Logo of Maeror tri, authored by Helge S. HammerbrookHelge S. Moune and Stefan Knappe performing as a part of 1000schøen and Troum, respectively.
Maeror Tri was an ambient, noise and drone music band from Germany founded in the 1980s which consisted of Stefan "Baraka H" Knappe, Martin "GLIT[s]CH" Gitschel and Helge S. Hammerbrook.
In a way similar to Zoviet France, they used only live instruments to produce music with an enormous number of effects applied. They disbanded in the late 1990s after releasing a number of limited-edition records. They released music on labels such as Old Europa Cafe, Ant-Zen, Staalplaat, and Soleilmoon.
Stefan and Martin continued under the name of Troum, while Helge is recording as Tausendschoen and as H.S. Hammerbrook. Stefan Knappe is also the founder and owner of Drone Records.
German band Maeror Tri was founded in April 1988 by Stefan Knappe and Helge S. Hammerbrook (in early years as Helge as Moune). The group consisted of three members who only used electric guitars and tons of processing devices to create their droning soundscapes. Their music borrowed elements from Industrial, Avantgarde, Minimalism and New Age meditation to reach a new form of transcendentalism. Very little is known about their origins, even the identity of the band’s members remains vague, except for Stefan Knappe, the group's spokesperson and also owner of the label Drone Records. Nevertheless it is for sure that all three members origin from the city Leer in northern Germany and know each other since their time in school.
The name they chose is probably an incorrect Latin expression that may be better translated as "The Mourning Three" or "The Grieving Three".
"Dedicated To A New Dawn", their first cassette, was self-released on their own Baracken Records in 1988, soon followed by many more cassette works on labels like ZNS, Tonspur and Audiofile, and a lot of compilations appearances.
In 1993 Korm Plastics (a label ran by Frans de Waard) released the very first "overground" Maeror Tri album "Multiple Personality Disorder" a concept CD divided in four long parts recorded back in 1991 that fully showcase their mastery in distorting and layering guitar sounds. It was soon followed by "Meditamentum", a collection of selected tape tracks recorded from 1988 to 1993.
"Myein", a monumental work recorded between 1992 and 1993, was released on american label ND in 1995. This work presented three long tracks that well exemplify some of the aspects of their art: the gothic droning of "Phlogiston", the ambient-electronica of "Desiderium", and the cosmic doodling of the 47 minutes long title track.
"Language of Flames and Sound", released on Italian label Old Europa Cafe in 1996, continued to chronicle the group's evolution into more abstract domains.
In late 1996, as the group was about to break into the growing experimental electronica scene, one member of the band, Helge S. Moune, decided to quit, leaving Knappe and his other partner to continue as the duo Troum.
"Mort aux Vaches", a symphony in three movements and the group's installment in Staalplaat's series of experimental electronica, and "Emotional Engramm" (on Iris Light), probably their most accessible recording, were both released posthumous in 1997.
Archive material has continued to surface over the years after the group ceased to exist: a second volume of "Meditamentum", released on Manifold in 1999, salvaged more material from the early years limited edition cassettes, while the "Hypnotikum I" and "Hypnotikum II" LPs are valid examples of the group's live attitude.
Discography - LPs/EPs/singles
Year
Title
Format
Label
Notes
1988
Dedicated To A New Dawn
MC (C-60)
Baracken Records
Private release
1988
Perception Kills
MC (C-60)
Baracken Records
Private release
1989
Peak Experience
MC (C-60)
Harsh Reality Music
1990
Peak Experience
MC (C-60)
Bestattunginstitut
Two tracks differ from prior version
1990
Somnia Et Expergisci
MC (C-60)
IRRE Tapes
split with Nostalgie Eternelle
1990
Ambient Dreams
MC (C-60)
ZNS Tapes
1991
Fragilitas
MC
Drone Records
only private presents were made
1991
Sensuum Mendacia
MC (C-45)
Direction Music
1991
Subliminal Forces
MC (C-60)
Tonspur Tapes
1992
Hypnobasia
MC (C-45)
Old Europa Cafe
1992
Venenum
MC (C-60)
Audiofile Tape
1992
Timeless Transcension
Video (VHS)
1993
Multiple Personality Disorder
CD
Korm Plastics
1993
Saltatrix
7"
Drone Records
1993
Yearning For The Secret(s) Of Nature
MC (C-77)
Fools Paradise
1993
Mind Reversal
MC (C-60)
Hithlahabuth
1993
Archaic States
MC (C-60)
G.R.O.S.S.
1994
Ultimate Time
MC (C-60)
Old Europa Cafe
1994
Meditamentum
CD
Holonom HOL01, edition of 500 numbered copies
The only release of this label ran by Robert Osten, later continued as RAUM 312 and now EDITION AURINIA
1995
Physis
7"
Fools Paradise
1995
Myein
CD
ND 1000
1995
Mystagogus
7"
Noise Museum
1995
Ambiguitas
MC (C-60)
Lebensraum/N&B
1996
Exorbitant
7"
Ant-Zen
1996
The Beauty Of Sadness
MC (C-70)
Direction Music
1996
Language Of Flames And Sound
CD
Old Europa Cafe
1997
Mort Aux Vaches
CD
Staalplaat
1997
Emotional Engramm
CD
Iris Light
1998
Pleroma
Pic-10"
Ant-Zen
1998
Hypnotikum I
LP
Soleilmoon
1998
Simulationswelten
7"
Rendezvous Radikal
Together with Telepherique
1999
Meditamentum II
CD
Manifold Records
1999
Venenum
CD-R
Üne
1999
Hypnotikum II
LP
Poeta Negra/Absurd
2000
Mind Reversal
CD-R
Blade
2000
Forazeihan/Broken Books and Wings
Pic-7"
The Disaster Area
Split with Crawl Unit
2001
Yearning For The Secret Of Nature
CD-R
EE Tapes
Reissue
2005
Hypnobasia/Ultimate Time
2CD
Old Europa Cafe
Reissue
2005
Meditamentum
CD
Manifold
Reissue
2005
Myein
CD
Waystyx
Reissue
2005
Peak Experience
CD-R
Blade Records/AFE
Reissue
2005
Sensuum Mendacia
CD-R
L White Records
Reissue
2005
The Beauty Of Sadness
CD
Tantric Harmonies
Reissue
2010
The A.V.E. - Tapes / Live in Nevers
CD
Zhelezobeton
Live recordings
Discography - Compilation appearances
Year
Track title
Appears on/Compilation name
Format
Label
1989
Wheel
The Final Compilation
MC (C-60)
De Koude Oorlog
1989
The Last Perception
Tape Rebel 9
MC (C-30)
Weed Music
1990
Growing Rotation
Detonator
MC (C-60)
Bestattungsinstitut
1990
Ecstatic Singing
Non-Nuclear War
MC (C-60)
ZNS Tapes
1990
Cursed Colours
A Tender Tension
MC (C-60)
Pharaoh Chronium Sounds
1990
Chirping
Crime On Family Bombed Mother And Son
2MC (C-90)
Black Death
1990
Endless Space
Three Into One Vol. 7
MC (C-60)
Clockwork Tapes
1990
Secret Ways Of A Pyramid
Three Into One Vol. 7
MC (C-60)
Clockwork Tapes
1990
Tranquilizer
Three Into One Vol. 7
MC (C-60)
Clockwork Tapes
1990
This Is Heaven
Three Into One Vol. 7
MC (C-60)
Clockwork Tapes
1990
Participation
Stuhlgangsblockaden
LP
Schimpfluch
1991
Choir Of Transcendence
Devastating Templaric Sounds
MC (C-60)
Biotope Art Organization
1991
The Seven Signals
It's Time
MC (C-60)
Black Death
1991
Tremor
Paradoxical Paralysis
MC (C-60)
Bestattungsinstitut
1991
Arcana
Double-Mind
MC (C-60)
Tears Compilations
1991
From Where Comes This Fear?
Double-Mind
MC (C-60)
Tears Compilations
1991
Ankh
Double-Mind
MC (C-60)
Tears Compilations
1991
Prior
Magnetic Fields
MC (C-60)
SPH
1991
Love In A Vacuum
Magnetic Fields
MC (C-60)
SPH
1991
Omnium
Magnetic Fields
MC (C-60)
SPH
1991
Searcher
Ninians Night Elves
MC (C-90)
Love Is The Reason Why
1991
Ab Inferis
Motop 2
CD
If Records
1992
Amygdalae
A New Kind Of Torment
MC (C-60)
Linea Taktika
1992
Ingenium
Behind Mysterious Gates
MC (C-60)
No Control Torture
1992
Lacus Mortis
Allianz
MC (C-60)
Pallentin
1992
Entropy's Child In A Thoughtful Mood
Keine Einzelgänger
MC (C-90)
Cat-Killer
1992
Exiltas
Neue Muster Vol 8&9
2MC (C-40)
Tonspur
1992
A Storm Of Sparks
Metallverarbeitende Industrie
MC (C-45)
Bestattungsinstitut
1992
Ardor
Behind Mysterious Gates
CD
No Control Torture
1993
Inner Lightning
Nightporters Vol.2
MC
Jeremy Bamber Tapes
1993
Droning Souls
Macrocephalous Compost
Video (VHS)
Old Europa Cafe
1994
The Glowing Of Night
Vexatio Cerebri
MC (C-60)
Contaminated Productions
1994
Philemon
Bad Alchemy #23
MC
tape-magazine
1994
Suavitas
Outbreakers II
CD
Ebu's Music
1994
Ultramundan
Veromon
MC (C-60)
Ant-Zen
1994
Subliminal Conversation
Atmosphere & Empathy
MC (C-60)
Ebu's Music
1994
The Reckoning Space
Notre-Dame Vol.7
MC (C-60)
EE-Tapes
1994
Searcher (Fragment)
Real Underground Vol.1&2
MC (C-90/60)
Progressive Entertainment
1994
Searcher (Fragment)
Auf Abwegen #16
MC
tape-magazine
1994
Spiritual Emanations
Auf Abwegen #16
MC
tape-magazine
1994
The Beginning Of The Unmeasured
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
CD
Fools Paradise
1994
Immersion In Emotion
From The Hills Of Dream
Video/MC
Direction Music
1995
Fragilitas
L'Ordre Et Le Chaos
CD
Actus Dei
1995
Inner Spheres Deceasing
Invisible Domains
CD
Malignant Records
1995
Neophobia
Pathological Resonance
MC (C-60)
Anomalous Records
1996
The Anaesthetise
Slumbermusic
CD
Universal Egg Records
1997
Terraformen 1
Régénération - Dégénérescence
2CD
Cynistrose
Notes
Some Maeror Tri material is available for free download.
ZNS Tapes, long defunct tape label from Germany is offering catalogue of all music released by the label during its existence from 1987 to 1993. Some of the offered works include "Ambient Dreams" by Maeror Tri and a compilation called "Non-Nuclear War" to which Maeror Tri contributed track called "Ecstatic Singing". Link
Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody. It uses textural layers of sound which can reward both passive and active listening and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation. The genre is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual", or "unobtrusive" quality. Nature soundscapes may be included, and the sounds of acoustic instruments such as the piano, strings and flute may be emulated through a synthesizer.
The cassette culture refers to the practices associated with amateur production and distribution of music and sound art on compact cassette that emerged in the mid-1970s. The cassette was used by fine artists and poets for the independent distribution of new work. This article focuses on the independent music scene associated with the cassette that burgeoned internationally in the second half of the 1970s.
Cultural Amnesia (CA) are an English post-punk music group, first active between 1979 and 1983 as participants in the so-called cassette culture of the late 1970s and early 1980s in the UK. During this first period the band released three cassette albums: Video Rideo (1981), The Uncle of the Boot (1983) and Sinclair's Luck (1983) on English and German record labels, and contributed to a number of compilation albums. Early on in his career, CA worked with the late Geff Rushton of Coil, who wrote a handful of songs for them and who was an important supporter and enabler due to his contacts as editor of Stabmental magazine, arranging most of their releases and providing constant encouragement. The band has become more widely known since 2000 following release of a number of compilations of their early '80s music in which the members of the group have been fully involved. Since the late '90s the band has also been occasionally active in the recording of new music and there have been a number of releases of new material since the early 2000s.
Muslimgauze was the main musical project of Bryn Jones, a British ethnic electronica and experimental musician who was influenced by conflicts and history in the Muslim world, often with an emphasis on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. With dozens of albums released under the Muslimgauze name, Jones was prolific, but he never made mainstream success due to his work being issued mostly in limited editions on small record labels and being deeply experimental in style. His music has been described by one critic as "among the most startling and unique in the noise underground."
Phaedra is the fifth major release and fifth studio album by German electronic music group Tangerine Dream. It was recorded during November 1973 at The Manor in Shipton-on-Cherwell, England and released on 20 February 1974 through Virgin Records. This is the first Tangerine Dream album to feature their now classic sequencer-driven sound, which is considered to have greatly influenced the Berlin School genre.
Supersilent is a Norwegian avant-garde-improvisational music group formed at Nattjazz in Bergen in 1997. The trio Veslefrekk was asked to play with electronic musician Helge "Deathprod" Stein. The fusion of the experimental jazz group with Sten's rumbling drones and noise was so successful that they united as Supersilent.
Murcof is the performing and recording name of Mexican electronica artist Fernando Corona. Corona was born in 1970 in Tijuana, Mexico and raised in Ensenada. He was for a time a member of the Tijuana-based Nortec Collective of electronic musicians under the Terrestre project name. In 2000 he returned to Tijuana. Since 2006 Corona lives in Barcelona, Spain.
Nocturnal Emissions is a sound art project that has released numerous records and CDs in music styles ranging from electro-acoustic, musique concrète, hybridised beats, sound collage, post-industrial music, ambient and noise music. The sound art has been part of an ongoing multimedia campaign of guerrilla sign ontology utilising video art, film, hypertext and other documents.
Windy & Carl is an American ambient group, based in Dearborn, Michigan, United States.
Big City Orchestra is a long-running art/anti-art group based generally in California. They have an ever rotating cast of musician and nonmusician members. They were formed in 1979 as the house band for a network of artist residences in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.
Controlled Bleeding was an experimental music group based in Massapequa, New York, United States. The group was founded by Paul Lemos, the group's only consistent member. Most of Controlled Bleeding's released recordings feature two main collaborators, Chris Moriarty and vocalist Joe Papa, who both died in the late 2000s. In February 2020 Lemos announced that the band had dissolved.
Troum is a German project of drone music, ambient music, noise music, and experimental music. It was founded in the late 1990s by Stefan Knappe and Martin Gitschel. It is sometimes considered to be the follow-up project to Maeror Tri. Stefan Knappe is also the founder and owner of Drone Records.
Old Europa Cafe is an Italian independent record label and mail order service specializing in ambient music, noise music, electronic music, and industrial music. It is based in Pordenone. Originating in the early 1980s Old Europa Cafe began as a small cassette label. Some of the original Old Europa Cafe artists included De Fabriek, Mauro Teho Teardo, and Brume. According to founder Rodolfo Protti, Old Europa Cafe has two guidelines for musick it releases—uncompromising industrial sounds and esoteric dark ambient styles.
Mort aux Vaches is the name of a series of albums released by the Staalplaat record label in collaboration with the Dutch radio station, VPRO. The name translates literally from French as “Death to Cows,” with “cows” being French slang for cops - it is equivalent to “Death to Pigs” in English.
Storm Bugs are an English post punk band formed in 1978 in Deptford, London, England, by Philip Sanderson and Steven Ball who had met in the Medway Towns, England. The band have been linked to a number of genres including: cassette culture, industrial music and DIY. Storm Bugs were initially active between 1978 and 1982 and reformed in 2001.
Ask Me Tomorrow is the debut album by Mojave 3, released by 4AD on 16 October 1995 in the UK and on 16 January 1996 in the US. The album was released roughly eight months after the release of Pygmalion, the third studio album by Mojave 3 founders Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell, and Ian McCutcheon's previous band Slowdive.
Raison d'être is a Swedish dark ambient project formed by Peter Andersson. The name of the band was taken from a sentence in a book by Carl Gustav Jung: "the individuation is the raison d’être of the self". Dark ambient atmospheres, drone elements, industrial sounds, ecclesiastical hymns are all blended together to constitute the music of Raison d'être.
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is a multi-instrumentalist, member of several bands, and co-founder of the Root Strata record label based out of San Francisco, California. Cantu-Ledesma got his start in the band Tarentel. He was one of the founding members and is still a primary figure in the band's line-up. Cantu-Ledesma continues to be involved with many musical projects.
Brad Laner is an American musician and record producer best known for his work with the shoegaze band Medicine, which he founded and led.
Beequeen is an experimental rock group formed in 1988 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Initially a duo of Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar, they were joined in 2007 by Olga Wallis, also on vocals and keyboards. They have released over 20 albums on different labels around the world.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
