It is within the many different realms of metal that we oftentimes see bands try their best to embody the horrors of nothingness and the madness held therein, but it’s not often to see one overcome and deliver on such promise. Where death and black metal merge is where we can really see the potential for such nihilistic material come into being in a stupendous fashion, yet it is even then that we don’t see many acts come around that are able to live up to that potential for such themes. With its first full-length album, Maere sought to break the mold and take us deep into a void where nothing but the haunting consumption of all persists with their efforts bearing plenty of fruit across five terrifying tracks.
The ethereal nature of the void is something that is always hard to pin down simply because it’s difficult for the human mind to truly envision zero where nothing exists without thought, mention, being, color, or anything in-between. It’s the embodiment of what always strikes fear in the human mind with few daring to explore those depths in an aural form like what Maere presents to us here. Relatively simple in plenty of areas but armed with more than enough finesse and power to really elevate the record to become a foreboding beast that is not to be underestimated in the slightest, “…And the Universe Keeps Silent” is an imposing beast from beginning to end. Right from the very beginning, Maere throws the listener into an absolute whirlwind of chaos and torment from which you’ll not easily escape from. Driven by immense riffs and existentialism that is nigh-on pervasive for all that it seeks to harvest out of the human spirit, “…And the Universe Keeps Silent” more than keeps true to its name as Maere shows a constant propensity for darkness through the threat of infinite nothingness to such an effect that sends a chill through each bone and freezes any hope left within the soul. Immersive and trance-inducing, what Maere has accomplished here should not be seen as anything short of an impressive first foray into the unknown for a band that all too eager to show us how adept it already is with its particularly dark craft.
Works such as this are what plenty throughout the realms of black and death metal try to conjure forth in order to make something noteworthy in the vast underground, yet few are able to come even close to what we see from Maere in its first full-length album. The stage has been set to a bleak backdrop for Maere to make big moves in the underground with “…And the Universe Keeps Silent” a perfect jumping off point to bring such madness into our realities.
“…And the Universe Keeps Silent” releases on April 19th via Transcending Obscurity Records!
LISTENÂ to advanced tracks from “…And the Universe Keeps Silent” on Bandcamp here.
LIKEÂ Maere on Facebook here.
Head-Banger Reviews 