Mazes and Monsters

BRILLIANT SPACES. The Augusta act Mazes and Monsters is a band that adheres carefully to a formula. Songs start quietly, usually with a sparse keyboard line or delicate guitar, and then begin to very deliberately build. Somewhere in the first verse, and certainly no later than the first chorus, that band has taken that quiet moment and developed it into something grand and significant.

It’s a formula. It’s also fairly magnificent.

This is a band that understands and incorporates some of the harder lessons every artistically successful act must address. It understands the power of simplicity and empty spaces. It understands the power of the slow burn. It understands that sometimes the most significant music is produced while saying very little in the most appropriate way.

The result is an album of songs that are artistic while remaining accessible, that are dynamic but never feel forced or heavy-handed. Some, when describing Mazes, will reach for easy labels and metaphors. The band will be compared to Bends-era Radiohead or filed under indie rock. All are unfair and project certain expectations on this young band. I prefer to refer to Mazes and Monsters as a stellar band with a deep understanding of how truly great rock bands operate.

And that’s a real art. - Augusta Chronicle

A new local band on the scene that caught my attention recently is Mazes and Monsters. Sounding like a mix between Radiohead and Muse, or better yet, The Cubists and My Instant Lunch, the guys will be playing with NoStar this Saturday, June 12 at the HD Lounge on Ellis Street.
Coco Rubio - Metro Spirit - Metro Spirit

The Hooks: chivalrous in a way that's speaks to your ingrained sense of musical instinct. The Beats: thoughtfulness wrapped around subtle danceablity. Sing along now, it's mazes and monsters. It's nice to hear some fresh air in Augusta. Especially when the musical wind blows in the right direction. These guys play it solid. Brand new, out of the box, but with no assembly required. Though only their 3rd "official" gig, M7M plays it off like a veteran. Often, defining a sound is the problematic pinnacle for a new group. M&M appears to have skipped this step. Ambient and beautiful. They know their style and produce it well. With time on their side it will be exciting to see the notated roots of M&M dig their way deeper into the Augusta (and eventually southeastern) music scene.
Miles Kilpatrick - Support Downtown Augusta
- Support Downtown Augusta

Mazes and Monsters introduces a spectacular piece of musical craftsmanship with its first album The Spaces in Between.

Cutting through a lot of literary nonsense and getting right down to brass tacks, the album is a ferocious piece of electronic indie rock. Grinding, wailing guitars; insistent drum beats, high-pitched feedback energy and emotionally raw vocals combine to for an intricate an intricate 10-song album and style that has few peers locally.

Several local bands have released tight, well-produced albums that still sound raw and edgy, but few delve as deep into electronic indie rock and '90's Brit pop as Mazes and Monsters does on this intense record.

"Spaces in Between" - the title track - starts the record with an explosion of wild energy and amazing, ripping guitar work.

"Cavatina No. 1" moves right into "Time is Slow," with an emphasis on the quieter, moody side of musicianship. Fans of Radiohead might find a similar openness in this song.

The next song, "From Our Grave," is slow, but with s completely different feel. The head-bobbing beat dives back into more celestial, airy space-age waters, moving into more current indie rock realms. The heavier, deeper sounds continue until "Find Me If You Can"which has wonderful electronic background music and sing-along capacity.

"Wake O' Sleeper" pours forth with a more raw, rock sound. This song keeps the pulse pounding and blasts out with a harder sound that is unlike the other tracks on the album, demonstrating the versatility of the band.

The album finishes up with "Cavatina No. 2" and "Drown So Low," with a slow, moody, melodic style of subdued music and vocals.

The Spaces in Between harks back to a pre-indie explosion sound without sounding too retro or nostalgic, yet it sits right on the edge of emotionally forward modern electronic sound. This is, without a doubt, one of the best local albums to come out in a long time.

by Dino Lull - Verge Magazine