Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

H.E.R.R - XII Caesars [Cold Spring - 2009]

'XII Caesars' finds H.E.R.R creating their most dramatic, grand, theatrical & often approachable work so far. With the Dutch/ English five piece  building a rich & varied concept album about the greedy, cruel & debauchery heavy life a dozen Roman emperors.

The album finds the band making their distinctive, rich, ornate & epic Neo-classical sound even more grand, soaring & beautiful with digital orchestra been mixed with real violin, trumpet & cello tones. The tracks have also taken on a more theatrical & dramatic musical type feel with both Troy Southgates & Miklὀs Hoffer vocals going beyond their usually spoken word & slight singing of the past, into more dramatic acted, expressive, and sang vocals; as well as adding on harmony & backing vocals here & there too. There is also quite an almost pop feel present in many of tracks here which brings to mind either later day synthetic string lined work of OMD or more approachable & dramatic pop musical song craft.  Yet for all these developments with-in their sound they’ve still not lost the deep, clever & wordy texts from the tracks or that edge & feeling that made them so distinctive, rewarding & other sounding from the rest of the Neo-classical scene.

Truly an epic, varied, grand & often highly memorable album that is yet another highpoint in this project near faultless release path. This will appeal way beyond the normal fairly small neo-classical scene to anyone who enjoys dramatic, grand & tuneful music of any form- like a few other great bands before them H.E.R.R have now broken away from the scene or genre that birth them to soar & reach for the own distinctive sonic place- truly ummissble stuff!

Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

H.E.R.R - XII Caesars
'XII Caesars' finds H.E.R.R creating their most dramatic, grand, theatrical & often approachable work so far. With the Dutch/ English five piece  bu...
061225   Split Apex - Thoughts in 3D
051225   Heretic - Breaking Point
051225   Abscess - Though The Cracks O...
051225   Koobaatoo Asparagus - Between...
041225   Whore’s Breath - Precipitat...
041225   Lord Cernunnos / doublepeace ...
041225   PINK WOOL - Nightsweater
041225   Dracula - Dracula(VOD)
041225   The Ominous Circle - Cloven ...
041225   A Hyena In The Safe - A Hyena...
Latest Articles

The Spectral Sounds of The Projec...
As music obsessives know, what makes a label fascinating is not just the sounds they release. The most intriguing labels offer a conceptual framework and con...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
090525   Ennaytch - Of walls, abused ...
150425   Dead, Dead Swans interview - ...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom