I look at the role 'rote memorization' plays very differently from what spaced and interleaved repetition does. Rote memorization is short-lived because the kind of patterns and associations that the brain builds internally is not that strong. Our brains 'remember' well when a piece of knowledge (for the lack of a better word) is repeatedly encountered in diverse settings. More the associations the better we remember and recall.

It is true that without a good understanding of fundamentals the advanced concepts will be difficult to comprehend. But, rote memorization should not be construed as something that lays a strong foundation of fundamentals. Even if we are able to recall basic concepts 'learned' via rote memorization, their applicability to understanding advanced concepts is very limited.