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Holy Roman Empire

Lost in Landscapes (2005)
Hewhocorrupts, Inc.

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Aubin
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on September 23rd 2005

It seems that trading in your breakdowns and screaming for lighter, gentler fare is all the rage these days. While there are certainly plenty of post-hardcore bands that are really just bad indie rock, there have been a number of recent hardcore vets that took their influences and sublimated them into something more melodic, often to positive results.

Holy Roman Empire is one of those bands, a near-supergroup of late 90's hardcore refugees like guitarist Neeraj Kane (Suicide File), guitarist Jay Jancetic (ex-Arma Angelus), bassist Geoff Reu (ex-Killing Tree) and drummer Tony Tintari (ex-Shai Hulud). The only member who isn't from a well-known hardcore act is vocalist Emily Schambra, who cut her teeth in Longdistancerunner.

Vocally, Schambra sounds eerily like the ghost of Alison Mosshart (Discount) and the band itself sounds like it was inspired by other notable post-hardcore and early emo forebearers like Sunny Day Real Estate and Failure as well as other more laid back indie rock acts.

The short EP is pleasant and unassuming but relatively forgettable, as there seems to be a distinct lack of interplay between the musicians and the vocalist, and consequently far too much responsibility is placed on Schambra's shoulders. It almost sounds like the band and Emily weren't in the same room when the songs were written, and perhaps some live performances together as a band will yield a tighter and more memorable full-length.

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tristan (October 5, 2005)

Good disc, good review. I'll be interested to hear the full-length.

Anonymous (September 26, 2005)

This album rocks! Its sweet as hell.

Anonymous (September 26, 2005)

I can't wait for their next show!

stevejonestherealbones (September 26, 2005)

i'd do her

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Anonymous (September 24, 2005)

One thing's for sure: this band has a very original name.

darkstarm (September 23, 2005)

Wait a fucking minute. That chick is the vocalist for this band? She used to be my fucking NEIGHBOR. I just shit my pants. I think she's still my neighbor, except she's not around too much. Which now makes sense. That is fucking crazy! Good for her.

Anonymous (September 23, 2005)

Man, seeing this reminded me of how much I miss seeing Longdistancerunner around the local scene. Of course, I could be saying that because they reminded me of a post-2000 Discount. I'll definitely have to check this out as well.

Freakin' Neeraj is in this band? Wasn't he in Harvest and the Hope Conspiracy as well?

-ObeyYourParents

etwiels88 (September 23, 2005)

Shai Hulud! Wooooo

aubin (September 23, 2005)

guitarmy87: The Killing Tree came up in the recent Rise Against webchat. Tim said this:

"TKT was my free-time band. i do TKT when i have free time. if i ever have free time again, who knows..."

So they aren't really broken up, but they're not really active either.

guitarmy87 (September 23, 2005)

the killing tree is still together right?

i mean, when i saw them about a year ago [oct 1st at the bottom lounge, to be exact] they said that they weren't breaking up, simply because they were too lazy.

im just assuming no ones heard anything because rise against is blowing up so big and tims busy with that.

but was there ever an official announcement of a break-up?

Anonymous (September 23, 2005)

The Holy Roman Empire was not Holy, nor was it Roman, and it really wasn't an empire, but more of a confederation of principalities.

Anchors (September 23, 2005)

I really enjoyed this.

jamespastepunk (September 23, 2005)

The group wrote the material a year before they found the vocalist.

In addition, this group is tight as HELL live. I saw them twice, and they're still kick ass.