Pacific Northwestern blackened doom collective, MAESTUS, recently unveiled the forlorn fruit of their debut full-length, Voir Dire. Comprised of Stephen Parker (Arkhum) and Jarrod Hyam (Sophos), with Kenneth Parker (Grst) and Cordell Cline (Dimensionless) recently enlisted to fulfill rhythm duties, Voir Dire was engineered and mixed during the Summer months of 2014 at Parker’s own The Wilderness Studio and delivers seventy-four minutes of heart-blistering grimness, concluding with a four-part epic, “Opaque Shadows In Framed Stillness,” the duration of which makes up nearly half the record’s length. Mastered by Agalloch’s Jason Walton at Earth In Sound in October 2014, Voir Dire integrates black metal, doom and ambient, resulting in a caustic yet lush confessional.
Comments the band, “Our residence in the often bleak Pacific Northwest helped shape the sound that reflects the band’s name, a Latin word meaning ‘sorrowful.’ Voir Dire leads listeners down a path which forces one to address their own inner turmoil.”
In celebration of its release, today Decibel Magazine offers a stream of MAESTUS‘ Voir Dire in its entirety issuing, “Spacious and suffocating at the same time, this Eugene-based blackened doom trio deliver a smackdown so complete you’d swear they were from one of the Scandinavian countries.”
Succumb to Voir Dire, now playing at THIS LOCATION.
Released via a joint venture between Domestic Genocide Records and Glossolalia Records, Voir Dire follows the release of the band’s 2013-issued Scarlet Lakes EP, which A Kvlt Of Personality commended for capturing, “nature in all his horrific beauty…. uncomfortable …bipolar and dissonant, but often beautiful.”
Order MAESTUS‘ Voir Dire at THIS LOCATION or THIS LOCATION.
“This blackened doom horde from Eugene, Oregon, will crush your skull with their massive riffs like a mammoth block of slow-moving granite that engulfs your senses millimeter by millimeter. Their music is a blend of black metal, doom and ambient, allowing the listener to drift into peaceful fantasy before they are flattened to a bloody pulp.” – Cvlt Nation
“Voir Dire… provides a fertile breeding ground where doom, black metal, and post-rock have blended into a single potent mutt… this one boasts enough shades of grey to keep you out of the theater for the time being.” – Free Williamsburg
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http://glossolaliarecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.domesticgenociderecords.com