Sol Invictus – Brugge

Not too long after the release of ‘Trieste’ Sol Invictus comes with a new live album. This time it is an older concert from the archives, recorded in Brugge in 1996. The album is a ‘web only’ release, available through the Tursa website. And they promised it would come with a surprise gift, which turned out to be a… well, a thing you can place a cup or glass on (why doesn’t my Dutch-English dictionary give a translation?). Of course I could sell it for a lot of cash on E-bay, put I prefer to place my glass of wine on it.
Off to the music then. Does it make sense to buy this album when you already own ‘Trieste’? Yes it does, as this album shows another side of Sol. ‘Trieste’ was acoustic and intimate, ‘Brugge’ is more direct and powerful, the band has a larger line-up here, with Matt Howden on violin, Eric Roger on trumpet and Karl Blake on bass, completed by Clive Giblin and Stephen Catchick. To quote the Tursa website: The Brugge release is of a concert with a one-off line up without the dulcet tones of Sally Doherty. It has a rough and ready feel and loud drums, which I am told, are popular with some. Many classics were performed, like ‘Amongst the Ruins, ‘Media’, ‘The Kiling Tide’, ‘A rose in hell’ and ‘Death of the West’, as well as various tracks off the excellent “In the rain” album, that came out in 1995. With such a repertoire and excellent musicians it is of course a feast to listen to this recording.

artist: Sol Invictus
label: Tursa
details: 15 tracks, limited to 1000 handnumered copies