M.A.I.M. are an Italian metal band seeking to fuse the diverse genres of early Thrash metal with Traditional Folk music. Their songs are like a mish-mash of early-era Iron Maiden mixed with a Renaissance Minstrel Band. Their music is like a conduit to their attitude of party hard, rock even harder, and generally live life to the fullest or else!
They describe their sound as 'Epic Casera Metal'. In this context a 'Casera' is essentially a small building where travelers on foot drop in to take a rest while backpacking through rural Europe. Now picture there is a band in said Casera and they choose to play for you some heavy metal music to help you to drink the night away. The band you might be picturing now would be akin to M.A.I.M.
The first track is 'Casera Death Trip', and this song is very much like a theme-song for M.A.I.M. It describes their style of music, performance, and preferred audience within the lyrics. It is almost like an instructional song about the attitude you need to bring to their shows, as well as how you should behave or misbehave while in attendance. Lyrics like, "Get ready for a mosh!" and "Throw away your mobile." clearly let the listener know what is in store for them at a M.A.I.M. show! All the while you have fast and heavy classic metal riffs and grooves pouring out of the speakers with a folksy violin playing a catchy melodic jig in the background. Finally the song closes with the lyrics informing the listener that M.A.I.M. intend to "Drink until we pass out!"
Next is 'Quest for Perfection'. This song begins with a thundering drum intro. A lead guitar melody comes in and lifts the song up, then the rhythm section hits you with the riffs. Again a violin accompanies in the background, mirroring the lead guitar melody. Lyrics again are self-championing themes of total metal madness in a hard partying bar.
The third track is 'Dragon & Polenta'. A spoken intro in their native Italian language gives way to a tale of myth, legend and fantasy. Almost like an alternate version of the Loch Ness monster, but told to a thrash metal riff and melodic violin.
The last song, 'Blood Stained Walls' is slightly different from the first 3. It starts off with a slower, violin intro that depicts a somber mood. The first few riffs build the song into a metal anthem, then the beasts of thrash get unleashed in the middle, and by the end the backing vocals change to death-metal style screams, perhaps relating back to the 'death' in Casera Death Trip. The different elements in this song prove that M.A.I.M. are not afraid to push their own boundaries a little.
Thie EP is a truly creative mix of classic metal, thrash, and folk metal. The blend between these genres is practically seamless. The attitude they portray in their lyrics is all about partying to serious metal. It's like a soundtrack of debauchery from 2 separate centuries played simultaneously. Check out M.A.I.M on facebook! Currently all four track from Hosteria can be streamed/downloaded from their facebook page or reverbnation.
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