Performing and recording together first as members of Berlin-based avant-doom unit Reliq alongside vocalist Grayl, Lefort, and Rosenbluth (who also fronts Berlin magickal collective U n R e a l) founded Shaddah Tuum in 2013 as a natural outgrowth of their developing facility with computer production tools. The pair employ avant-garde compositional techniques such as serial sequences, microtonal melodies, sample-based production, synthetic vocal manipulation, spring reverb, and feedback loops generated by sound sources like guitar, percussion, voice, and field recordings, which are then processed through a complex array of digital effects and generative modules. On stage, the duo aim to integrate physicality and abstract sound, leaving space for channeling of volatile creative impulses.

Shaddah Tuum debut 12" Merkabah (accompanied by remixes from Downwards affiliate Samuel Kerridge and Italian duo Dadub and described by Little White Earbuds as "feral night music of a rather high grade") saw a limited release in 2014 via Portals Editions, a Berlin-based sound art collective curated by Lefort and Rosenbluth alongside Marijn Degenaar and Yair Glotman (aka Ketev).