About Maeror Tri

Maeror Tri was a drone group from Bremen, Germany, founded in April 1988 by Stefan Knappe, Martin Gitschel and Helge Siehl. The group only used electric guitars and tons of processing devices to create their droning soundscapes, borrowing elements from industrial, minimalism and new age to create a new form of meditative and transcendental music. Their early works as Screaming Corpses, however, resemble post-punk and noise music very much. "Maeror Tri" is probably an incorrect Latin expression that may be translated as "The Mourning Three" or "The Grieving Three". Very little is known about their origins, even the identity of the band's members remained vague for a long time, except for Stefan Knappe, the group's spokesperson and also owner of the label Drone Records. Their first cassette, "Dedicated to a New Dawn", 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. Because of the consistent quality and originality of their music and the uniqueness of the special packages it came with, the group built a very strong reputation in a relatively short period of time. In 1993 Korm Plastics 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 electronic ambient 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, Helge Sieh decided to quit, leaving Stefan Knappe and Martin Gitschel to continue as the duo Troum. Siehl founded the solo project Tausendschoen. "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.