H.E.R.R.

"XII Caesars"

Cold Spring - 2009

CD

Anglo / Dutch ensemble H.E.R.R. are finally back with a new full-length opus of epic proportions, like we are by now used to expect from them. This time, Troy Southgate and friends lead us back in history to the times of the Roman Empire, narrating the stories of twelve different Caesars, as clearly shown by the title of the CD itself. From Julius down to Domitian, the individual and collective fate of the emperor and his people are conjured by Michiel Spapé's violin and rich electronic orchestra, Oskar Ludwig's cello (once again a powerful add to the group's sound) and Inge Boot trumpet, as well as by Troy Southgate and Miklós Hoffer's evocative lyrics. With previous and magnificent "Vondel's Lucifer", H.E.R.R. proved to be able to handle ambitious concepts and turn them into exquisite pieces of music and theatrical interpretation, but, on the contrary, with "XII Caesars" it seems something didn't work properly.

The music, as much epic and refined as it undoubtedly is, shifting between neoclassical and baroque, fails to capture the listeners' deep emotions and lead them to the final catharsis, apart from episodes such as "The Eagle Standard", "No Love Returned", or the dramatic "The Moon Devours The Sun", in which a complex work of strings, trumpet and cello finally make the blood flow faster through your veins. Most of the time, the orchestrations sound a bit cold and repetitive. The album's real turn off are the vocals: whereas Troy Southgate's usual spoken narrations are properly utilized, Miklós Hoffer's singing is weak, not powerful nor skilled enough to stand next to such music and concept. This way, most of the songs end up with sounding the same, with few interesting moments towards the end and a general feeling of repetition, if not plain boredom, along most of the running time.

H.E.R.R. are very ambitious, that's understood, and in the recent past, with outstanding works such as "The Winter Of Constantinople" and "Vondel's Lucifer", they showed how to turn such ambitions into an intriguing musical and lyrical dimension. This time, it seems the group's limits have surfaced quite clearly: they definitely need to renew their sound a bit and to improve the vocal parts, in order to support their strong concepts in a more convincing way.

- Simon V.

Website: http://herr.tegendemuur.nl

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/herrenliga

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