German speaking countries are the natural hinterlands for this genre, not just because many fine bands gestated and were born there, but because the reception and worship of English-speaking bands has been so thorough. Also, German and Austria CD shops (high street ones, no less) usually stock a fine selection of alternative electronic and metal music such as Suicide Commando, :Wumpscut:, Das Ich (of course) and whole litany of others who've likely never been stocked in a UK HMV ever.
The artwork for Rome's new triptych really caught my eye:
With parts II and III in really beautiful light brown and red, classy digipacks. So, with the name and intriguing artwork I had a brief listen and heard some doomy, Bowie/Bauhaus inspired folk with some apocalyptic drumming, dramatic incantations and fireworks of industrial noise...could only be one thing: neo-folk.
Happily, I was in a neo-folk mood (it is never stocked anywhere in the UK) and happily snapped up all three CDs eventually.
They're superb: Jerome Reuter has a great, deep voice that is firm and evocative while the music -acoustic guitars, light-martial percussion and very evocative effects -has depth, accessibility and a real breadth of meaning. You can tell the record has been laboured over while retaining a breeziness that the best folk requires. Lyrics are deep, intellectual yet accessible when they need to be (i.e. the historical weight of the subject matter, European traditions of revolutions and resistance, never gets in the way of a good tune).
All three albums are a mix of instrumentals, spoken word and vocal songs, split about 20:30:50 ratio respectively (I know that's not a real ratio).
A recommended band to investigate.
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