Rome – Le Ceneri Di Heliodoro (CD Album – Trisol)
Genre/Influences: Martial, neo-folk, apocalyptic-rock, chanson.
Background/Info: “Le Ceneri Di Heliodoro” (“The ashes Of Heliodoro”) is the thirteenth album of Jérôme Reuter. The artist remains extremely prolific releasing nearly every year one new album.
Content: When listening to Rome you first hear the music, but next also have to pay attention for the lyrical content. Sound-wise this work is a move back to martial- and neo-folk influences, Rome mainly deal with during his early years. But the influences have been merged together with the styled ‘chanson’ approach from the pas- years. “Le Ceneri Di Heliodoro” this way becomes a sonic osmosis between all influences and genres this musician has experienced with.
Lyrically the album clearly sounds like a reflection and metaphor to the situation of our old continent Europe.
+ + + : Rome stands for darkness; it’s not exactly the kind of music that will make you happy although the artistic creation once more caught my attention. The way good-old martial elements and neo-folk have been mixed with the recent evolution and sound of Rome is once again a real ‘tour de force’. The songs are dark and beautiful pieces interpreted by a passionate singer. Jérôme Reuter has been joined by a few backing vocalists sometimes creating the effect of a choir. Just pay attention for the effect it creates at “Black Crane” to realize the impact of this production. But I also have to mention “The West Knows Best” characterized by a whistling passage. It’s totally unexpected, but it has something enlightening. A last word about the lyrics, which aside of their content also reveals a real poetry.
– – – : I should say this album brings nothing new; all influences running through this work indeed are familiar, but the way they’ve been intermixed is remarkable.
Conclusion: Rome never stops taking me by surprise; “Le Ceneri Di Heliodoro” could be considered as the ‘referential’ album featuring all influences this great musician has ever dealt with.
Best songs: “The West Knows Best”, “Fliegen Wie Voegel”, “Who Only Europe Know”, “Black Crane”, “One Lion’s Roar”.
Rate: (8½).
Artist: www.rome.lu / www.facebook.com/romeproject
Label: www.trisol.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Trisol-Music-Group/104166526285471
About Rome
Jérôme Reuter, born on August 2, 1981, in Luxembourg, is the creative force behind the neofolk project Rome, formed in November 2005. Before founding Rome, Reuter performed under the moniker Reggie Fain, influenced by Tom Waits, and played in the Oi! band the Skinflicks and the post-punk outfit Mack Murphy and the Inmates.
Rome’s music fuses military drumming, atmospheric electronic textures, and ethereal acoustic guitars with samples and poetic lyrics exploring war, love, pain, and death, drawing on literary figures such as Jacques Brel, Léo Ferré, Albert Camus, Ernst Jünger, and Jean Genet. “Le Ceneri Di Heliodoro,” reviewed here, was Reuter’s thirteenth album, released on Trisol in 2019.
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