Maeror Tri has obtained a legendary status in the field of drones and ambient, a status which only grew bigger after the German trio disbanded in the mid 90’s. The discography of this act is huge, which a vast number of releases, always on different labels. Much of their material appeared on tape. Tantric Harmonies recently reissued one of their last cassettes, The Beauty of Sadness from 1996. Originally released by Direction Music, run by the late Peter Harrison. One bonus-track has been added, ‘Immersion In Emotion’ from 1993.
I’m no connaisseur of Maeror Tri’s work, so I don’t know if The Beauty of Sadness is an outstanding work in their catalogue. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it does, since it’s certainly an excellent album. The title is fitting, because the music is slow and melancholic, but also beautiful. The minimal, repetitive elements put you in a hypnotic state, the ongoing drones and the well-placed sounds make you drift away. The guitars that were used mainly to create the drones can hardly be recognized though the heavy processing, though at times they come to the surface, like in ‘Pandere’. It’s hard to pick a favourite track, but I think it must be the otherwordly ‘Dreamscaping’.
Tantric Harmonies should be praised for keeping this material in circulation. Furthermore it’s worthwile to follow the current musical adventures of Maeror Tri’s members in their respective projects Troum and Tausendschoen.
