Maestus Chisel Out New Blackdoom Masterpiece, Premiere Lyric Video

A few years back, I was introduced to a band in my own backyard, right here in Yob country, by the name of MAESTUS. Initially, I wasn’t sure how to “think” about the band, my music critic mindset at the time felt a need to classify everything into genre specific categories. Were they doom metal? Black metal? How about blackened doom? At the time, they had just released their first album, ‘Voir Dire’ (2015), following the well-received EP, 'Scarlet Lakes’ (2013). As the music poured into my ears, there was only one way to describe it: maestus. The band has chosen its name well, for the Latin word refers to sadness, melancholy, gloom, and sorrow.

When I heard Maestus were releasing a new album, described as “a 50 minute slab of charred and filigreed granite channeling frustration, anxiety, and estrangement into a Blackdoom Cauldron in the vein of Pallbearer, Ahab, Shape of Despair and Evoken,” I was straightaway interested in helping with a premiere. Today, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to present you with the opening track to 'Deliquesce’ (2019).

A sanguine haze greets us as “Deliquesce” begins, gradually unfolding the title track with synthesizer, met by the pleasant surprise tones of crisp piano, providing us with slightest comforts as we walk through a veiled path through the midnight woods. Two-minutes in, the guitars introduce the somber opening theme and are joined in short order by the gruff voice, followed by a harsher second, together welcoming us to the cold of this winter’s night. The tempo flusters momentarily, but cools for the reflection or eerie feedback, instrumental chirps, and the quiet picking of an arpeggiated theme, making the piece all the more chilling, as we venture further into this soul’s dark night. The drums welcome the next verse, which speaks of “embracing isolation,” as the pace quickens once more. A furious development section follows, ultimately to return to the clavier’s dulcet tones, concluding on an uncertain note. Clearly it is intended for a relationship with the three tracks that follow, which I can’t wait for you to hear (especially my favorite, “Black Oake”).

The grandiose nature of this tone-poem makes me think the near 16-minute work could well stand on its own and it was a smart choice for Maestus to debut it as the single, giving fans plenty to feast on as they await the album’s release next month. The word “deliquesce,” though it may look and sound “French,” is in fact another Latin word – a reference to something that melts. Over time, it gained some nuance in the field of biology, which uses it to describe the withering and decay that occurs over an organism’s life, i.e. through exposure to the elements. In chemistry, “deliquesce" describes the way in which moisture will build on an object as it absorbs the moisture of the air (something we see quite commonly in the damper seasons of Oregon). I’m not certain about which way the band intended us to understand the term or if they prefer to leave the interpretation to us.

The lyric video for “Deliquesce,” in fact, reminds me of my first time camping in the forest hills of Southern Oregon. I was on a training exercise with the Oregon National Guard at the time and, being quite young and naive – not to mention new to Oregon’s deep terrain, was quite ill-prepared for the weekend. The first night, it began to snow and draped a poncho over me, tucked in at all corners, to stay warm. It was roughing it to the extreme – no light, no fires, nothing. At the same time, there was something extraordinarily overbearing about the darkness. You feel entirely engulfed by it. Only the light snowfall provided a modicum of light. That night, my head rested on a decaying log, I shivered and dreamt of Frankenstein.

Performance-wise, Maestus as a band could not be better synced. Props to Stephen Parker, who pulls double duty on guitar and vocals (he also plays in the Portland black metal band Pillorian). Guitarist Nathanael Kelley is quite effect, especially when the music calls for harmonizing with a second guitarist. Cordell Cline’s drumming is absolutely on point, just as he is live. Bassist Kenneth Parker (Stephen’s brother and alumnus to a plethora of Eugene-area bands) completing the rhythm section admirably. As a classically trained pianist myself, I was especially impressed with Sarah Beaulieu’s execution on synth and piano, which shows not the slightest bit of hesitation, nor an overly aggressive approach. I’m not sure if she recorded this on a grand piano or just a very good keyboard, but either way the song would not be the same without it.

Look for the release of Deliquesce on February 8th via the Aural Music label code666, which will issue the album on CD (pre-order here) and vinyl (pre-order here).

Give ear…

Some Buzz

Maestus emerged from the Pacific Northwest with its forlorn blackdoom in 2013 under the hand of Stephen Parker (Pillorian). With the help of a collective of Oregon collaborators, Kenneth Parker (Grst, Batrakos), Sarah Beaulieu (ex-Ninth Level), Cordell Cline (ex-Dimensionless), and Nathanael Kelley (Banewreaker, Grst), Maestus self-released its debut full-length, Voir Dire, two years later.

In the spring of 2018, the band got signed with code666/Aural Music and reconvened to record their sophomore album Deliquesce in Eugene, Oregon, and gave form to four crushing paeans to hopelessness. Mixed and mastered by Markus Stock (Empyrium, Sun of the Sleepless) at his Klangschmiede Studio E, with artwork by Matthias Roth and design by John Haughm.

In the original Latin, Maestus makes reference to a state of mourning, a theme that finds voice in lyrics which explore the threads between despondency and bitterness. Maestus reflects the principle of misery as it moves through the world in life, death, and memory, and of the ceaseless decay which both precedes and follows it.