Rome - Hegemonikon - A Journey to the End of Light (2022) Hi-Res

"Hegemonikon" is ROME's 17th album and holds a few daring surprises: On this new album, the influences of electronica and new wave have shaped ROME's trademark guitar-based dark folk into a new beast by adding a subtle touch of post-punk synth-rock to the mix.

Ever since the band's inception by Luxembourg-born mastermind and multi-instrumentalist Jerome Reuter in 2005, ROME has displayed a resilience and constitution found only in Olympic athletes when it comes to releasing hard-hitting, bullet-proof albums every single year.

Chanson noir, post-industrial, avant-pop, new folk, singer-songwriter... it takes a whole lot of neologisms to try and describe the band's musical style. In 2022, ROME demonstrates yet again how to chameleon yourself into a fresh new form by introducing electronic musical elements by way of analogue synthesizers, without losing the strength of its true and strong self.

Rome thrives on the concept of free-space, an anarchic area of experimentation dedicated to the dark yet joyous celebration of life. Rome is the beast of the under-current, dominated by an affection for that which cannot be pressed into a form, for wild growth, for the willingly chaotic urge to go out into the open and an aversion to confinement. Rome sets its sails for new horizons, to the frontier. In short, to life!

The album delivers iconic, synth-driven hymns like 'No Second Troy', 'Solar Caesar', and 'Hearts Mend', through which ROME enhances its already vast sonic universe. "Hegemonikon" is steeped in high drama, each track spilling into the next like a dystopian opera. From the sampled poetic snippets of the opening 'A Slaughter of Crows', to the ethereal words of 'Stone of Light', voices play an integral role in the album's theatrical aura.

With its themes of defiance, the holy, and the vertical, this masterpiece is a new landmark for the band. What keeps Rome relevant is its constant dealings with matters of the European soul in an ever-changing modern world. What separates their wheat from the chaff of their peers is the deeply poetic nature of their lyrics and music.

"Hegemonikon" is a bold musical statement and demonstrates that ROME, in its 17th year of existence, is not content to coast on the coattails of its back catalogue but is able to surprise its vast audience with another hard-hitting album made of anthemic songs. To life!