For 20 years Luxembourg born singer-songwriter Jerome Reuter a.k.a Rome has built an authoritative body of work encompassing more than 20 full-length albums and numerous other official releases. His style of Dark Folk merges various musical influences from Post-Punk to Chanson, and here he states his lyrical influences range from Burroughs to Brecht, Celine to Cioran, from Hesse to Jünger, and I must confess and say I know that is the first time I have listed authorities like that in an album review.
Yet, this is not just an album by an elitist which is impossible to listen to, but rather he is influencing the way we think about things with a wonderfully board and musical baritone, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, while other instruments are then laid over the top to provide additional nuances and atmospheres. Strangely enough, the bands he reminds me most of are classic Fields of the Nephilim or Rammstein but he is actually very different to them indeed. It never ceases to amaze me that there is so much music out there to be discovered by those prepared to look, as the only reason I heard about him is that earlier this year he was touring in this part of the world to celebrate his 20th anniversary! This is dark, almost depressing, wanting us to really listen and contemplate what he is singing about as this is not boy meets girl stuff, but something of much deeper import.
There is a great deal going on here, even though the arrangements are often fairly sparse, and consequently it is an album which one should only play when there is the time to truly listen. Fascinating and compelling.
Rating: 8/10
Links:
https://www.romepage.org/
https://www.facebook.com/TrisolMusic/