MALEDICTIS
Maledictis is a Milwaukee-based chamber rock project led by composer John Marszalkowski. What began as a solo exploration of writing and recording music at home quickly evolved into a collaborative effort, driven by a desire to bring his compositions to life with the richness of real instruments.
Blending secular rock with classical elements often associated with sacred music, Maledictis has crafted a distinctive ‘chamber rock’ sound—where strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion, piano, and occasional organ seamlessly merge with the weight of alternative rock. Their upcoming album, Echoes of Conscience, builds on this signature style, combining the grandeur of orchestral music with the intimacy of small ensemble arrangements and a ‘churchy’ vibe. Eschewing heavy rock tendencies, the music focuses on slow-building dynamics and rich, immersive textures that bridge symphonic rock and chamber pop.
Echoes of Conscience is currently in production, recorded entirely with Milwaukee-area musicians in local studios and spaces. Maledictis embodies the spirit of collaboration and the beauty of organic instrumentation, offering a fresh, cinematic sound for fans of emotionally resonant rock music.
Blending secular rock with classical elements often associated with sacred music, Maledictis has crafted a distinctive ‘chamber rock’ sound—where strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion, piano, and occasional organ seamlessly merge with the weight of alternative rock. Their upcoming album, Echoes of Conscience, builds on this signature style, combining the grandeur of orchestral music with the intimacy of small ensemble arrangements and a ‘churchy’ vibe. Eschewing heavy rock tendencies, the music focuses on slow-building dynamics and rich, immersive textures that bridge symphonic rock and chamber pop.
Echoes of Conscience is currently in production, recorded entirely with Milwaukee-area musicians in local studios and spaces. Maledictis embodies the spirit of collaboration and the beauty of organic instrumentation, offering a fresh, cinematic sound for fans of emotionally resonant rock music.
WHAT/WHO IS MALEDICTIS?
- Maledictis is a recording project with music and lyrics written by John Marszalkowski.
- The debut EP features over 30 musicians, engineers, and artists. To see a list of who sang or played what on the EP, click here.
- The first single after the EP is titled Delica. It features some of the same musicians as well as new ones. Click here to see a list of who preformed on Delicta.
- The second single after Delica was Breathing In Vain.
- A full length album is currently in production, titled Echoes of Conscience.
- Maledictis is not a touring band. It was born and raised in the solitude of quarantine.
WHAT STYLE OF MUSIC is this?
SHORT ANSWER: Early stuff is GOTHIC SYMPHONIC METAL. However, the new album is Chamber Rock.
Long answer:
Long answer:
- I am not pretentiously saying "Maledictis is super unique and doesn't sound like anything else out there." However, it is going to sound like I'm saying that.
- Fans of various symphonic genres would say that Maledictis is not symphonic. Maledictis does feature strings, brass, woodwinds, and a choir, but not by a large orchestral ensemble. Maledictis often only has one musician per instrument, which is better defined as "Chamber," (small ensemble). "Chamber" appears to be able to substitute the term "Symphonic" in almost any symphonic genre, such as Symphonic Power Metal, Symphonic Death Metal, and Symphonic Gothic Metal. And while "Chamber" is a great descriptive substitute for "Symphonic," there are not a ton of bands calling their style "Chamber" ...yet!
- As for the gothic part, early recordings features haunting cathedral pipe organ and church-like choir parts. Also, the singer of Tristania is featured on multiple songs. Gothic means different things to different people. For Maledictis, gothic is [mostly] the architecture of sanctuaries we often record acoustic instruments inside of. It's the faint smell of incense that lingers there after a funeral. It's the dim light of candles, and the moon shining in through its stained glass.
- Is it as heavy as most modern metal bands? Not at all.
- In a [not so recent] Twitter poll, a large portion of the participants described Maledictis as "Gothic Chamber Metal." That sub-genre doesn't exactly exist, but it is a good description.
- To makes things even more complicated, the new album, Echoes of Conscience, is going in a very different stylistic direction.
- I'd be interested to hear your interpretation of what genre best describes Maledictis.
What does all the latin Mean?
Where can I listen?
- The debut EP has been available since December 22nd, 2020, and is available pretty much everywhere that music can be streamed and digital music can be purchased.
- There is an extremely limited number of EP vinyl records and CD's in circulation. Posters, guitar picks, stickers, and other random merch can be found here.
- The Delicta single and Breathing In Vain are available on most streaming services and sites that sell digital music.
- The new album Echoes of Conscience should be released in early 2025.
Where Are You?
- For the EP, all songs were written, mixed, and published in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Many parts were recorded there, too. Some other parts were recorded in other parts of Wisconsin. Other states include Illinois, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Other countries include Canada, England, Portugal, Poland, Macedonia, Italy, Uruguay, Sweden, and Switzerland. All of the recordings were mastered in New York. 🇺🇸🇨🇦🏴🇵🇹🇵🇱🇲🇰🇮🇹🇺🇾🇸🇪🇨🇭
- For songs released after the debut EP, recordings are more focused on local Milwaukee musicians, but sometimes include out-of-state and international talents.
What is "real" and what is "fake?"
Sort Answer: Almost everything is real.
Long answer:
Long answer:
- When the music for the EP was written, it was just guitar, bass, vocals, and A LOT of synthesized (programmed MIDI) instruments. It sounded like 16-bit video game music, so musicians were recruited to replace everything. Even the 11-person choir is real, except each person recorded themselves individually.
- With each following release, the productions included more real instruments and performances, and less synthetic elements. The new album is entirely human, performed on either acoustic or analog-electric instruments.
Wait, tell me more about that choir!
- With the EP, we had a unique situation in that we didn't have a large group of people singing together in a room, but we were able to record parts in a different way. For example, the ending of the song Dolorem has a choir part sung in 4-part harmony. However, rather than dividing 11 people into 4 parts with only 2 or 3 people per part, we had all 11 people sing each part. Higher voices sang an octave above the lower voices. Once all the tracks were layered on top of each other, it sounds like a 44-person choir singing 8-part harmony.
- We did a virtual choir again for Delicta; smaller this time. We hoped to have an in-person choir, but COVID concerns were still an issue in 2021. However, it was a great opportunity to work with some great new remote musicians.
- Breathing in Vain and Echoes of Conscience feature small but real in-person choir recordings.
Wait, tell me more about the drums!
- One of the EP songs (Somnium) was actually preformed and recorded on acoustic drums by Matthew Kopf in 2008, but the recorded audio files were unfortunately lost. An unusable reference track allowed John to program the parts in MIDI exactly how they were originally preformed.
- For Delicta and Breathing In Vain, Matt used an electronic-drum set to record his parts. We intend to continue this method for most songs going forward. Drums are mixed using Steven Slate Drum samples.
- For Echoes of Conscience, Matt played real acoustic drums.
Why is the artwork so good?
All of the published cover art (as of 12/2024) was created by Kenneth Uzquiano. He studied at Ringling College of Art and Design.
- When discussing cover ideas for the EP, Gustave Doré was brought up. That lead to Kenneth focusing on extremely detailed line work, much like Doré's.
- For Delicta and Breathing In Vain, Kenneth was inspired by deco relief sculptures at St Adalbert's cemetery in Milwaukee.
- The artwork for the new album Echoes of Conscience is being done by Jason Gierl, and is not yet published.
Are the lyrics radio-friendly?
Yes. There is no profanity. Lyrical themes touch on death, inequity, depression, inaptitude, torment, and meaninglessness. It does not promote self-harm, violence, or hate.
Is this RELIGIOUS music?
No, but it's understandable if you reached that conclusion after seeing the angel artwork, the Latin titles, and hearing cathedral pipe organ and a choir. The music and lyrics are often inspired by classical and sacred music, too. It is definitely "churchy" sounding on purpose. However, the lyrics are 100% secular.
Did you say there are some well-known musicians on these songs?
Depending on what music you listen to, you may have heard of some of the musicians on the Maledictis EP. Almost all of the musicians are (or have been) involved in musical projects. One of the bigger names is Mariangela Demurtas, lead singer of Tristania (Napalm Records), a Norwegian band that pioneered the Gothic Metal genre. Mariangela was their singer since 2007.
How did 30 people record an EP while QUARANTINED?
John wrote the songs using synthesized MIDI parts in place of the instruments he couldn't play himself. He tracked guitar and bass "direct in." He then emailed sheet music to the musicians. They recorded their parts themselves (using a metronome in their headphones) and emailed the recordings back. Some musicians had recording equipment while others recorded their parts with just their phones. All of the files were sent to Shane Olivo Audio, where it was mixed. Shane also chose drum samples as well as virtual amps and cabs. Once mixed, the files were sent to Alan Douches for mastering at West West Side in New York. The mastered tracks were sent out for production and distribution.
What influenced Maledictis?
- Tristania's Darkest White (2013)
- Devin Townsend's Ziltoid The Omniscient (2007)
- Nightwish's Wishmaster (2000)
- Metallica's S&M (1999)
- Silverchair's Neon Ballroom (1999)
- Allegri, Bach, and Mozart (17th-18th century)
What comes Next?
After Echoes of Conscience is released, more songs will keep getting written and recorded. But as for the schedule, that's a little more up in the air. ;-)