I assume Tony Wakeford and his band Sol Invictus need no further introduction. In case you still need one, the best thing to do would be to buy this mid-priced double cd. “The Giddy Whirls of Centuries”, a phrase taken from Camus, gives a nice overview of 15 years of Sol Invictus. There are tracks from the first album “Against the modern world” till ‘In the blink of a star’, taken from the latest album “Thrones”. Only Sol Invictus tracks were chosen, no Wakeford solo projects.
Of course it’s always hard to make a career compilation, especially when you deal with a non-commercial act which is not focused on releasing hitsingles. So there is a chance you miss your favourite Sol track on this compilation. But on the whole I think that most classics are present here, and that this release is representative for the work of Sol Invictus. A few songs are present in slightly alternate versions, further some bonusmaterial can be found hidden between the tracks. Not enough reason though to buy this compilation if you are only interested in obtaining exclusive material.
The cd gives a good impression of the stylistic developments Sol Invictus went through. From the minimal acoustic guitar/bass/drums/voice songs like ‘Angels fall’ and ‘Raven Chorus’, to the more orchestrated and complexer compositions of the last years, like ‘Come the morning’ and ‘A German requiem’. Further you can hear the new wave-inspired ‘Long live death’, or the robust ‘The Blade’. Gloomy apocalyptic songs are alternated with murder ballads and intimate romantic tunes. My personal favourites? Well, that would perhaps be ‘Sawney Bean’, ‘An English garden’, ‘Come the morning’, ‘The ruins’, and and…
Earlier this year a nice Sol Invictus tribute cd already appeared. Now this compilation shows again how many classic songs were created in the last 15 years by Tone Wakeford and the gifted musicians who supported him, like Karl Blake, Eric Roger, Sally Doherty, Matt Howden and various others. Many of these songs set a standard for apocalyptic folk music, while others went beyond these boundaries…
