Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Triumvirat
Label: Capitol Records
Released: 1975
Length: 42:31
Rating: 4.5/5
What does a white rat in a lightbulb have in common with a Thracian gladiator and the leader of a great slave revolt, Spartacus? Surely this mischievous rat, who first showed up on Triumvirat’s previous album, »Illusions On a Double Pimple« (1974), has a lot less to do with Spartacus than this German symphonic prog rock trio had to do with the legendary Emerson, Lake & Palmer, whom they strongly resembled stylistically through most of their musical career.
The German answer to The Nice and ELP recorded their most ambitious and, at the same time, most conceptual album at the peak of their creative powers, after their first American tour, where they opened for a (‘transitional’ version of) Fleetwood Mac. Keyboard wizard Jürgen Fritz’s obsession with the persona and work of Keith Emerson became even more obvious on »Spartacus« than on the previous two Triumvirat albums, which were a thoroughly pleasant breath of fresh air for the German prog rock scene of the day.
The concept of »Spartacus«, as its title already tells you, is the rise and fall of the leader of the Third Servile War, a slave revolt that took place in ancient Rome around 73-71 BC and, after some early successes by the brave rebels, was brutally crushed with mass crucifixions along the road leading to the capital of the ancient Roman Republic. Older generations will surely remember the excellent film of the same name starring Kirk Douglas, which surely inspired at least some of the lyrics between the individual tracks. The lyrics on »Spartacus« were contributed by drummer Hans Bathelt, while bassist/guitarist/vocalist Helmut Köllen made sure Triumvirat still didn’t sound like a complete German ELP clone, since his vocals reminded you much more of Peter Gabriel than of Greg Lake. By typical German standards his English was very solid and practically flawless, though at times he lacks a charisma of his own.
Fritz, meanwhile, delivered a series of eclectic, classically flavored arrangements across the individual compositions, using them to successfully build bridges between classical music and rock, which was typical of this cult German trio’s symphonic prog approach. »Spartacus« was the album that earned Triumvirat nice success in the US too, briefly cementing their position as the leading German prog rock trio. Spectacular tracks like the opening bomb »The Capital of Power«, whose central moog synthesizer arrangement in the first part partly recalls the ELP epic classic »Tarkus«, deliver as pompous an intro to the album as you could ask for.
»The School of Instant Pain«, centered on Spartacus’s gladiatorial fights for the entertainment of the decadent crowds of ancient Rome, is split into four sections of varying intensity and ambition. »The Walls of Doom«, with its relaxed atmosphere built on layered Hammond organ arrangements, evokes absolutely nothing of the concept’s protagonist and his historic struggle, but the witty, virtuosic flourishes these three prog rockers throw down still won’t leave the listener cold. »The Deadly Dream of Freedom« is a power ballad laid over a piano arrangement, with elegiac singing on top. »The Hazy Shades of Dawn«, atmospherically, sounds less like the start of the rebel slaves’ march to battle and more like the start of Santa’s festive procession through city hall. That’s exactly the album’s main flaw: the otherwise excellent music on »Spartacus« rarely calls up the ancient era through style or sheer atmosphere, and neither the solid lyrics nor the often combative drum marches do much to help.
»The Burning Sword of Capua«, with its sacral organ sound, is most reminiscent of the start of some medieval requiem mass rather than a warlike chorus of ancient slaves. Here Fritz is back in his ‘virtuoso element’ with sped-up keyboard improvisations that, in wit, audacity and intensity, don’t lag far behind those of his great English idol. »The Sweetest Sound of Liberty« is a vocal-driven ballad with a melodic chorus and an acoustic guitar arrangement, showing off the band’s often overlooked knack for writing somewhat more compact pieces. The album’s peak comes with the two closing epic suites, »The March to Eternal City« and the title epic in three sections, as they’re the only parts of »Spartacus« that manage, in an extremely eclectic way, to at least partly conjure up the epic ancient battle between the slaves and the Roman army.
With »Spartacus«, and despite the fact that the music itself, especially in terms of atmosphere, has little to do with the concept, Triumvirat managed to craft the defining album of their career, one of the high points of the German prog rock scene of the seventies. It’s both interesting and sad that, much like ELP, the members of Triumvirat slowly started to lose their artistic steam in the second half of the seventies, followed by a rapid stagnation. After »Spartacus« they made only two more good albums and, at the dawn of the eighties, to the relief of most disappointed fans, split up, since what they had started putting out toward the end of their career was truly just a pale shadow of the old Triumvirat.
This review is dedicated to the memory of Helmut Köllen, who started a solo career after leaving the band in 1975, only for it to end tragically before the release of his only solo album, the posthumously released »You Won’t See Me«. In 1977, at barely 27 years old, Köllen was poisoned by carbon monoxide while listening to a cassette of his studio tracks in the garage, with the car engine left running.
Lineup
Jürgen Fritz – keyboards
Helmut Köllen – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals
Hans Bathelt – drums, percussion
Production
Jürgen Fritz
Track List
1. The Capital of Power
2. The School of Instant Pain
a. Proclamation
b. The Gladiator’s Song
c. Roman Entertainment
3. The Battle
4. The Walls of Doom
5. The Deadly Dream of Freedom
6. The Hazy Shades of Dawn
7. The Burning Sword of Capua
8. The Sweetest Sound of Liberty
9. The March to the Eternal City
a. Dusty Road
b. Italian Improvisation
c. First Success
10. Spartacus
a. The Superior Force of Rome
b. A Broken Dream
c. The Finale
