There’s gotta be a start to every trajectory of a soul-crushing sonic chronicle. The Liverpool-based post-sludge metal overlords Mairu had just started embarking on their subliminal journey through their debut LP entitled Sol Cultus (Trepanation Recordings). 

Meticulously crafted by a team of wholesome progenitors of all things transcendent, the creative process of Sol Cultus involved the contribution of Tom Dring (who has previously worked with Dragged Into Sunlight, Electric Wizard, among others) on the production, engineering, and guest performance departments, alongside Mairu themselves. 

Sol Cultus, which translates into “sun worship”, is a powerful and immersive ode to the sun packed into the form of eight tracks that narrate the recurring tale of fire and solar magnitude. Through Sol Cultus, Mairu presents harmonized funeral sludge-doom anthems with shoegaze elements as a homage to the sun that gives us life and keeps the world turning. 

Submerging through many respective spectrums of metal subgenres, the enormous sonic pilgrimage that Mairu presents is on par with flames burning brightly in high intensity. Not only envisaging metaphors of solar flares, the record also speaks of radiance and warmth in the midst of a world surrounded by menace and tribulation.

With the diversity of the sounds they present, Mairu’s sounds can be comparable to acts like Cult of Luna, Tool, the Ocean, and Bossk. As a sludge act converged altogether with the elements of doom, shoegaze, and post-rock, they may appear vehemently atmospheric at most times, almost cinematic. It’s almost like, as sonic pilgrims, their soundscape journey embodies triumph; marks an ending and a new beginning at the same time.

Not only being on the stereotypical loud and extreme music spectrums, Mairu also features the uses of ambient synths and saxophones in the midst of all the balanced cacophony. As a trenchant overture to the whole ode to the sun. they open the record with ‘Torch Bearer’ followed by many other equally incineration-inducing tracks such as the post-rock-nuanced ‘Perihelion’ the intensely sludge-infused ‘The Scattering Dust’ the ferocious industrial-themed ‘Atar’ to the solemn and emotional epic ‘Rite of Embers’ as a perfect closer.

Mairu have produced a beyond the admirable job in manifesting their form of worshiping the sun. Ethereal and intricate in a higher level of magnitude, Sol Cultus is an impressive take of amalgamation between several diverse subgenre spectrums.

Buy the album here

https://mairu.bandcamp.com/album/sol-cultus

8 / 10

RALKA SKJERSETH