Review Summary: Sitting around a campfire on a cool autumn night, looking at the stars, and using the brain to think in ways that isn't used often. This is how Masse Mesnch Material feels like.
Every so often I find myself overwhelmed in deep though. My mind is rapidly thinking and I am unable to focus on one specific aspect of emotion. A world of confusion often is the outcome; thus I am left often broken psychologically. The emergence of human emotion can be brought forth through various sources. There is the obvious of music, but there are others such as art, athletics, and even theater. To be successful at these professions, one needs faith, love, and the ability to endure. Rome's
Masse Mesnch Material is this exactly. Rome is able to blend a mixture of drama and art, to the established music, to create one of the best albums of 2008.
Rome is able to capture and seize all types of emotion. They grab it by the horns and the listener is engulfed for an amazing forty-five minutes. The uniqueness of this album is quite remarkable. Starting off with a four minute ethereal experience in "Sonnegotter", I could already tell this album was going to be a great ride to enjoy.
"Der Brandtaucher" gives the best feel of Rome's odd, but effective, style. Tribal drums throughout and spoken/sung vocals by Jerome Reuter make this my favorite song off of this disc. The song is the best example of the neofolk/ambient style that Rome has been doing for a few years now.
Before I continue on the positive sides of the album, I will discuss the negatives. First off is the totally useless track "Der Tote Spielmann". One can not really call this an instrumental because the song has minimal lyrics and the "music" sounds like a train. The second problem is that no other song really reaches the pinnacle that "Der Brandtaucher" set early. The big no no for me is that two songs' musical section are exactly the same. "Die Nelke" and "Neue Erinnerung" sound the same note for note.
Enough of the nit-picking and time to go back to the positives. Jerome Reuter is a very talented singer-songwriter and it shows. His vocal style is one that I haven't heard before either. He really doesn't sing on the album, but the emotion presented by just speaking really made me think about every little detail in my life. For instance, "Das Feuerordal" made me think about what I truly love. "Die Nelke" powerful lyrics of, "YOU WHO MISTOOK LOVE FOR BOREDOM YOU WHO HAVE NO SELF-CONTROL YOU WHO CONFUSE TALKING WITH BREATHING WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF THE LIVES WE'RE LEADING?" made me think about those who have done wrong to me in my life and how I can become the best human being possible. Lastly my favorite lyrical song of the album "Die Brandstiffer" gave me an extremely uplifting feeling. It tells me on how to never give in to the negative pressures in the world and overcome any difficulties that arise. This is a truly powerful experience.
Rome's
Masse Mensch Material hit me in a way only one other album from 2008 hit me; that would be Mutyumu's Ilya. The powerful neofolk instrumentals and vocals of Jerome Reuter gave me a great experience for three quarters of an hour. I would recommend this for anyone who is looking to get in a positive mood, want a ethereal ambient experiences, or those who just love a good folk album. When I looked into this about six months ago, I didn't know what to expect. Would it be bland and boring? Would it just suck?. Coming into a brand new genre after listening to the various subgenres of metal was a strange experience. These questions were being asked after my first listen. "WILL YOU BE FAITHFUL? WILL ALL MASKS COME OFF? WILL OUR MASTER BREAK THE MOULD IN TIME?" After giving this all the time to set in, I was finally able to say yes. Metal will always be my heart, but Rome opened up a plethora of doors musically. My mask of metal was finally fragile.
