Review Summary: An album that shows the roots and potential of Tony Wakeford's Sol Invictus project, Sol Veritas Lux has some enjoyable and great songs and a fantastic atmosphere.
Tony Wakeford, a man who for over 20 years has created some of the darkest folk in the history of music, re-released his first two Sol Invictus albums with Sol Veritas Lux. This compilation dates back to 1988. Wakeford was no stranger to recording, as with Death in June he’d been recording since 1981 and before that a punk band called Crisis. After high tensions tore him away from Death in June, he formed his project that came to last nearly two decades to this date, Sol Invictus. He then set out to spearhead a genre known as neofolk, which incorporates pagan symbolism with dark folk music.
Once he started this style, it paralleled Miles Davis and his jazz fusion experiments. Ian Read, an original member of Sol Invictus, left to play with Current 93 and form his own outfit: Fire + Ice. Death In June followed Wakeford’s lead even though he left the band and entered the genre. And with those three bands, neofolk has a grouping of bands all touched by Wakeford’s playing. Sol Veritas Lux shows where it all came from. Granted, Death In June and Current 93 started recording before Sol Invictus. However, they sounded more industrial before Wakeford’s recordings. Even Wakeford dabbles in some industrial in these early recordings. He uses a deeply distorted bass sound and a drum machine. The production style sounds very empty and open, like hearing Sol Invictus play on a wide-open plain. The album is split into two sections, one being his first EP, Against the Modern World. The second half is a live album, Into the Jaws of the Serpent.
What made Wakeford’s recordings so addictive and inspiring? These aren’t anywhere near the best songs ever and quite frankly, some of them are pretty bad.
Wolf Age Axe Age annoys the listener with its repetitive vocal samples of the title. Always noticeable and never taking a back seat to the rest of the song, the samples wear quickly. But it was the sound and ideas that only Wakeford could compose. Despite his seemingly natural talent for songwriting, his talent still lacks at this point in his career. His singing voice was just starting to develop, although he had already developed his signature almost-medieval vocal style. He incorporates an unmistakable guitar tone as well, which shows in true form on these recordings but still his guitar playing is sloppier and at some points completely lacking.
Angels Fall, a song that appears 3 times including a redone bonus addition at the end of the album, shows all of Wakeford’s trademarks, especially effective as an opener to the album. The guitar opens the song, sounding slightly out of tune. Accented with synthesizer melodies and pounding drum machine kicks,
Angels Fall establishes the entire atmosphere of the album perfectly.
The atmosphere may be the album’s strongest point. Even in such an electronic environment, the album comes off with an incredibly medieval feel, something only Wakeford can do. With his unique, open voice and dark guitar tone, it sets the base for everything else to lay right into the atmosphere. The sinister, dark arrangements so prevalent in neofolk show their roots on this album. Synthesizers, drum machines, and fuzzy bass provide the only substance and deepness to the recordings. Even in that, the playing is simple and its simplicity pays a few dividends. It all contributes to the empty, solemn atmosphere portrayed by the album. Even more than the repeated songs and constant style of Wakeford, the atmosphere gives cohesion about the album that no other quality can give.
Although the album is really taken from different recordings, it really flows like one album. The recording quality suffers once the album transfers to the live recording, but still, the tone of the album remains the same. The only variety comes at the end, with Wakeford redoing three songs from this era,
Angels Fall,
Against the Modern World, and
Summer Ends. All of the songs are technically better than the originals. Wakeford has a better trained and stable voice, his guitar playing is tighter, and the overall production is cleaner. As stated, the greatest aspect of the album is its medieval atmosphere. In fact, Sol Invictus plays a traditional medieval folk song entitled
Twa Corbies in the live performance. While this is nothing to the quality of his later work, Wakeford and his Sol Invictus project show a lot of potential on these recordings. His guitar style, voice, and dark songwriting begin to develop and he would later capitalize on these talents. Sol Veritas Lux is certainly not a starting point for Sol Invictus, but it shows Wakeford’s roots and his talents beginning to develop.
Recommended Tracks:
Angels Fall
Raven Chorus
Summer Ends
Somewhere in Europe
