If you need an introduction to the opus of Jerome Reuter, a.k.a. Rome, you might be best advised to think of him as a modern-day bard. This might help you understand his motivation, his aims, his concepts and his hyper-productivity. Clad either into organic-sounding neofolk or martial industrial, his poetic lyrics express allegiance with Europe and the European idea as well as with the humanistic achievements of civilization while simultaneously fiercely opposing everything that threatens and aims at doing away with these achievements. Since 2005, year after year and album after album, Rome has been portraying the state of current or historical (political) affairs. Today, Jerome Reuter can look back on an immense back catalogue. Within that back catalogue, as he probably would admit himself, some albums are, naturally, better and more memorable than others. A stand-out release among the more recent ones is certainly The Lone Furrow (2020) which includes several great pieces of music, some grown from collaborations with other well-known musicians.
In the last few years Reuter’s focus has been on the ongoing war that Russia waged on Ukraine and on the threat accompanying it, for the European continent and the world. His latest long player Gates of Europe (2023) focused on this subject and was followed by an extensive tour which included shows in Ukraine and Israel – not places your average band goes to play. While I admired and wholeheartedly supported the activism and the sentiments expressed, I must admit that I wasn’t too excited about the music on the most recent releases. But now Jerome Reuter is back with an EP that has a broadened view featuring a self-explanatory title – World In Flames. The music appears to be distilled to Rome’s essentials and will probably appeal to fans old and new.
World in Flames is divided into two parts, with the parts being situated at the far ends of Rome’s sound palette; it is put together from two extremes if you will. After an instrumental intro titled Vol De Nuit two songs of cold industrial music follow, conjuring up a possible future under dictatorship, totalitarianism and the absence of freedom. The abrupt, electronic sounds appear even more alien juxtaposed with the acoustic neofolk tunes of the following two songs, Eagle Wings and Todo Es Nada. While Eagle Wings is an ode to endurance, the lyrics to Todo es Nada have a grander scope and, in their simplicity, almost philosophical depth, teaching the listener an ancient lesson: If you strive to possess everything, you will end up having nothing. “All is gone, none is won. Todo es nada!”
The album ends with the lament World In Flames, almost an instrumental piece, but not quite, for you can hear singing in the background, dramatic and sad, but unintelligible.
Rome, it seems, is back, and in great form. World In Flames is a step in a good direction. Give the EP a listen, enjoy the music and the lyrics and raise your fist to the motto of the opposition against totalitarianism: Todo es nada!
(7.5/10 Slavica)
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