Maudlin of the Well
Encyclopedia
maudlin of the Well is an avant-garde metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. Their music contains elements from many different genres including doom metal
, indie rock
, jazz
, progressive rock
, post rock, progressive metal
, death metal
, gothic metal
, as well as chamber music
, ambient music
and New Age music
. After a five year hiatus, the band re-united to record their latest album, Part the Second
, which was funded by fan donations and released online May 14, 2009
for free.
" of members and session musicians participated as needed.
Maudlin's music, lyrics, and atmosphere dealt predominantly with the subject of astral projection
. The band tried to find music rather than compose it. This was done through practicing astral projection and lucid dreams, from which the band were purportedly able to "bring back" pre-existing music from the astral plane
(as stated by Toby Driver in the liner notes included with the reissued Bath and Leaving Your Body Map).
In late 2001, the band began working on a fourth studio album. During this time, the band lost several longtime members, changed labels, and ultimately renamed themselves to Kayo Dot
. This fourth album was later released in 2003 as Kayo Dot's Choirs of the Eye.
All three of their albums are now out of print, although Dark Symphonies re-issued Bath and Leaving Your Body Map in 2006 and My Fruit PsychoBells...A Seed Combustible in 2008, all with bonus tracks consisting of early demos.
In a blog post on the bands MySpace
page on July 27, 2008, Driver revealed that a fan donated enough money to record a new album. Recording started on February 10, 2009, and the album, titled Part the Second
was finally released in May 2009. It is available for free download in various file formats (MP3
, FLAC
and WAV
) on motW's website, torrent networks, or alternatively, it can be streamed directly from the site. An amalgam of many different musical styles, the new songs share an ethereal quality with previous motW recordings, but are distinctly more mellow than the group's prior releases.
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
, indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, post rock, progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
, death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
, gothic metal
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...
, as well as chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, ambient music
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
and New Age music
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
. After a five year hiatus, the band re-united to record their latest album, Part the Second
Part the Second
Part the Second is maudlin of the Well's fourth album. It was funded by donations from fans and released for free on the internet in three formats, including a FLAC-encoded 24 bit version. The fans who donated prior to the album's release are credited as executive producers. Donations of any...
, which was funded by fan donations and released online May 14, 2009
2009 in music
The following is a list of notable events and releases in 2009 in music. Susan Boyle's album I Dreamed a Dream became the biggest selling album in the world for 2009, selling 8.3 million copies in five weeks; more than any other artist's in the whole year...
for free.
Biography
Maudlin of the Well released three full-length albums before disbanding in 2003. These albums included 1999's My Fruit PsychoBells...A Seed Combustible and 2001's Bath and Leaving Your Body Map. These last two albums were considered companion albums. The band had a consistent core membership, which consisted of Jason Byron, Greg Massi, and Toby Driver. Throughout its career a sort of "revolving doorRevolving door
A revolving door typically consists of three or four doors that hang on a center shaft and rotate around a vertical axis within a cylindrical enclosure. Revolving doors are energy efficient as they prevent drafts, thus preventing increases in the heating or cooling required for the building...
" of members and session musicians participated as needed.
Maudlin's music, lyrics, and atmosphere dealt predominantly with the subject of astral projection
Astral projection
Astral projection is an interpretation of out-of-body experience that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of traveling outside it...
. The band tried to find music rather than compose it. This was done through practicing astral projection and lucid dreams, from which the band were purportedly able to "bring back" pre-existing music from the astral plane
Astral plane
The astral plane, also called the astral world, is a plane of existence postulated by classical , medieval, oriental and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions...
(as stated by Toby Driver in the liner notes included with the reissued Bath and Leaving Your Body Map).
In late 2001, the band began working on a fourth studio album. During this time, the band lost several longtime members, changed labels, and ultimately renamed themselves to Kayo Dot
Kayo Dot
Kayo Dot is an American avant-rock/experimental music group that was formed in 2003 by Toby Driver. They released their debut album Choirs of the Eye on John Zorn's Tzadik Records label that year. Tzadik's descriptive label on that album reads: "Kayo Dot powerfully integrates elements of modern...
. This fourth album was later released in 2003 as Kayo Dot's Choirs of the Eye.
All three of their albums are now out of print, although Dark Symphonies re-issued Bath and Leaving Your Body Map in 2006 and My Fruit PsychoBells...A Seed Combustible in 2008, all with bonus tracks consisting of early demos.
In a blog post on the bands MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page on July 27, 2008, Driver revealed that a fan donated enough money to record a new album. Recording started on February 10, 2009, and the album, titled Part the Second
Part the Second
Part the Second is maudlin of the Well's fourth album. It was funded by donations from fans and released for free on the internet in three formats, including a FLAC-encoded 24 bit version. The fans who donated prior to the album's release are credited as executive producers. Donations of any...
was finally released in May 2009. It is available for free download in various file formats (MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, FLAC
FLAC
FLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost...
and WAV
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...
) on motW's website, torrent networks, or alternatively, it can be streamed directly from the site. An amalgam of many different musical styles, the new songs share an ethereal quality with previous motW recordings, but are distinctly more mellow than the group's prior releases.
Demos
- Through Languid Veins - 1996
- Begat of the Haunted Oak: An Acorn - 1997
- Odes to Darksome Spring - 1997
- For My Wife - 1998
Albums
- My Fruit Psychobells...A Seed CombustibleMy Fruit Psychobells...A Seed CombustibleMy Fruit Psychobells...A Seed Combustible is maudlin of the Well's first album, released in 1999.-Track listing:# "Ferocious Weights" - 7:35# "A Conception Pathetic" - 7:03# "Undine and Underwater Flowers" - 8:47...
(1999) - BathBath (album)Bath is maudlin of the Well's second album. It was released alongside its companion album Leaving Your Body Map in 2001, shortly before their break-up.-Track listing:# "The Blue Ghost/Shedding Qliphoth" - 7:57# "They Aren't All Beautiful" - 5:36...
(2001) - Leaving Your Body MapLeaving Your Body MapLeaving Your Body Map is maudlin of the Well's third album, and was released alongside its companion album, Bath, in 2001, shortly before their break-up.-Track listing:# "Stones of October's Sobbing" - 7:25# "Gleam in Ranks" - 4:16...
(2001) - Part the SecondPart the SecondPart the Second is maudlin of the Well's fourth album. It was funded by donations from fans and released for free on the internet in three formats, including a FLAC-encoded 24 bit version. The fans who donated prior to the album's release are credited as executive producers. Donations of any...
(2009)