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
