Rome - Hyperion Machine

2017 release. Good stories always have a bit of prehistory. Good albums too, because they tell a good story. That's why, every now and again in our standardized music world, an album appears whose history began even before the very first note arose. That is definitely true in the case of this release from the Luxembourgian project Rome. Even the title, The Hyperion Machine, releases a whole gamut of associations. This chain stretches from Greek antiquity via the poet Friedrich Hölderlin, dramatist Heiner Müller and right up to Einstürzende Neubauten. That's quite a curve! And then a bell strikes. The music begins to run it's course. What begins here is more than just the regular statement from some musician; irrespective of genre. It's something holistic, which between eternity and the blink of an eye, between whispering and screaming, reveals it's diverse facets with each passing second. In it's narrative force, 'The Hyperion Machine' functions like a radio play or audio book. And yet, the music stands up on it's own. Nonetheless, whenever the listener poses the question of meaning, a whole new world appears before him. There are no packaging inserts or listening instructions for the songs. You can let them work their magic on you without having to expend any great deal of thought, but if you are the pondering and wondering kind, there is are an awful lot of thoughts you could give way to. The Hyperion Machine poses a whole lot of questions which in turn lead to further questions. Today's knowledge could well be obsolete tomorrow. Simple answers are only for populists and demagogues.