The Second Relic

Blood Moon is the second chapter of this quest.

I’ve always been drawn to the slow, crushing gravity of certain sounds — tones that don’t just distort, but loom.

Drone, doom, sludge, experimental heavy music: genres where gain is not aggression alone, but atmosphere, weight, and ritual.

Bands like SUNN O))) taught me that saturation can be meditative, terrifying, and beautiful at the same time.

Blood Moon was born from that fascination.

Unlike many high-gain pedals that only shine at the extremes, Blood Moon reveals its true voice in the space between.

That’s why I introduced intermediate gain stages — to fully exploit the haunting, harmonically rich tone that lives in the middle of the gain range.

It’s a place most circuits rush past. Blood Moon dwells there.

The texture is grainy, raw, and unapologetically organic, yet incredibly musical.

It’s a pedal that’s genuinely hard to make sound bad — almost impossible.

Every setting feels intentional, alive, usable.

What surprised me most is how deeply it stayed with me.

I now reach for Blood Moon even in my most chill, restrained compositions, where its subtle saturation adds character rather than chaos.

I truly believe I’ve found something magical again.

A sound that invites exploration instead of correction.

A tool that doesn’t fight you — it pulls you in.

That is Blood Moon.

Controls:

Born from the echo of ancient amplifiers pushed beyond reason, this pedal channels raw power through a carefully corrupted signal path.

At its core lies a deceptively simple control — a single knob governing the flow of gain — but beneath the surface, two arcane switches unlock four distinct stages of saturation, each one a deeper descent into harmonic chaos.

The first stages deliver massive, authoritative drive: thick, mid-forward, and unyielding, capturing the crushing weight of an overdriven power section.

But when the final two stages are engaged, the circuit reveals its true nature.

Here, a deliberately engineered asymmetrical clipping reshapes the waveform, introducing unstable harmonics, snarling overtones, and a raw, almost vocal aggression. The response becomes less polite, more feral — notes fracture, sustain blooms unevenly, and chords pulse with living energy.

This is not transparency.

This is not subtlety.

Blood controls both gain and output volume simultaneously.

As you pass the halfway point, the pedal begins to erupt with power, pushing the circuit into its most aggressive and saturated territory.

Below noon, the tone opens up and brightens, becoming tighter, more articulate, and significantly more controlled.

This lower range is where much of Blood Moon’s subtle character and harmonic detail lives.

Eclipse unlocks the upper gain stages of the circuit.

When engaged, it shifts Blood Moon into its more extreme, overwhelming voices:

3rd gain stage: Eclipse ON + Umbra OFF

4th gain stage: Eclipse ON + Umbra ON

These stages deliver maximum density, sustain, and saturation.

Umbra gives access to the lower gain stages, shaping the foundation of the pedal’s voice:

1st gain stage: Umbra OFF + Eclipse OFF

2nd gain stage: Umbra ON + Eclipse OFF

These modes emphasize control, dynamics, and tonal clarity, making them ideal for restrained, textural, or even surprisingly clean-heavy applications.

Specs:

• True bypass

• Hand crafted and tested

• 100% analog signal path

• 9V DC Center Negative ~50 mA

• Mono I/O

• Top mounted jacks

Download the   User Manual 

The Art:

At Sidequest Audio, the visual identity is treated with the same care and intention as the sound itself.

Every pedal is the result of a deep artistic collaboration — a union between sonic and visual craftsmanship.

For the artwork, I teamed up with a close friend whose work has always inspired me.

His sketch-style illustrations carry a nostalgic essence — reminiscent of an era when character design, fantasy art, and creativity itself reached a peak that still feels unmatched today.

His art evokes a world that feels alive — inhabited by mysterious, esoteric figures and ancient stories waiting to be rediscovered.

That sense of depth, of lived-in mystery, resonated perfectly with what Sidequest Audio stands for.

It was, without question, a match made in heaven.

Artist: @michele.biasonz