Packaged in a black digi-pack adorned with eerie, indistinct images that emerge out of silver spray, Maieutiste set the mood for their self-titled release from the off. A sizeable band, aside from the usual instrumentation one might expect to find, the band also boasts a saxophonist and double bassist allowing for a greater exploration of avant-garde black metal and an enhanced ability to tread the darker paths. Laden with doom, the band augment their blackened maelstrom with a stately darkness that draws on the likes of My Dying Bride and Emperor to deliver a sound that is both savage and yet opulent at the same time and, over the course of eleven tracks, Maieutiste do an impressive job of absorbing you into their misanthropic world, employing jazz, black metal, doom along the way.
Opening with ‘Introductions’, a sludgy trawl through the deepest darkest doom, it is only when the band enter the first movement, ‘eveil’, that their blackened intentions are made clear. The scabrous riff of ‘…in the mirror’ recalls the gothic grandstanding of early Dimmu borgir combined with hints of Mayhem and, as the demonic vocals pile up over serrated riffs, the band seem to be emerging as a potent, but familiar, black metal outfit. However, a more detailed listen reveals a band who are anything but typical as they successfully merge their influences as the song progresses. Elements of dark folk and doom are incorporated into the overall mix, giving the song a lyrical, more darkly romantic feel, always keeping the listener guessing as to what will come next. Rather more straight forward is the brutal grind of ‘reflect – disappear’, a crushing medley of blackened riffs o’er-topped with overlapping vocal tracks that scream and sneer in the blackness. Expertly captured by Ari Lausseur, the production is raw yet powerful and the overall feel is laden with menace. The final piece of the first movement, ‘Purgatoire’ emerges out of JF’s rolling drums, the band weaving a dark web around the listener with a sinister ambience that is quite chillingly hypnotic before segueing into a quite beautiful acoustic piece. It proves a most effective end to the first movement of the album and speaks well of the ambition that stirs in the hearts of the band.
The second movement, ‘Chute’ opens with ‘the fall’, a thunderous assault that emerges from its ambient predecessor with a violence that is all the more shocking for being so utterly unannounced. Twisted, brutal black metal at its best, it suddenly segues into an opeth-esque passage that has a strong whiff of progressive about it. It’s beautifully worked into the music and it recalls ‘Blackwater Park’-era Opeth, when that band were still content to explore both the light and the dark in their music. ‘Absolution’ opens with some subtle percussive work before a gentle acoustic melody sets the senses tingling. It is not to last, however, and the mood is soon shattered by a thrash-infused riff of such toxic fury that it chokes the very air from the room as you listen. Then, just as you get accustomed to the savagery that is besetting you, the band swing into the sort of dark jazz that Angelo Badlamenti employed to such great effect on Twin Peaks. The movement ends with ‘the eye of maieutic art’, a coruscating track that sees the band delve deep to deliver a relentless mix of blast beats and throat-ripping vocals. It’s grotesquely heavy, tearing at the listener with near-palpable rage before the band explore the musical landscape with progressive dexterity, the riffs and solos writhing around one another like serpents in a black pit.
The third movement, ‘elevation’ opens with the enervating doom of ‘lifeless visions’, a slow, funereal exploration of misery at its most potent that steadfastly weaves an atmosphere of impending doom. Despite the aura of decay, the band still weave a sense of grandeur into proceedings, with stately guitar solos overlapping at the track’s epic conclusion before arcing feedback and sinister bass allow the track to segue into a frazzled black metal assault that is feral and entirely unexpected. The movement continues with ‘death to free thinkers’, a track that opens with atypical percussion and acoustic guitars before icy riffs tear into the tribal atmosphere and send the piece spinning off on a unique and potent axis that has more in common with Neurosis and Amebix than mayhem. The movement ends with ‘Annonciation’, a delicate piece that ramps up the rippling post-metal guitars and aching feedback in order to draw the movement to an elegiac close. The album as a whole concludes with the blackened coda – ‘death to Socrates’ – one last blackened march towards the gaping mouth of hell that brings the record to a suitably stunning conclusion.
A cursory listen of Maieutiste self-titled effort reveals little more than a black metal band forged in the heat and flame of Emperor and their unholy ilk, and it seems, sadly, somewhat inevitable that few will give this album the time it needs to demonstrate the ambitious and eclectic heart that beats within. Ideally absorbed in one, somewhat awe-inspiring sitting, this is definitely a better album than it is a collection of songs, and it is only in sequence that the band’s genre-hopping makes sense. There’s a musically adventurous spirit about the band that draws upon elements of post-rock and metal, thrash and folk and even classical. Like a symphony, each piece within the three movements reveals its own feel and sound whilst remaining tethered to the overall spirit of black metal, always independent and always adventurous. Give this album the time it needs and it will surely grow to become one of your most treasured releases, but don’t expect it to reveal its dark, otherworldly charms all at once, this is a release for which patience is required, but it is also an album in which patience is most eloquently rewarded.
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