Luxembourg based project ROME is the creative vehicle of composer and musician Jérôme Reuter, and has been active for well over a decade at this point. “Le Ceneri Di Heliodoro” is the thirteenth album to be issued under the Rome moniker, and was released through German label Trisol Music Group at the start of 2019.
I understand that Rome is mainly categorized with a folk or neo-folk context. While I can understand that to some extent, those who wants to enjoy music with an orientation towards or a direct influence from traditional folk music or world music won’t find much to enjoy on this album. A few exceptions aside, I’d say that this is an album that operates out from a singer/songwriter foundation, and with more of a contemporary take on those elements of the music at that. And that, by and large, this element isn’t a defining aspect of the songs either when it comes to that.
That being said, the acoustic guitar and vocals are central in most of the songs. The more atmospheric laden, cinematic opening and end cuts are the main exceptions, as well as a brief cinematic interlude in the second half of the album. All of these wonderful creations, but also exceptions. Another and arguably more noteworthy exception is ‘Fliegen wie Vögel’, a song with many similar characteristics with the orchestral score pop songs you can find in classic James Bond movies, but with the dreamy and sensual touches those songs have replaced with a darker, more brooding and haunting mood.
The rest of the album will by and large operate out from a singer/songwriter foundation, using core instrument traits from that kind of music in structures and arrangements that has a lot more common with post-punk – New Model Army was a band that often came to my mind when listening to this album as a matter of fact. It is in the themes and motifs provided by the guitar, the melody lines, the way most chorus sections are applied, as well as the vocal style. Dark, haunting and occasionally menacing. A few details offset the songs from one another though, the inclusion of some Americana details find their way on to this album as does the inclusion of certain minor details that for me at least will always be associated with spaghetti westerns. And for my sake I really cherish the clever and effective use of sound effects throughout this album as well, one of those at times subtle details that can really add a nerve to a song.
With at times scathing lyrics as the icing on the cake, although it will probably alienate a few fans living in certain parts of the world:
All hail the stumbling child king
Coiling for the vanishing lights
Now stay with us as brothers
Through this darkest of nights
We used to love America…
For me, this is an album that strikes me as a lower key, acoustic take on post-punk more than anything else. Or perhaps an album that sits somewhere in between the singer/songwriter and the post-punk universe, with a stronger orientation towards the latter, especially as far as mood, atmosphere and tension is concerned. A dark, haunting and at times rather bleak but also haunting affair, and an album easy to recommend to those that tends to enjoy moods of that kind in the types of music referenced.
My rating: 83/100
