Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Niet
Label: ZKP RTV Slovenija
Released: 2012
Length: 25:22
Rating: 4/5
Just over two years after their studio debut »Trinajst«, Niet have broken the silence with the album »Rokovnjači«. It carries the music written for a stage production created in collaboration with the Slovensko narodno gledališče Nova Gorica and the Prešernovo gledališče Kranj. The source material, the starting point of the whole idea, is Josip Jurčič’s novel »Rokovnjači«, which his contemporary Janko Kersnik finished in the year of Jurčič’s death (1881).
Jurčič treats the Rokovnjači merely as an outside observer, not as heralds of a rebellion with the potential to turn things upside down and topple the fat, vain rulers who wouldn’t spare a poor man even a crust of bread. The script for the stage adaptation, though, takes a somewhat different approach. It frames the Rokovnjači in the spirit of Robin Hood, robbing the rich to give to the poor, hinting throughout the play that they might be the harbingers of a new, fairer social order. The play mixes a crime story with a love affair, which ultimately leads the main hero Groga to an ironic self-destruction. The Rokovnjači’s life and their reactions to the world around them are loaded with emotional charge, and it’s precisely this passion, which tragically clouds the hero’s mind at the end, that drives the final downfall of the “outcast tribe”.
And this is where Niet step in! Rebellious energy through the prism of rock engraving by the band Niet. Sounds tempting, doesn’t it? Times don’t change and history teaches us nothing, from the genocide of Native Americans onward. The citizens of the Republic of Slovenia are yearning, quietly or out loud, for radical change and a better tomorrow, and the idea of setting Jurčič’s novel to music couldn’t be better timed for “rejuvenating” the Rokovnjači story. With minimal tweaks and adaptations by the duo Nemec/Valenti, it gains even more punch in these times, when the greedy foot of a handful of self-crowned elite of depraved thugs is trampling us from every side.
Niet called on Miha Nemec (actor and director) and Nejc Valenti (dramaturge) for the verses, while for the songs Bratje svinjsko trdih rok, Naj crkne rokovonjač and Balada za obešence they used the poetry of François Villon in Janez Menart’s translation. The music of »Rokovnjači« is woven into the script of the play, which gives it the dimension of a musical. Naturally, during the stage performance the vocalists are the actors themselves, singing the verses over a pre-recorded backing track by Niet.
Of course, the music works differently when it’s left in Niet’s own hands on the album »Rokovnjači«. Lead man Miha Nemec appears on the record only on the song Dva čevlja od tal; otherwise the vocal duties go to Niet singer Borut Marolt.
Besides the content of Jurčič’s novel Rokovnjači, the musical starting points of the album are to be found in »Trinajst«. That record elegantly gathered up the band’s musical heritage and poured it into the present, while extra arrangement tricks, like the addition of a female vocal duet with Severa Gjurin and/or the Hammond organ and piano arrangements from behind-the-scenes godfather Borut Činč, hinted at the development potential of Niet’s music going forward.
We shouldn’t look at »Rokovnjači« as a standalone studio effort – that is, as the band’s second studio album. It has to be seen as a special developmental (maybe even in-between) step in the band’s career. Niet turned to it first and foremost because they identified with the script by Miha Nemec and Nejc Valenti, but on the other hand this step is a wonderfully rewarding spot for a musical experiment in artistic self-challenge, one that answers the question of how far the band is willing to venture in its musical exploration and how far it dares to stray from »Trinajst«.
Let me say this: Niet have successfully solved all the tricky questions of this important exam and brought the story on »Rokovnjači« safely home. They’ve successfully highlighted and underlined the emotional reactions of the characters in the story itself – and here Marolt’s vocal performance deserves a special mention. On this new release he got the green light to fully cash in on his primal vocal charisma, without having to worry about whether he sounds too close to the late Habič or not. Marolt shines brightest right in the opening vocal takeover of the song Bogatun and in the coldly gloomy closing requiem Balada za obešence! »Rokovnjači« is yet another manifesto in favor of making Marolt the permanent vocalist of Niet, since the grumpy core of his vocal delivery is dynamic and layered enough to sell the emotional charge that each of the album’s moods demands.
The band doses out more vocal melodies than ever before, with the lead vocal harmonized. These parts often turn into proper rabble-rousing chants that easily conjure up the silhouettes of the Rokovnjači gangs, a winning arranging move. This combination works especially well with Nemec’s recital in the song Dva čevlja od tal. The other key player in this story is of course the addition of Činč’s Hammond and piano arrangements, which lifts the dynamics of the “Niet-enthroned” straight lines of the riff skeleton and adds that much-needed rustic sound, deepens the tragedy in the songs and, above all, deepens the character of each song’s message (his Hammond rondo, stuffed with a lucid touch in Dva čevlja od tal, is an absolutely integral element of that song). In the middle instrumental section of Bogatun, Niet even manage to squeeze in a few notes of a guitar solo, which is undoubtedly a big novelty for a band that was once sworn to the naked twanging of notorious rock hooliganism built on three simple chords.
In Pod staro jablano, the new vocal duet of Severa Gjurin and Borut Marolt adds even more variety to the record’s mood, and the song touches on arrangement solutions similar to those of Beli prah from the album »Trinajst«.
In that sense, the album »Rokovnjači« can be understood as a kind of stylistic turning point for the band, which tried out untested things this way and found fascinating new elements of its own brand of artistry. That will surely have a positive effect on the creative moves as the next studio album takes shape. Put simply, »Rokovnjači« helped the current incarnation of Niet mature to a new level of development.
»Rokovnjači« know no obedience! They’re arrogant, they’re filthy, they’re ragged, they sneer into their mustaches, they stink, they fear no one, yet on the other hand they know what love and compassion are, and what justice and honesty look like. The lyrics don’t shy away from provocative vulgarity either, which underlines the raw, point-blank brutality and relentlessness of the Rokovnjači’s hard life (Naj crkne rokovnjač), while the soft side of the song Pod staro jablano offers relief from it. These two faces of the same story get along beautifully in Niet’s hands too, and the songs themselves are built to sit comfortably in the band’s future concert setlists, right alongside their best-known cult evergreens as well as the songs from »Trinajst«.
It bears repeating that the legendary Buldožer alumnus Borut Činč played a very important role in shaping the arrangements, for which the bulk of the ideas once again came from Niet frontman Igor Dernovšek. The arrangements are richer than on »Trinajst«, and what’s hard to miss while listening to them is the incredible realization that a touch of psychedelia, the very thing the Buldožer legacy is full of, has sneaked onto »Rokovnjači« in a perfectly subtle shade. There you go. Dear Niet lads, now we can wait even more eagerly to hear what you’ll have to say on your next studio album!
Lineup
Borut Marolt – vocals
Igor Dernovšek – guitar, backing vocals
Robert Likar – guitar, backing vocals
Janez Brezigar – bass guitar, backing vocals
Tomaž Bergant “Breht” – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Borut Činč – Hammond B3 organ, piano, keyboards
Severa Gjurin – vocals on track no. 6
Miha Nemec – vocals on track no. 2
Production
Borut Činč
Track list
1. Bogatun
2. Otroške roke
3. Dva čevlja od tal
4. Bratje svinjsko trdih rok
5. Naj crkne rokovnjač
6. Pod staro jablano
7. Balada za obešence
