March Of Heroes — La Chute

Marching drums? Check. Machine guns firing in the distance? Check. The odd requiem thrown in at random intervals? Check. War speeches galore, preferably in German or Russian? Check. Why surely, here is March of Heroes’ latest, recently released on Austrian powerhouse Steinklang Industries. Now, you might be forgiven for thinking that martial-industrial music had sunk into the murky depths of underground oblivion a couple of years ago and that you only really need to own ‘Der Sieg des Lichtes...’ by Der Blutharsch and ‘Herbstwerk’ by Sophia. Truly, does the world need yet another album filled to the brim with samples lifted from a Classical Music for Beginners collection or that sounds like the aural equivalent of a war movie film festival?

I’ll freely admit these were my thoughts upon having to review Romain Lemenorel’s third album under the March of Heroes moniker. I’m all for samples and historical winks and I can get as excited as anyone when discovering that a particular sample on a particular track is actually taken from, say, this Prokofiev concerto or that Fauré etude... but not to the point where it starts distracting from the music. While the album can reach truly emotional peaks at times and you certainly can’t fault the flawless professionalism it is all being presented with (sadly not always a given when dealing with bedroom composers), it still contains too many er-wait-I-know-this and think-I’ve-heard-that-before moments to feel truly comfortable. And while there is no denying the technical mastery that Romain (with contributions from Jim Breedveld – of Staalkracht and The True Will fame – and Mitchell Keepin, from Aussie black metal act Austere) has put into crafting the fourteen tracks on offer, it is the compositional department that is found wanting more often than not and left this listener with a lingering yearning for more. If anything, this very point only serves to highlight the potential of the band, surely a sign that better times may lay ahead should Romain decide to trust his compositional abilities instead of presenting us with what feels as little more than a – very finely put together, admittedly – sound collage for history buffs.

As with a few other Steinklang releases, the album also comes in a limited-edition wooden box filled with all sorts of goodies (including an extra mini-CDr with additional material) so if you get off on war-themed art and fancy a Soviet flag replica to re-decorate your room, here is a one-of-a-kind chance. If it’s martial-industrial music that offers a refreshing take on the genre you’re after, though, you might want to give ‘La Chute’ a miss...