comforting and safe but led me nowhere. Doodseskader gave me a new perspective, strength and hope. Our brotherhood and the future envisioned for this band provides me with a level of confidence and assures me I’ll never be alone on my path. And neither will you.”

It’s video was made by Sam Timmerman, where he poured the bleak tones of the song into a playful and cheerful floral garden. The thirst of the lushy flowers is constantly quenched by the rain, while the fences smoothly visually amplify the feeling of the thirsty flowers being stuck. The moon, who’s beholding the spectacle, is formally used as an element of freedom, juxtaposing with the servile and routine acts of the flowers.

This follows previous track ‘Alive & Not Well’ which also comes with a unique 3D animated video created by animator Anton Cla. He used the lyrics to create an eclectic mediaeval universe with themes of sacrifice and suffering, as well as being inspired by old Renaissance paintings and Polish folklore, he 3D-scanned churches and playgrounds into his hometown Ghent, Belgium.

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Though still a relatively young band, Year One opens a new artistic chapter for Doodseskader. They are a hip-hop act in one moment and a grunge band in the following, just to transform into a full-blown sludge or hardcore steamroller next. Sometimes they are all and sometimes none of the above – there’s no way to pin them down. “Being able to draw from different musical genres makes us who we are. There's no specific genre we’re looking at. Great songs are great songs. It’s craftsmanship.”

Further expanding their unique sonic palette, Doodseskader did not only look back to the great bands of the past for inspiration, but also made a conscious effort to discover fresh artists from all corners of the musical realm, sharing an open mindset with genre-defying trailblazers like Show Me The Body, Ghostemane, and Ho99o9. While they kept their trademark reverb-drenched bass sound, they incorporated more production details, many of them found in techno – adding even more depth and dynamic to their crushing mix.

Written in late 2020 and once again recorded by Tim De Gieter in Much Luv Studio (Amenra, Brutus, Absent In Body), Year One is as much a declaration of war as it is a declaration of independence: Doodseskader are here to cut their own path – and you better not stand in their way.