Rome
The Lone Furrow

Well, Rome is the capital of Italy and was the capital of the Roman empire, but in this case it is the music project of Jerome Reuter. He is a man described as a poet and genius of languages according to the press material where we can also read the following about Rome: “Rome’s art always stays slightly beyond the pale and Reuter certainly is what the mainstream would call a joyous outsider. “The Lone Furrow” is a mordant, clear-eyed critique of the modern world, spun with the delicacy of a spiderweb; a journey through the ravaged landscapes of history; a spiritual quest weaving a unique poetry of withdrawal from the troubling world into distant retreats. And yet, at the same time, this collection of remarkable compositions is a generous invitation to a great European Tradition of literary thought from Hesse to Nietzsche, from Tacitus to Orwell, from Ovid to the Edda, from Yeats to Baudelaire.” Enough said perhaps.

Musically it is the kind dark rock poetry or something like that, Neo-folk is a description often used to describe what Reuter is bringing to the scene. Vocals in more than one language, English, German and French is what we are getting as well. Low tempo, some spoken word stuff as well. In a way it is a fresh approach, yet it isn’t really as it feels all too familiar. There isn’t much in terms of dynamics or such either so even though it is a varied album it feels quite static and uneventful. I always keep thinking that it is a bit of a long stretch to get through this album, yet it is no more than 44 minutes.

The Lone Furrow is a pretty good album, though not that attention grabbing and not really the interesting social commentary that the press material tries to have me believe. Also, the poetry isn’t really enough to sell this album completely, at least not to me, I think poetry should go with outstanding songs and on this album most of the songs are good but not much more than that and certainly not memorable. There is one exception, I think Kali Yuga Über Alles is a really strong track and quite memorable, it is a pretty impactful track, but it is only that – the rest are good but also pretty bland.

Not a favourite for my top lists of the year 2020, not one of the worst either. A few more memorable tracks and Rome would have been closer to the city in its glory, now it is more like another one of those releases that will work for some and less so for others, too good to just dismiss but too bad for the superlatives. It is for you who enjoy the neo-folk or that sort of thing, fans of darker rock poets might also find that Rome has something to offer – probably not a disappointing album but not a standout one either.

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