It’s barely been half a year since I wrote my previous Rome review (‘World in Flames’) and here we are again…
Now Rome (Jerome Reuter) is known for delivering many albums short after one another, but I didn’t expect an entire full length to come out this fast. Actually, make that two full length because on this same day ‘The Dublin Session II’ also got released. What a way to celebrate 20 years of existence. Excuse my lack of time for not being able to cover them both fully.
The theme of Civitas Solis doesn’t come as a surprise; the current state of Europe is still the main character in the works of Rome, whether or not covered up in ‘old’ stories or its history; hence the title of the album. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Rome will need to find some new source of inspiration anytime soon, since a shift to the east can be found on the album as well, and the state of the world, and these albums encourage critical thinking. Despite these sad reasons, it does give us an bottomless well of endless great music making for Rome.
Even though the sound on the album is still typical of Rome: dark dooming songs, alternated with a neo folk/indie sound and a leading acoustic guitar, the general sound of Civitas Solis is less dark than its predecessor ‘World in Flames’, and has more glimpses of hope and lightness in it to my ears.
‘La France Nouvelle’, ‘Tomorrow we live’, ‘White Flag’  and  ‘Men Against Time’ are some of the calmer (acoustic) songs with, despite their theme, have a spark of hope, and a lighter sound.
Darkness can be found in ‘Food for Powder’, Bring me the head of Romanez’ and ‘By Tradition’. ‘Bring me the head of Romanez’ truly stands out on the album. Its industrial dark sound, Reuter his deep and dark voice asking for the head of Romanez almost in spoken word embodies a doomsday sound. The violin line gives an extra sinister dimension to this song, a true masterpiece in less than three minutes.

Ballad ‘Mar’yana’ stands out on its own. The emotional love song carries you away to the front where a soldier is longing to come home to his girl. Reuter his voice is softer and less fierce than usual, which beautifully fits the calm melodies.

All in all, Civitas Solis is yet another powerful album from Rome, still with the familiar neofolk darkness, but in general a bit lighter in sound to my ears. The theme of the album, like previous ones, is more accurate than ever, and therefore the voice of Rome louder than ever, being it the releasing of so many superb songs and albums.

Release Date : April 25th, 2025
Record Label: Trisol Music Group

Rating: 9/10

Written by: Ingrid

Track Listing:
La France Nouvelle
In Brightest Black
Tomorrow We Live
Food for Powder
Ad Vindicta
By Tradition
Dannazione
Bring Me the Head of Romanez
The Western Wall
White Flags
Jupiter
Mar’yana
Men Against Time
Herculaneum