Recently I've caught
myself classifying a lot of the music I adored a few years ago as
boring. I keep growing tired with more and more stupid and obvious
lyrics of bands I enjoyed a lot in past. Verifying my old favorite
albums I was amazed once again by the beauty of music and wiseness
of lyrics of the good old Rome. I may not enjoy their last release as
much as those of their middle age, but it's good to remind how great
they used to be:)
Rome, usually classified
as martial folk, neofolk or industrial has been playing rather light,
simple music with growing instrumentations and passionate melodies
for good seven years now. In that really inspiring time, they
released six albums and a couple of eps. Of them I enjoyed really,
really much the three released between 2008-10, and quite
substantially less the others. Still, asked about the favorite and
best album, I'll say Masse Mensch Material without any hesitation.
Why MMM? It's not as rich
musically as Flowers From Exile, it doesn't have the cosy, warm
feeling of Nos Chants Perdus. In fact the music is raw and may seem a
bit repetitive. It is closed in the
ascetic, instrumental frames, yet within them there is an open wound,
smelling of fire, smoke and ash, gunpowder and steel. Rome has
repeated multiple times that their songs are supposed to carry
pacific, antiwar meaning, at the same time reminding of the great
pain of the soldiers from not that far past. And quite in that style,
MMM talks about solitude, loss of motivation and will to fight,
inability to create relations – putting it simply in my own way –
heart shrinking in soul's pain.
I absolutely adore lyrics
from MMM. The music itself, however entrancing, is rather simple.
Regular, but intense drums, acoustic guitars and some other
instruments at times, super deep voice of Jerome, background
murmurers... Yes, it's definitely the lyrics and the way they're sang
and fitted to music. In fact I love each of those songs, Die Nelke, Neue Erinnerung, Die Brandstifter, but just to mention some lyrical highpoints of the album
– one of most painful – Das Feuerordal and it's wise reflection:
We who sing of the void
We who burn with love
So strangely plaintive
So strangely complete
In a few drunken hours
In a few hasty words
From our watering mouths
Lose all we came here for
We who burn with love
So strangely plaintive
So strangely complete
In a few drunken hours
In a few hasty words
From our watering mouths
Lose all we came here for
Der Erscheinungen Flucht is a much more optimistic tune, with a good advice among
many doubts:
your pride should be a
lighter thing
an easy thing
a cheerful thing
an easy thing
a cheerful thing
It's true, that few of us
Europeans face nowadays a real horror of war, but under no
circumstance are we allowed to forget of our nations' past and
sacrifices. Unification of Europe, however doubtful, cannot be built
on the base of ingratitude towards our ancestors, and as much as we
care for peace, we must not let ourselves get killed. And if you keep
asking what's the point of remembering history, let me just say –
so that we can confidently fight with our own reality and its
difficulties to stay focused on our purposes. Don't we need today to
be reminded of how:
When we should be -
weeping with rage
Or at least be rattling our chains
Look at us now - we are over
Or at least be rattling our chains
Look at us now - we are over
Well, I could give
many more examples, but not to prolong and make my point – Masse
Mensch Material is one of the few really enhancing and important
albums. If you're still not convinced, play Wir Götter Der
Stadt, read its lyrics and enjoy its pure beauty. It's four years
now, and I still feel like a trembling newbie every time I hear...
...Would you embrace
What is left to me?
Ever embrace what is left to be?
Would you embrace
What is left of me now?
