Sol Invictus - The unconquered sun over the ruins

Sol Invictus have always been the creature of bard Tony Wakeford. The name refers to the cult of the Unconquered Sun, worshipped in the late Roman Empire by emperors such as Elagabalus, Aurelian and Constantine. A choice that is no accident, and one that reveals Wakeford's interest in pagan cults deemed truer, more authentically European, more sincere and less hypocritical than Christianity.

Wakeford's artistic career began as bassist for Crisis, a punk band in which a young Douglas Pearce also played. Afterwards, together with Pearce and Patrick Leagas, the trio put together the first lineup of Death In June. The early days of Death In June, with seminal records like "The Guilty Have No Pride" and "Burial", thus saw Wakeford involved both as bassist and as a writer of music and lyrics.

Back in his Crisis days, Wakeford briefly joined the Socialist Workers Party. It's no secret that the whole band, Pearce included, looked with interest to the English working class and underclass, the breeding ground for many original punk and oi! bands. Later, Wakeford was pushed out of Death In June because of his involvement with the National Front, a brief experience that Wakeford himself would subsequently judge very harshly. After all, an anarchic, traditionalist temperament like his has very little in common with modern left- or right-wing political parties.

From post-punk to neofolk against the modern world

Wakeford then formed Above The Ruins, a post-punk band in the vein of early Death In June. The rough-edged Songs Of The Wolf came out back in 1984 and is the only recording released under that name. In 1987, Wakeford then created Sol Invictus. Though surrounded over time by various collaborators, the Unconquered Sun is his personal project, into which he pours his ideas and his pessimistic vision of modern civilization. It's no coincidence that the first EP, from 1987, is titled Against The Modern World, the English translation of the famous and influential "Revolt Against the Modern World" by Italian traditionalist philosopher Julius Evola. In truth, Wakeford has admitted he chose the title because it sounded good and suited his "vision" of reality, but that he never fully embraced Evola's theories. In any case, behind Evola lies Oswald Spengler, author of the monumental "The Decline of the West", another fundamental text for understanding the ethics and aesthetics of Sol Invictus and of neofolk in general.

Sol Invictus's early output isn't free of technical flaws, partly due to its rough punk roots. His first works are sometimes hampered by a raw, lo-fi recording, yet already on the debut EP, Against The Modern World – a record of fundamental historical importance for the genre – a sincere expressive urgency shines through in highlighting the decadence of modern Western civilization. At the time, Wakeford was working alongside Gareth Smith (Decadent Few, No Remorse) and Ian Read (later responsible for the seminal pagan-folk project Fire + Ice).

On Against The Modern World we find four minor classics that proved highly influential: "Angels Falls", the title track – a true "Evolian" anthem set to music – "A Ship Is Burning" and "Summer Ends" are grimy folk ballads interspersed with synth and electronic drums, in which, in embryonic form, we can glimpse the splendour of a sound that would later become more refined and polished, yet still manages to move the listener; here the post-punk influence is still very evident.

Wakeford is far more direct, and less cryptic and ambiguous than Douglas P., in voicing his disdain for the mass-levelling of the West and in denouncing its obvious decline. In "Raven Chorus" and the martial "Wolf-Age, Axe-Age" an interest in Nordic paganism also comes through, likely thanks to Ian Read's influence.

After the live album In The Jaws Of The Serpent, hampered by terrible recording quality, Sol Invictus's first true studio album is Lex Talionis, originally released in 1989 as part of a triple box set that also included "Horsey" by Current 93 and "Lumbs Sister" by Nurse With Wound, and then in 1990 in a definitive, slightly revised version. The record partly suffers from the same flaws as the debut, but still stands today as an excellent showcase confirming Wakeford's talent. Even now, it remains one of the most beloved albums among the band's fans.

The sound is still rough-edged, with room left for electric guitar. Among the collaborators we find Karl Blake on bass, Leithana on vocals and Richard "Dik" Evans (ex-Virgin Prunes) on drums. There are, in any case, some classics here, such as "Black Easter", the splendid ballad "Ruins" – one of the band's live staples, and here too there's a reference to Evola, specifically to his classic "Gli uomini e le rovine" – and the epic, moving, ancestral "Abbatoirs Of Love" featuring Ian Read on vocals, marked by the sound of a melancholy piano. Also worth noting is the cover of "Fields", a post-punk classic from Death In June's "Burial", here reworked in an acoustic version.

1990 saw the release of Trees In Winter, to be considered a genuine turning point for the neofolk genre, or rather "folk-noir", a term Wakeford himself coined to define his music. Still surrounded by Ian Read, by trusty Karl Blake on bass, James Mannox on percussion, Sarah Bradshaw on cello and flute, and Joolie Woods on violin, he crafts a melancholy, autumnal folk sound in which one can glimpse the mists of the English countryside. If you want to understand Wakeford's music and aesthetic, this is essential listening. Sol Invictus aren't perfect: less cryptic and symbolic than Death In June, less refined than Current 93, yet they convey a sense of purity and clarity of intent that leaves no one indifferent.

There are many memorable tracks here, including the opener "An English Murder", "Gold Is King" – introduced by the voice of Ezra Pound – and "Looking For Europe", still marked by a pulsing post-punk bass line reminiscent of Death In June's "The Guilty Have No Past". Over time, a certain underlying monotony may perhaps emerge, but the album remains a still-rough diamond that confirms the worth of Sol Invictus's art.

At this point Sol Invictus's output starts to become somewhat muddled, with various albums gathering reworked old tracks, not always to the benefit of quality. Thus 1991's The Killing Tide contains solid new pieces alternating with others that are forgettable. Standouts include the propulsive "Like A Sword", the bucolic "In A Silent Place" and the instrumental "Let Us Pray", also the title of a fine 1992 live album, featuring a lovely melancholy trumpet in the Death In June vein. The title track also carves out its own space: overall, it seems Wakeford is refining his craft, but not everything shines. The second half offers a questionable reinterpretation of some tracks from Trees In Winter and comes across as a rather forgettable filler.

1992's King & Queen reveals a Wakeford short on inspiration: no track particularly stands out on a somewhat tedious record, where all their weaknesses come to the fore. Worth noting, however, is the beautiful cover art by painter Tor Lundvall, who from this point on contributes his art to give an "elven" visual form to the English artist's melancholy poetics. The two would also release an interesting collaboration in 1998 titled Autumn Calls.

Much better is Wakeford's first solo album, La Croix: to all intents and purposes a Sol Invictus record, and indeed it would be reissued under the band's name in 2011. The sound is rich and refined, featuring a sizeable string section. The title track, an instrumental piece with a dramatic mood, opens and closes the circle of this work – as is customary for Sol Invictus. Worth noting are "The Fool", a fine track that stakes its claim as a band classic, and the frantic "Come The Horsemen".

Cupid & Death, from 1996, another album originally released solely under Wakeford's name, would likewise be reissued under the Sol Invictus banner in 2012, given its stylistic closeness to the parent band's sound.

Around the same time came an excellent, offbeat album credited to Tony Wakeford and Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound) titled Revenge Of The Selfish Shellfish. The album is a gem of weird art, combining Sol Invictus-style atmospheres with Stapleton's clear surrealist-collage influence.

1994's Death Of The West evokes, right from its title, Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West". It was originally a Death In June track, also co-written by Wakeford and released on "Burial". With hindsight, this song almost seems like the symbolic starting point of the neofolk genre. American consumerist ignorance is portrayed, rightly, as chiefly responsible for Europe's decline. The album comes wrapped in gorgeous cover art by Italian artist Enrico Chiarparin, also much admired by Douglas Pearce. The first half is superb, including, alongside a new version of the title track, highly effective songs such as "Sheath And Knife" and "Amongst The Ruins", already heard on Lex Talionis but revisited here in a more refined form, thanks also to David Mellor's arrangements (on keyboards) and Sara Bradshaw's cello. The new version of "Kneel To The Cross" also improves on the Lex Talionis rendition. The second half, however, is somewhat weaker, in line with The Killing Tide.

"In The Rain" and the folk-noir of the late Nineties

1995 saw the release of In The Rain. This is, without doubt, Sol Invictus's masterpiece up to that point. The vocals are far more varied than usual, and no track feels like filler. It's a melancholy album that perfectly captures the whole of Sol Invictus's poetics. An intimate, autumnal work from the cover art onward, In The Rain will always hold a special place in the band's discography. In tracks such as the subdued "Stay", the heartfelt "Believe Me", the misty "An English Garden" and the epic "Feel Like Rain", one can feel a spiritual yearning toward the almost mystical beauty of small, everyday things. "It's pouring down on our Europe", exclaims the English bard, drawing metaphorically on the themes dear to his romantic, pessimistic prose. At the same time, here he seems to open up to a sense of hope. As he states in "Believe Me": "Without love we are lost/ Believe me, we are lost/ Without love we are dust/ Believe me, we are dust".

In 1997 it was time for The Blade, another hugely important album, though more uneven than its predecessor. The martial title track – split into two sections, one instrumental and one sung – introduces us, with Eric Roger's trumpet, Karl Blake's ever-present distorted bass, Sally Doherty's flute and Wakeford's acoustic guitar, to a work that is very dark and apocalyptic, pitch-black.

The first side is already interesting, but the second is stunning. Definitely worth remembering are the gothic, intense “The House Above The World”, with piano in the background, and the biting, sweeping acoustic ballad “Laws And Crowns”, one of their immortal classics. Then there's no way to skip “See How We Fall”, a decadent hymn to the moral and material dissolution of our age, with an ending that ventures into almost psychedelic territory while still keeping a martial, post-punk edge. In the instrumental, hazy “From The Wreckage” we can once again hear the voice of Ezra Pound.

In 1999 In A Garden Green was released, probably their finest record in formal terms, indebted to certain solutions from L'Orchestre Noir, Wakeford's symphonic project that only yielded two releases, Cantos and 11 (the project would later be revived under the name Orchestra Noir with different collaborators). The real stars of this record are Matt Howden's violin, Eric Roger's trumpet and the gorgeous voices of Sally Doherty and Jane Howden, alongside Karl Blake's usual bass. This stands, together with In The Rain, as Sol Invictus's most poetic work.

From the opening “Come The Morning” onward we're projected into the secret garden of an old Victorian house: the atmosphere is enchanted, melancholic and deeply English, where buried childhood memories resurface. What the music gains in formal polish it perhaps loses in immediacy, even if the timeless beauty of this music is undeniable. The dark nursery rhyme “O Rubor Sanguinis”, the sacredness of “Ave Maria”, the bucolic weave of the title track all sketch a sumptuous tapestry evoking ancient times. The closing “Europa Calling” brings us back down to earth with the typical Sol Invictus sound.

Sol Invictus in the 2000s

The following album – The Hill Of Crosses from 2000 – makes clear that by this point their discography was starting to become unwieldy – also factoring in Wakeford's solo work – not unlike what happened with Current 93 and, to a lesser degree, Death In June. There's no denying that a certain confusion and fatigue start to creep in. Make no mistake, Wakeford always manages to pull something good out of the hat, but perhaps it would have been wiser to pace the releases more sensibly.

The sacred “Chime The Night” seems to pick up the thread from the previous In A Garden Green. Among the tracks worth remembering, within an uneven record, are the commanding title track, with Eric Roger's epic trumpet, the dark “A German Requiem”, the atypical, jazzy “December Song” sung by Sally Doherty – it barely sounds like Sol Invictus at all – and the traditional “Hundreds”.

Far better to listen to their Trieste show, recorded in 1999 and released in 2000 under the title Trieste. Tony Wakeford, Matt Howden and Sally Doherty manage to captivate the crowd with an inspired, compelling run through the Sol Invictus classics.

In 2001 Brugge was also released, another live recording taped in the Belgian city of Bruges in February 1996, around the time of In The Rain.

In 2002 came Thrones, an unusual record that departs from what had come before. The attempt here is to enrich the sound and refine it, bringing out some of Wakeford's musical loves, such as jazz and prog (the man is a King Crimson fan). Commendable as a starting point: a shame the overall result isn't satisfying. Sol Invictus's strength has always been simplicity and the impact of a sound that is nonetheless effective and moving. Amid the musical flourishes of Thrones it's a bit of a struggle to find a way in. The sung tracks are few – “Do And Say”, “Then He Killed Her”, the good, atmospheric “In The Blink Of A Star” featuring Matt Howden's violin at the forefront – and they come across toothless, while the record seems to lose itself in textures that feel like an end in themselves.

At this point something changes: Howden and Doherty leave, and Wakeford tries to reorganise the group. The result is The Devil's Steed from 2005. Perhaps realising the recent output hadn't been fully focused, the English bard retraces his steps and delivers an old-school record. The opening track is a typical anthem in their style, while “Old London Weeps” – with piano and strings by Maria Vellanz and Renee Rosen – brings to mind the enchanted atmospheres of In The Rain.

The fiery “The North Ship” also wins you over with its solemn tones. “Twa Corbies” reworks a traditional and, in its own way, is a significant track, since it would go on to give its name to a future, excellent musical project of Wakeford's with German musician Gernot Musch (ex-Pilori and Golgatha). Although not their finest work, The Devil's Steed remains a praiseworthy album nonetheless.

In 2010 an excellent album came out with Guy Harries and Yariv Malka under the name Orchestra Noir (not to be confused with L'Orchestre Noir, Wakeford's solo project from a few years earlier). What If... represents the choral take on exploring paths most closely tied to a certain neoclassical imagination.

In 2011 came The Cruellest Month, released during a period of stagnation for the neofolk genre. Even so, compared to certain contemporary output from Death In June and Current 93, the album – which comes with striking artwork by Tor Lundvall – glows with real inspiration, thanks partly to new member, medievalist Andrew King, with whom Wakeford had already collaborated on the excellent The Triple Tree project. Worth singling out for sure is the romantic “To Kill All Kings”, with its sweeping drive and electric shades. “The Fool Ship” is psychedelia recalling something of the Incredible String Band, venturing into folk-prog territory.

Elsewhere, the tried-and-tested Sol Invictus trademark returns in tracks like the enchanted “April Rain”, the intense “Cruel Lincoln” and the splendid “Something's Coming” (curiously, also the title of a fine Death In June live album).

In 2014's Once Upon A Time we find Don Anderson of Agalloch, the influential American black-metal band, on guitar. The record turns out to be something of a misstep, perhaps also due to the absence of Andrew King. The contribution of the aforementioned Don Anderson is certainly a plus - the intro to "MDMLXVI - The Devil's Year" is remarkable - lending his electric touch to the compositions. In truth, the album isn't that poor: the underlying problem is that, as has happened before on occasion, none of the tracks seem touched by the sacred fire of inspiration.

In 2015 Wakeford formed 1.9.8.4. (later renamed Crisis 1.9.8.4.) together with Lloyd James (Naevus), Clive Giblin (Alternative TV) and Igor Olejar (Autorotation), to play the songs he had written back in the days of Crisis and the early Death In June. Several concerts followed, bringing back into focus that essential period of the Eighties, straddling punk, wave and post-punk.

Four years on comes what is, for now, Sol Invictus's latest album, Necropolis. It's almost a concept album dedicated to London and the Thames, seen as a serpent winding through the city. If one wanted, one could detect echoes of the book "The London Adventure, or the Art of Wandering" by Welsh writer Arthur Machen (it shouldn't be forgotten how important the dark literary tradition is to the imagery of both Current 93 and Sol Invictus). The title refers to an underground railway line that connected London with Brookwood Cemetery between 1885 and 1941. Among the tracks, which again feature Don Anderson on guitar and the voices of the Green Army Choir, worth mentioning are the splendid "Nine Elms", the agitated "Turn Turn Turn", "Serpentine" and "The Last Man".

Reminiscent of some of their classics (such as, for instance, The Blade), Necropolis could be their final work and, as such, stand as a kind of spiritual testament for Sol Invictus.

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