Maeror Tri
Meditamentum II

THE REVIEW

Maeror Tri made history in ambient-industrial music: founded in 1988 by Stefan Knappe and Helge S. Moune, later joined by Martin Gitschel. Their aim was to create a form of hypnotic music that would immerse the listener in a transcendent dimension. The sound of Maeror Tri was generated by the use of electric guitars and other manipulated gadgets. The effect created was something unique: their music incorporated elements of avant-garde, minimalism, and industrial without forgetting the lessons of the German Cosmic Couriers and the more intelligent new age “meditation”. It's difficult to compare them to other similar groups, although perhaps some affinities can be found with the English Zoviet France. Among their masterpieces are surely the quiet and meditative Meditamentum, the hypnotic and transcendent Myein, and the explosive Language Of Flames And Sound, also characterized by exceptional artwork that made them real collector items (Language Of Flames And Sound featured an actual human brain in cardboard). Meditamentum remains, even years after its release, a real cult object. The music is dark, imbued with an underlying tension, yet at the same time meditative and able to project us into a metaphysical dimension. The overall atmosphere is hypnotic: it reminded me of Popol Vuh from Affenstunde and Tangerine Dream from Zeit with their motionless stillness, not forgetting also the lesson of the great Cranioclast. Originally, the album was released in two separate chapters, then reunited by Zoharum in 2013 in a double CD. Meditamentum is a cult album that fans of dark ambient and electronic music should not miss.