Jenarium Rise of the New Sun
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Jenarium Rise of the New Sun

Deer Park, Victoria, Australia | INDIE

Deer Park, Victoria, Australia | INDIE
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"JENARIUM Rise of the New Sun album pre-launch review"

I went to an album launch tonight. And there I witnessed the birth of something genuinely new.

Not just Jenarium: Rise of the New Sun, the album by Robert Dominic Gennari. No, I saw something much more than that. Something that defies labelling, something that refuses to be slotted into a neat little place in the world.

There have been many “concept” albums before. There have been albums that are soundtracks to a movie. There has even been an album for a book. But I don’t think there has ever been an album for a book that is also a film, in which the album tells the story that is the book and the film, in part.


Equally, the film, when it is made will tell the tale in pictures that the album told in music, that the book will tell us all. This alone makes Jenarium unique amongst all albums ever released.



But if the concept of the album defies categorisation and creates a whole new genre in itself, then the music also takes category busting to a whole new level. For it defies a neat little label we all want to stick on things, especially if they are new, to help us explain them to ourselves and others.



Do you call it “cinematic metal”, with “choral” overtones. Is it “electronic thrash” with “stadium rock” undertones, and an overlay of “filmic, choral, orchestral” overtones? Is it a film score? Sort of. But does it rock hard and heavy, like the best Metal? Yes. (Not surprising given it was mastered by Tom Baker (of Nine Inch Nails and Matrix soundtrack fame). But if you think that pigeonholes it, then think again.



For weaving its rich, deep narration over, under and through the entire album are the equally cinematic tones of the voice of Craig Parker (he of Lord of the Rings fame.) Is this storytelling then? Yes, it is. But as much as the narration (and the songs, and the lyrics) tell the tale of Jenarium, it also manages to bury the tale deep in mystery and subterfuge. There is both illumination and obfuscation taking place at the same time. It teases us with a tale quite intriguing, that it doesn’t yet fully reveal.



This is not surprising given the story centres around the rise of a dark, hidden menace which comes up from its subterranean world to threaten the peaceful and benevolent people of Jenarium.



Jenarium may well be the most unique album ever released. For who would ever think you could bring together an actor from one of the world’s most successful films, a musical mastermind behind one of the world’s hardest edge bands, a 100 voice choir, electronic synthesisers, hard driving rock riffs and thumping powerful beats and put it all into a single album.



Somebody thought you could. And that somebody is Robert Dominic Gennari. And this album is his. He thought of it. He composed it. He sings on it. He plays almost every instrument on it. The story is. The characters are his. The narration is his. The book will be his. As will the film.



I can’t think of another album to compare it to. But then what other album, has ever also been a book and a film? And a world. And a universe.



Welcome to Jenarium. It’s Robert’s world. He created it. But he invites us to explore it, to play in it, to lose ourselves in it. It is a dark and forbidding place at times, but there is hope, there is light. And from this darkness, a new sun may rise, after all.


The author of this review, is Mark Farrelly a Writer/Creative Director with over 25 years experience at senior levels in Australian Advertising Agencies. - Mark Farrelly


"JENARIUM a new sun rises"

Un véritable OVNI: épique, symphonique et électronique, digne d'une BO de film ou d'un roman de Sci Fi

Jenarium est sans doute le one man band, ou le projet le plus impressionnant et le plus créatif jamais réalisé ces dernières années dans l'univers du rock/metal à influences diverses. Rares sont ces personnes qui arrivent à elles-seules à créer une musique des plus incroyables et immersives, digne d'un film ou d'un roman musical. Je veux dire par là que l'univers de Jenarium est un des plus grandiose jamais entendu, si tant est qu'on aime la science fiction, le fantastique, le futurisme, l'épique, ou encore le symphonique...

« Rise of the New Sun » provient de la mythologie de Jenarium, exclusivement créée par les soins de Robert Dominic Gennari (auteur/compositeur). Un homme imaginatif, au commande de tous les instruments ainsi de la production et de l'enregistrement de son bébé (la masterisation a tout de même été faite à Hollywood par Tom Baker – Nine Inch Nails, Matrix!), en compagnie du Radium Symphonic Orchestra, de Craig Parker pour certaines narrations (l'elfe Haldir dans le Seigneur des Anneaux), ou de Christina Jonas (soprano), de véritables stars en Nouvelle Zélande et en Australie.

L'album est étonnant tant il déborde d'idées, aussi bien au plan musical que mythologique. En effet, Rober Dominic Gennari nous propose un concept album grandiloquent, avec une histoire, une mythologie, des personnages, des races, des planètes, des lieux insolites, et j'en passe. Il sera difficile de faire court sur cette chronique, le développement de l'histoire sera sans aucun doute abrégé, mais pour vous plonger définitivement dans l’œuvre, tout ce que je vous conseille c'est d'aller sur le site officiel de Jenarium.

Gennari décrit son œuvre comme une saga cyber/héroïque, mélangeant habilement électronique, metal, et sympho, le tout se passant dans un avenir assez lointain où les conquêtes spatiales sont les clés du progrès. A la manière d'un film, l'album s'ouvre de cette façon :

« Sur le territoire de Numarea
Dans la région du dessous, se trouvait un système de cavernes
Sa profondeur était inconnue
Lors de l'ancien temps, ces cavernes étaient habitées par une horde de créatures féroces, nocturnes et néolithiques
Connues sous le nom de « la nation Rifer »
Pendant des années et des années, on pensait que les cavernes étaient vides

...mais nous avions tort... »

Le monde de Jenarium se compose de deux types de populations : les Sinturians, qui sont les premiers nés, avancés, beaux et mortels, ils sont comme la garde impériale destinée à protéger les terres de Numarea; et les Rifers, décrits ci-dessus. Nous nous retrouvons bien sûr avec un monde typiquement manichéen. L'histoire suit donc une continuité, les cavernes sont, soit disant, vides, jusqu'à ce que les créatures et des morts apparaissent un peu partout sur les contrées de Numarea. La seule solution pour éviter l'invasion : s'allier, bien que les différentes races de Numarea ne soient pas totalement d'accord. Si l'alliance n'a pas lieu, et si une certaine relique n'est pas trouvée, la suite sera beaucoup plus sombre, les Rifers sortiront de leur caverne et élimineront toute forme de vie.

Par conséquent, tous les morceaux de l'album se suivent, sans discontinuité, telle une BO. Il n'est donc pas difficile de nous croire en plein film, les images nous viennent automatiquement à l'esprit, à l'entente même des paroles, des sons, des effets, des guitares...
Les premières écoutes sont très difficiles. Cet opus est un véritable ovni du Metal, car même si la mythologie, en soit, est hallucinante et fouillée (je n'ai pas évoqué toutes les races, toutes les régions, tous les océans, les différentes ères...), la musique en elle-même est très difficile d'accès. On passe véritablement du coq à l'âne en un clin d'oeil, il faut aimer le mélange de genres et d'ambiances en à peine une minute. Et surtout aimer les moments électro/techno.

Commençons donc par une introduction, sorte de « bande annonce » de l'album, narrée par Craig Parker (à la Luca Turilli). On nous explique les événements, les habitants du monde de Jenarium, etc, sur un fond musical étrange. Bruits de créatures, choeurs sombres, symphonie planante et envoûtante malgré ce certain côté terrible. On arrive ensuite à un « Apokalyptein » au début techno/electro très casse tête, débouchant de suite sur une fin de titre aux multiples sonorités, grognements, voix robotiques, effets futuristes, notes de violons...ce n'est que le début d'un voyage intersidéral dans l'Hydroverse (l'univers).

Un « Danger Rising » montre un morceau très typé Metal industriel (NIN?), tout en ayant ce côté dansant, malgré des tonnes de samples de tous les genres, les vocaux sont alternés, et le tout va de paire avec un « Message from the Hydroverse » aux violons, les envolées sont épiques, les choeurs terribles, sur un léger fond électronique, les voix semblant toutes droits sorties du futur.

Plus on avance dans l'album, et plus on découvre un monde étrange, où les « enfants de Jenarium » se retrouvent préoccupés par la venue de la nation Rifer, ci bien que la techno disparaît au profit d'une suite bien plus grandiloquente et guerrière, toujours fusionnée avec un certain côté cybernétique et pré-apocalyptique. Les choeurs prennent davantage de place et les orchestration sont beaucoup plus mises en avant à partir de « Clamare ex Altus » aux narrations en latin (renforçant le côté épique) et de « Valida Viktor Miserere » aux riffs tranchants.

Tout le long de ces quatorze titres, on a ces choeurs en arrière plan qui unissent toutes les pistes en une seule, ci bien qu'on peut réellement affirmer que cet opus se compose d'une seule chanson, divisée en quatorze sous parties. Le pic se situe sans doute à l'interlude « Born in Numarea » racontant la vie de Kintoria (un grand homme), alternant passages calmes à voix robotique/clair, passages aux symphonies typiquement ciné, et passages héroïco/spatiaux (02:15). Le titre à retenir.

Si un côté « ethnique » se fait ressentir dès « Mare Flamma », notamment avec l'apparition d'un texte écrit en grec ancien, le côté cyber/symphonique, lui prend, définitivement place sur « Descend to the Pit » rappelant Mechina, conduit par une ligne de basse, des choeurs puissants, épique et sombre en italien (l'orchestre Royal et Philharmonique de Melbourne) un rythme mécanique, des bruits de machine...

L'album se conclut sur un duo de morceau, conduit par « Sol Ascende », les grognements de créatures s'éteignent, la symphonie est mélancolique et grandiloquente, rappelant les œuvres de grands compositeurs de BO (J.Williams, H.Zimmer, H.Shore entre autres), avec ce final astral digne des crédits défilant en fin de film.

On peut certainement voir du Luca Turilli au sein de cet opus (les choeurs, l'électro, la narration, le grandiloquent) mais Gennari a su imposer son style et sa façon de créer les choses. « Rise of the New Dawn » est un album déroutant et impressionnant, mais relativement très inspiré, et incomparable. Le sieur aurait même été influencé par Trent Reznor.

Des concepts albums, on en voit souvent, mais d'un tel acabit, sans doute pas. Voici donc un véritable bijou, inclassable qui plus est, déjà salué par de nombreux auditeurs, dont des stars comme Eric Bana (acteur), Duncan Roy Lorien (ex-batteur de David Bowie et Bryan Adams) ou John Tempesta (ex-Rob Zombie).

Entrez donc dans le monde de Jenarium... - Spirit of Metal Webzine (France)


"How Trent Reznor helped Robert Dominic Gennari create the ultimate concept album."

INTERVIEW - ROBERT DOMINIC GENNARI - RISE OF A NEW SUN

By Anthony Santoro

Robert Dominic GennariMusician and author Robert Dominic Gennari doesn’t do thing by halves. When he had the idea to write a new concept-rock album, he didn’t just come up with a 12-track record, played by a 4-piece band. Rather, he opted for a 60 piece orchestra with a 100-voice choir and created not only an album, but a novel, a film, a website and a whole universe.

When you consider that, in making the album, he called upon components of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the likes of Craig Parker (a.k.a. Haldir in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings) I suppose you could say he thought outside the square he lived in.

The result of his toil is the brand new album, Jenarium: Rise of the New Sun (www.jenarium.com) – a mythological concept album that Robert describes as an “electro-rock symphony”. Certainly, concept albums can sometimes conjure images of the 1980s, tight leggings and long hair...but Rise of the New Sun is an exception – a very big exception to that rule – and proof that, to achieve your dreams, you can’t just go with the flow.

Although first a musician (he is more than competent in instruments ranging from the saxophone and keyboard to drums and guitar), Robert is no stranger to literature – his bookcase is testament to that. To say he is well-read is something of an understatement; Robert has read every Tolkien book published and is well versed in the ancient languages of Greek and Latin. To write and create the Jenarium mythology he even studied the sciences of palaeontology and taxonomy.

There is a misconception of artists out there in the wider community. This is the conception that until one is ‘well known’ they haven’t made it. In so many ways and on so many levels, this isn’t true. There are little goldmines of talent everywhere. What sells and what is passed off as ‘popular’ are the realms of the marketing gurus in their ivory towers. What you don’t see behind the walls of success they build in front of such artists as, say, Lady Gaga, is the years of personal hard work behind her and the crests and troughs of her success. Rarely, we find out about the person she was at the beginning, before she was "popular". But, in Robert we find a person who, with a little luck added to his intense determination, an example of such a goldmine.

Jenarion - Rise of the New SunThat’s why I jumped at the opportunity to interview him – he is the bud that’s about to flower, the gem that’s just about to be ‘discovered’. If you don’t believe me, just check out some of his tracks (http://www.jenarium.com/senthome.html); the pounding beats are raw, remarkably original and, rather than merely paint the details, Robert’s music smacks out the imagery of the story it tells. It’s like listening to a boxing match while standing in the ring, dodging the punches.

But, although original, Robert unashamedly admits his influences. “Some artists inspire you, some artists influence you,” he says, leaning forward, staring out intensely from under a furrowed brow. “Trent Reznor (www.nin.com) influenced me. His music has a strong structure. He didn’t do the verse-chorus-verse thing – he really mixed it up. In my music, I didn’t stick to a formula – I substituted vox and synthetics for specific instruments like bass and other traditional instruments”.

Robert’s route to the release of his first musical tracks in December 2009 is a story every writer would do well to take a leaf from. Much like a writer’s road to publication consists first of writing, editing, sending out manuscripts to publishers and a lot of waiting and ‘holding one’s breath’, a musician would record songs and send out demos to venues and music labels, play as many live gigs in pubs and clubs as they could get and, hopefully, with a bit of luck, they would be spotted or their manager would get them in front of a recording agent. But, in comparison, Robert’s approach was a very different one, one that saw him employ all of this abilities to first record the album, master it and, finally release it. What’s different is that Robert did it all off his own bat. He didn’t wait for an industry head to give him the nod – he just went ahead, with his big idea under his arm, and did it.

The result is the crisp new album Jenarium: Rise of the New Sun, due for official release in mid 2010.

Much like Reznor, his chief influence, Robert’s plan was to create a musical composition that he was in charge of and in which he could create his own new sounds free from interference by managers or industry experts. Calling on the experience of his long affiliation with the recording industry (one that spans more than a decade) he began the journey of creating his musical mythology. In the process, Robert taught himself how to play other instruments outside of his repertoire and met with visionary music teacher Duncan Lorien (www.dlorien.com & www.understandingmusicseminar.com.au) who helped Robert cultivate and refine the musical fundamentals of his cutting edge album.

But remember, Rise of the New Sun was a concept album. And according to Robert, just the idea of this was tough for some people to swallow. “It was met with so much antagonism within the industry and even with some of my friends. A lot of people found it so hard to accept. Why are you doing that? You know? But for me that was absurd. So, in the end, what I did was just keep the right information; I took notice of only the encouraging and valuable support that people gave.” He ignored the criticisms and, just as well; if he had have taken it aboard, he might not have completed his music.

But, why did Robert go at it alone? “I worked out early on that there was something about the arts and music that had a very positive and bright side to it. But, there was also an area affected by darker external forces – where musicians and artists, or their work, gets invalidated. Where they get unnecessary objections to their good efforts and hard work. It can be quite destructive because with humanities and arts, there’s no wrong or right – it’s art. What's important is what's real for the artist. How can someone tell you your work is no good, or bad... So, I worked out that I wanted to do things alone. Eventually this moved forward into some amazing sounds.” According to Robert, not everyone you meet is always praising of your hard works and the fruits of your labour; from Robert’s experience, there are always a few “nay sayers” who like to take the wind out of your sales. But, in the face of this, Robert persisted – he kept his eye on his dream.

I asked Robert why he decided to use so many different mediums – electronic, music, text, et al – to write his mythology. “I wanted to take people away into a fantasy world. I wanted to use as many forms as I could to make it complete”.

And, now nearing the end of it all, Robert is in the very fortunate position of having gained the experience that goes hand-in-glove with working so hard to accomplish a big goal. Most importantly, he did it himself and, by default, proven that well-worn saying: anything is possible, if you put your mind to it.

“I believe there’s a resurgence in the arts. These days if you have a good pc, an internet connection and a great idea, there’s nothing keeping you down. The main thing that’s kept my head above water was to not get too caught up in the administrational side of it. You don’t need a publisher or an agent nowadays. It’s not necessary to follow the traditional routes. If you’re interested in producing a particular type of album in a particular genre, you can. But, you have to be professional in the field you’re in. You have to get as much information as you can, read a lot, write a lot, and practice a lot. You have to be as proficient on the guitar or your chosen instrument as possible.”

According to Robert, the sky is the limit and it’s very hard to disbelieve him.



Robert Dominic Gennari was voted Australia’s Best Up-and-Coming Rock Metal Drummer for 1997. He is an accomplished musician, children’s music teacher and an instructor in freestyle Wrestling and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. - Writer Resource Centre


Discography

JENARIUM Rise of the New Sun has been electronically pre-released, 2011. Tracks can be accessed digitally via facebook and from the official jenariumrotns.com site.

Photos

Bio


JENARIUM Rise of the New Sun
pre-launches to high praise.

Local lad and Hollywood Star Eric Bana (Star Trek, Troy) says it features “impressive music and concept.”

JENARIUM Rise of the New Sun is a union of Industrial rock, electronica, choral, and orchestral genres, created and composed by Australian musician; ROBERT DOMINIC GENNARI.
JENARIUM Rise of the New Sun is the eagerly anticipated concept album narrated by Craig Parker lead actor from Peter Jackson’s (the Lord of the Rings & UNDERWORLD 3). The album is based on the sci-fi/fantasy book series; The Battle for Skeptron.

Featuring a seventy piece orchestra, and 100 voice choir, JENARIUM Rise of the New Sun is a triumphant electro-rock/symphonic concept album that has been mastered by Tom Baker (Nine Inch Nails, Matrix soundtrack, Alice Cooper and Thirty Seconds to Mars).

Visit the Official Band Website: www.jenariumrotns.com

The Official Book Website: www.battleforskeptron.com

Composer and Author ROBERT DOMINIC GENNARI, has created a powerful and dramatic musical experience, which ushers the listener through the majesty of choirs and orchestra while fusing it with electronic synthesizers and rock/metal guitars and drums, all presented in a highly contemporary format. Combining these elements, Rise of the New Sun blends film score music with the accessibility of mainstream rock and electronic music. The album is already drawing fans from all around the globe.

Tom Baker (Nine Inch Nails, Matrix soundtrack) says “Outstanding, certainly one of the most interesting albums' I'v ever mastered.”

Hollywood Film Chorale founder Sally Stevens, said;
“Jenarium is truly amazing, a tremendous world class sound...”

Heavyweight rock drummer John Tempesta: (ROB ZOMBIE, the CULT) says of Jenarium;
“Incredible...I'm sure you're going to go very far in the music business.”

The music featured on the album was composed, recorded and produced by ROBERT DOMINIC GENNARI. It will have great appeal to all lovers of sci-fi, epic film scores and contemporary choral/orchestral and synthesised music.
JENARIUM Rise of the New Sun stands out in a unique and special way.

JENARIUM ROTNS™ © 1999-2012. Developed by Formaturia Records. JENARIU: Rise of the New Sun. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.