ROME NERA ALBUM COLD MEAT INDUSTRY RELEASE: NOVEMBER, 2006 REVIEW: JANUARY 17, 2006

Don't let the pale statuary images on the cover fool you: Rome is not your average Cold Meat Industry artist. Martial drums and ominous themes may turn up here and there on "Nera", but Luxembourg resident Jerome Reuter is much more of a traditional songwriter and singer than most of the industrial ambient bands on this Swedish label.

The sound does not fall comfortably into either of the neofolk or industrial categories, but carries features of both and adds somber vocals and melodic arrangements, well above the usual standard in these genres, to the mix. With its accessible yet beguiling sound, Rome is probably the ideal first band with which to lure unsuspecting innocents into the shadowy realms of Cold Meat Industry. It may also well be the band you return to after growing tired of the extreme antics of the other bands.

MATTIAS HUSS