SOL INVICTUS

It's not that SOL INVICTUS hasn't gone all macabre on us before - that's one of their specialties in fact. "The Killing Tide" from the early 1990s comes to mind. On "Necropolis", we focus on death in London over the centuries, from the Black Plague to the present day. With Don Anderson back on guitars and Robyn Sellan supplying vocals on a couple of tracks, the mood spans the modest range from devastation to mere melancholy, which is actually all that's required.

Again, as in "Once Upon a Time" from 5 years earlier, the album follows a loose structure, this time a recurring vocal melody alternated with a more "conventional" song. Both are effective and operate synergistically. A couple of tunes are more narrated than sung, augmenting that experience, and Wakeford's spoken voice is surprisingly clear. The peaks are many and include the eerie "Nine Elms"; the misleadingly light "See Them"; the very brief but imagery laden "Serpentine", "Brick Lane" and "Kill Burn"; the more than worthwhile "London Bridge" retooling as "Still Born Summer"; and the spine tingling "Set the Table" with its recurring accordion (perhaps a keyboard?)) theme.

It's almost 7 years since the release of "Necropolis" and I'm torn between a desire to be present for a newer installment by Wakeford and company and a wish that such a powerful release could be their lasting legacy until death do all us part.

While the 1990s were peak period SOL INVICTUS as English neo folk Goliaths, and the 2000s were relatively weak, the 2010s marked something of a resurgence, once you get past "The Cruellest Month" and Wakeford's solo re- releases. Their last two releases as of now are among their most fully realized and proggy. The addition of AGALLOCH'S guitarist Don Anderson and Wakeford's own renaissance have a lot to do with this. "Once Upon a Time" is the first of these collaborations.

The album structure is alluring, with Anderson's FRIPP and ENO inspired clean keening and cutting guitar instrumentals alternating with songs that are thematically focused on the devil, all sensitively arranged and coloured with keys, strings and winds as we have come to expect. Wakeford's has a way of coaxing every scintilla of drama out of a decent melody in a way that a technically better vocalist could not, no better illustrated than in the glittering "Path Less Travelled". The folksy title track, the symphonic "Devil's Year", the cautionary "Our Father", the vitriolic "War" (a HENRY COW cover), and the Gothic "Osman" represent the numerous other high points.

For the generic progarchives reader, I might recommend this one as a starting point for your exploration of the group, notwithstanding that once upon a time they were in the vanguard of the early neo folk movement and that you should definitely check out their 1990s classics.

"Cupid and Death" was the second TONY WAKEFORD solo album from the 1990s that was forged with a SOL INVICTUS nameplate in the 2010s. Where with "La Croix", the docking to the mother ship was achieved through an interminable version of the title track, here it's through bonus live versions of tunes long established in the SI universe. More palatable but also more conventional.

After a decent opening title track in line with the band's contemporaneous work, the next 4 numbers are all ambient instrumentals to one degree or another, like part 2 of Wakeford's exploration in this area, and perhaps justification for a side solo venture split off from what is already essentially a Wakeford and friends project anyway. "Jardin de Luxembourg" is the least gaseous of the group, and quite lovely, but "La Nuit est Arrivee" recalls some of MARK ISHAM's work in the prog arena, the trumpet of Eric Roger classily holding court, and in the similar mood of "Day of the Angel" is inserted flute and droning keys.

"A Rose in Hell" is most in the style of Wakeford's best folk influenced ventures of that time, an acoustic ballad with a sentimental core that is written for his voice. "Heaven and Hell" is a piano ballad of some merit and the original album closes with the second title track as is Wakeford's wont, this one tries to be hypnotic but just ends up tiresome, in this case the same thing.

As with "La Croix", "Cupid and Death" is a tad askew, but each of its awkwardly thrown together parts retains enough interest to stand on its own, though you may not fall in love with the result.

Originally released as a Tony Wakeford solo album in 1993, during SOL INVICTUS' most prolific period, "La Croix" is a rather unbalanced album that is more ambient than anything proposed by the band proper. In the abundant instrumental tracks and breaks, it could be mistaken for a movie soundtrack. But then Wakeford reappears with his stern baritone and we are back in dark folk land again. The shorter cuts are all at least passable, and, in the case of the acoustic instrumental "Double Cross" and the morose and haunting "The Yew", rather resplendent. Unfortunately the finale is 20 minutes long and a pallid recitation only relieved by several minutes of stunned silence and a neo classical "climax". For this presumed focal point to be so banal, I can't quite cross the 3 star marker and I recommend "La Croix" to fans only.

Given the hitherto unprecedented gap following SOL INVICTUS' 2005 release "The Devil's Steed", one may well despair at the offering that marked its end, this poorly conceived, sung, produced, and arranged vertiginous calamity that would have sunk a less established band. Excuses could be advanced such as that Wakeford might have been preoccupied with the imminent re-release of a couple of his solo albums as band recordings, and thought to return to more of the post punk sound that preceded classics like "In the Rain", but his voice is more dire than ever and his ramblings of limited coherence and relevance. Two fireflies rejecting each others' advances could generate a bigger spark than Wakeford does here, forget the fire.

Even the occasional whistles seem superimposed cartoonishly over the concrete galoshes stubbornly worn throughout. Only "Toys" seems to know what to do with the swirling bits circling the drain, incorporating a circus rhythm that is what Wakeford should have picked in the first place. The two following numbers do stretch to and more or less reach the rating of distinctly average, and the instrumental "April Rain" is slightly better, but this should hardly impel you to experience "The Cruellest Month" here any more than on the calendar.

Tony Wakeford's long running and prolific project has never ventured too far or too long from their acoustic based persona, but on "The Devil's Steed" they are absolutely strumbolic and it largely suits them; even the main man's voice sounds more comfortable in this setting though as always his arrangements are what elevate even the more mediocre numbers here. These are chiefly in the forlorn and eerie brass accompaniments throughout.

Still, for the first half of the album I am more than settling when it comes to trad styled numbers like "We Are the Dead Men"; reminiscent of the Irish standard "We Have No Heads"; the evocative "Old London Weeps"; the astounding "The North Ship", like a supernaturally downbeat "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"; the perennially reprisable "Twa Corbies" ; and the haunting "Semaphore Seasons".

If this horse isn't worth selling your soul for or even betting the farm on, it's surely deserving of a gallop or two at your leisure.

This 1994 SOL INVICTUS release, originally intended as an EP, structurally resembles "The Killing Tide" of 3 years earlier, in that a significant amount of the album proper consists of reworked numbers. The differences here do not work in Tony Wakeford's favor as they did before, because of poor production, generally inferior versions and a lack of serendipitous continuity.

Allowing for the overly long but deliciously creepy "Sheath and Knife", after the next few alternate takes from "Lex Talionus", the apex is seized with the potent title cut conjuring "Against the Modern World"; the quirky almost poppy "Here am I"; the gracefully arranged "Our Lady of the Wild Flowers" ; and the NORTH SEA RADIO ORCHESTRA ringer "Petals from a Rose", though perhaps a common Krautrock ancestor is responsible.

Among the bonus cuts, "On and On" perpetuates the slightly more upbeat nature of a few of the numbers here, which is a few more than normally found on a SOL INVICTUS release. While "Death of the West" might be iconic from a titular standpoint as was the band's debut, it is similarly mixed in quality, but, like almost every SOL INVICTUS album I've heard to date, worth keeping alive or resurrecting as the mood strikes. Just under 3.5 stars.

While not released as a standalone SOL INVICTUS album until 1993, "Lex Talionus" appeared as part of an untitled 3 disc boxset released in 1989 in which the other two discs were rounded out by DEATH IN JUNE and NURSE WITH WOUND It thus represented something of a missing link between their post punk and industrial "Against the Modern World" and the more sophisticated and folk-influenced offerings to follow.

The title phrase is essentially Latin for the system of justice based on punishment that is equivalent to the transgression committed, ie "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". After the meditative induction of "Blood and Wine" follow 5 superb tracks that really elevate this offering into the realm of SI classics. The title track and "Black Easter" set the scene for this largely anti Judeo-Christian expose against crudely yet creatively sustained notes mostly on guitar. "Kneel to the Cross" and later "Abattoirs of Love" are where the wyrd folk aspect is thrust into the foreground, signposting a better life sans both religion and romantic love. Wakeford struggles hitting some of the notes much as the listener might struggle to buy into what he is selling but this is impactful and authentic.

"The Ruins" is one of the more upbeat numbers and is slyly followed by the exquisitely genteel "Tooth and Claw", certainly the high water mark here. It oddly brings to mind the sort of buildups on the more atmospheric side by Polish neo prog group ALBION, who appeared some years later and may have been influenced by Wakeford's body of work. With such variations only expounded upon by "Heroes Day", I am nonplussed that a reviewer on RYM actually remarked that every track here sounded alike. Wow.

I could see why such an emotionally resonant and rough cut release could be counted by some as a peak for SOL INVICTUS. It certainly grabs one's attention early and, while it falters here and there, usually in adopting robotic mannerisms of its progenitors ("Blood against gold"), this album deserves to be gifted back as much as it offers us. 4 stars from this reviewer.

On the heels of the unintentional masterpiece "The Killing TIde", Tony Wakeford's SOL INVICTUS returned to a more acoustic and folk savvy album with "KIng and Queen". While the lyrics may be almost as dire as a vicious song cycle about murder and cannibalism, the feel is lighter, with arrangements on woodwinds and strings that explode the clinical ranges of the folk aesthetic, read they are simply lovely. This is particularly the case in the lounge folk of "Tears and Rain" with its cascading keys, and the poetic and melodic meter of "Edward", while "The Return" is cloaked in medievality that might have inspired Americans like WOVEN HAND some time later, circa their near masterpiece "Mosaic". I may need a break or a revisit of my recent audiology exam though because I'm liking Wakeford's voice. Maybe the hearing loss is in his frequency, which would be a narrow one indeed.

On the less gossamer side is the catchy "The World Turned Green", like a more refined but no less acerbic take on those early punk influenced numbers, but "All's Well In Hell" is a raucous bore, and "Someday" is just a bore, other than a few provocative lyrics. "The Watching Moon" is almost as weak but benefits from more imaginative keyboard accompaniment. The opener and closer are, as customary, of similar lineage and reasonably effective at kickstarting and wrapping up the original release. Again, the bonus material is a hodgepodge of alternate and live takes, in this case entirely incongruous with the more sedate affair originally proposed.

Now that we have cracked the 5 star sonic barrier with "Killing Tide", I can freely consider this option in the future and even kick the tires on a few prior reviews. While likely SOL INVICTUS royalty, "King and Queen" offers a few too many repetitive and unimaginative motifs to sit on the SI throne unchallenged. It's still quite enthusiastically recommended.

The bonus tracks on reissues of these early SOL INVICTUS recordings are essentially inscrutable without the media itself, since some are apparently live while others did not appear as non-bonus tracks until a few years after the original album the example here being "Death of the West". But so far I've been committed to generally pretending they don't exist, so let's turn our attention to the bones of "The Killing Tide", which itself could be thought of as being comprised of 50% bonus tracks from the outset. This review will be 50% about explaining this near scandalous revelation.

The first 3 tracks are among the best TONY WAKEFORD and company have produced: crepuscular, atmospheric, lyrically ominous and less vocally oriented than their typical fare, recalling at times of works in which MARK ISHAM has been involved such as the mid to late 1980s work of DAVID SYLVIAN, as do the tasteful keyboard accompaniments. The acoustic guitar and cello arrangement of the lengthiest track "Let us Prey" is more than a little in the vein of ALAN STIVELL's early instrumentals. "In a SIlent Place" and the title track are melodic book ends, which further shortens the original content here but only bolsters the melancholic effect. This section ends with the even more SYLVIAN esque, brief but appealing "Figures on a Beach" .

Remember those non bonus, bonus tracks? It turns out they are reworkings of "English Murder" and "Sawney Bean" from "Trees in Winter", but with different titles like "The Man Next Door is Really Strange", contradicting the usual consensus that cannibals and their ilk often make the best neighbors, ok they at least keep to themselves. "Our Lady of the MIssing Presumed Dead" might just have shown up in wastewater studies emanating from that block if it hadn't been the Dark Ages. This one is really eccentric and somehow eclipses the original "English Murder" except it wouldn't even exist without it. "The Wild Hunt" is an instrumental reprise of "Sawney Bean" and creeps me out rather deliciously, oops poor choice of words. I can't help feeling that Vincent Price should narrate the audio version of this review, other than the line just ending now.

In violation of previous unwritten guidelines, I must mention that the bonus version of "Death of the West" is seismic and has me looking forward to the original. Oh dear. A weird and macabrely wondrous album that is the stuff of 5 stars, two slices spliced from 2 workshops for some artistic or commercial contrivance that make a mockery of similarly motivated marriages down through the ages.