Florian Magnus Maier

Maier was born in Munich, Germany and cultivated an interest in extreme metal music since he was 13. His first band was a thrash metal group called Messenger, where he handled guitar and vocal duties.{{Cite web|url=http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Messenger/3540373962#band_tab_members|title = Messenger - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives}} Having played for several years with his own thrash metal bands in his parents basement, at 17 he became obsessed with flamenco guitar styles and at 21 this prompted him to move to the Netherlands to study flamenco guitar with Paco Peña, and eventually classical composition with Klaas de Vries at the conservatory of Rotterdam. He credits Klaas de Vries, with his development in music. He earned his BA cum laude in composition in 2001,{{Cite web|url=http://www.alkaloid-band.com/morean/|title=Morean|date=25 January 2016 }} and has mainly worked as a composer and guitarist with orchestras and metal musicians.

Maier played flamenco guitar for 12 years, however, he was diagnosed with hypermobility in all of his joints, preventing him from using his thumb and consequentially, dropping flamenco altogether. Currently, he uses 7 and 8 string B.C. Rich and Ibanez guitars within both his own ensemble orchestrations and heavy metal bands.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djhxm3WTX28|title=Morean (Florian Magnus Maier) - Metal Dude in a Concert Hall (Documentary)|date=5 January 2015|work=YouTube|accessdate=30 January 2015}}

File:Dark Fortress, Morean 04.jpg

Maier joined the German Black Metal band Dark Fortress in 2007, and has since released 4 full records with the band.http://www.darkfortress.org/Biography.html> Despite his primary occupation as a composer and guitarist, he handled vocal and lyrical duties exclusively for all their records hitherto, while occasionally playing guitars as well. In particular, Maier has been influential in utilizing lyrics and imagery based on philosophical and sometimes occultist viewpoints.{{cite web|url=http://swirlsofnoise.com/2014/10/21/interview-with-v-santura-dark-fortress/|title=Interview with V Santura (Dark Fortress)|work=swirls of noise|accessdate=30 January 2015}}

When speaking about the black metal scene and adoption of corsepaint for atmospheric purposes, Maier states:{{cite web|url=http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpengine.php/templateid/18716/menuid/3/tempidx/5/catid/4/restemp/N%3B/fPpagesel/2|title=Dark Fortress – It's A Deathexplosion Feature Interview At Blistering.com|work=blistering.com|accessdate=30 January 2015}}

As for the image: we like to think of ourselves as sophisticated and thinking individuals that live their beliefs in everything, not just on stage, and we would feel like a bunch of morons if we lowered ourselves to the level of idiocy of the usual black metal clichés. Contrary to other bands, we actually try to say something, even though we know some people only get happy if you mention Satan or bathe in your own (or someone else's) vomit. We are not schizophrenic in that sense; we don't pretend to be some random, under-researched lord of hell with a clown face on stage and go back to being a complaining, miserable cog in the machine who hates his life after the show.

Progressive metal supergroup Alkaloid was formed in 2014, initially set up as a collaboration between Hannes Grossmann, Christian Münzner, Danny Tunker and Linus Klausenitzer. Grossmann invited Maier to join on guitar and vocalist duties. Maier said "it was just impossible to say no (and not join the band)". The band stated that their first record, 'The Malkuth Grimoire', did not receive support from any labels because it was too diverse and hence unmarketable.{{cite web|url=https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/alkaloid-s-debut-album-the-malkuth-grimoire--2|title=Alkaloids debut album The Malkuth Grimoire - Indiegogo|work=Indiegogo|accessdate=30 January 2015}} Consequently, they crowdfunded the album, receiving more than $21,000 in donations from fans across the world.

Grossmann stated that a central reason for his departure from death metal band Obscura was to collaborate with Maier.{{Cite web|url=http://www.maximummetal.com/interviews/intresults.asp?ID=hannesgrossman_alka&idBand=1569|title = Maximum Metal Interview Results}} Concerning Maier's ability, Grossmann said "he is the best composer I have ever worked with".{{cite web|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/former-obscura-members-launch-alkaloid/|title=Former Obscura Members Launch Alkaloid - Blabbermouth.net|work=BLABBERMOUTH.NET|date=18 July 2014|accessdate=30 January 2015}} Speaking of Maier's abilities, guitarist Christian Münzner said that "The guy is probably the most amazing guitar player I ever met."{{Cite web |url=http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/2395831-post32.html |title=SevenString.org - View Single Post - New Obscura |access-date=13 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213235151/http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/2395831-post32.html |archive-date=13 February 2015 |url-status=dead }}

In 2014, the Netherlands Public Broadcasting network NPO released a 50-minute documentary about Maier's life and his composition of a double-guitar concerto, featuring Izhar Elias, entitled Schattenspiel for the Zaterdagmatinee, whose performance took place at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nocleansinging.com/2014/05/24/a-metal-dude-in-the-concert-hall-the-story-of-florian-magnus-maier/#more-75607|title = A Metal Dude in the Concert Hall - the Story of Florian Magnus Maier|date = 24 May 2014}} In this documentary, Maier speaks about his childhood, heavy metal during his formative years, familial support and transition to flamenco and classical style guitar playing and composition.

• Paul Jacobs Memorial Award (2001, 2002)
• Matthijs Vermeulen Prize (2002)
• Composition Prize of the Codarts Rotterdam Conservatory (2001)

He is married to Sanja Maier-Hasagic.

• Afterglow (2000)
• Transcarnation (2001)
• Plutonic (2003)
• Luciferase (2006)

• The Crawling Chaos (2006)
• Eidolon (2008)
• Ylem (2010)
• Deconstruction (2011)
• Omnivium (2011)
• Z² (2014)
• The Radial Covenant (2014)
• Metatheosis (2014)
• Venereal Dawn (2014)
• The Malkuth Grimoire (2015)
• The Crypts of Sleep (2016)
• Liquid Anatomy (2018)
• Apophenia (2019)
• Spectres from the Old World (2020)
• Numen (2023)

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Category:1973 births

Category:Living people

Category:German male classical composers

Category:German male guitarists

Category:21st-century German male singers

Category:Musicians from Munich

Category:21st-century German guitarists