Search - Sol Invictus :: Sol Veritas Lux

Primitive and Raw prelude to a great prolific band.

IcemanJ | Ohio, USA | 02/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a mixed release of Sol Invictus' first full length, "Against the Modern World" (1987) and the live album recorded in Japan "In the Jaws of the Serpent" (1989) in case you didn't know already.
Those words in the title might make the CD sound bad, but I really enjoy this. If you already have Lex Talionis, imagine that album, but more raw, worse production, more primitive/naïve, and a younger voice of Tony. This album also uses a drum machine for a strange halfway point between electronica/industrial and folk-noir, reminiscent of a few Death in June albums. There are very little symphonic elements compared to their other CDs and it sounds relatively stripped down. There is only a little violin and piano hinted in a couple songs, and the rest is just vocals, drum machine, guitars, and bass."Angel's Fall" begins the album with quite catchy acoustic strumming, mysterious synthed-sounding keyboard tones, and an upbeat rhythm. This is probably my favorite song on the cd. "Raven Chorus" has a steady rhythm, a calmer feel, and a nice overlying acoustic melody over the main repeating one. "Against the modern world" is a quite fast (just over 2 minutes) and simple song with female backing vocals. "A Ship is Burning" is a very short and haunting song. "Summer Ends" is a favorite, with what almost sounds like clapping from the drum machine, those mysterious synth-keys, and very catchy, gentle yet straightforward acoustic strumming.I mostly bought this album for "Against the Modern World," the live recording isn't that great (not that I knew that at the time...). I usually don't listen to the live album, and if it were released by itself, I probably wouldn't even have bought it. (Well, it was released by itself at first, but you can't find it like that anymore)
This also includes "Joy of the World," a somewhat interesting unreleased instrumental, which sounds like it contains the background noises from "Tooth and Claw" from "Lex Talionis"Many people might not like this album compared to what the band has evolved into today, but it might also be the other way around. I really enjoy everything from their oldest material to their newest material. At least the first part of this album is very worthwhile. Very early music of great artists that now have a huge catalog usually has some special significance and a unique feel."

Great classic, occultic Goth!

Raven Digitalis | Missoula, MT United States | 11/20/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"*This review is courtesy of newWitch magazine*



Sol Inviticus, hailing from England, is a project of Death In June's Tony Wakeford. I'm surprised at how many times I've heard the band classified as "apocalyptic neo-folk" or a genre similar. To me, this sounds undeniably classically Goth in all the right ways. Their sound is similar to the Gothic rock artists that helped defined "Goth" as a musical genre throughout the 80s. For occult-friendly fans of artists such as Fields of the Nephilim, The Wake, Corpus Delicti, and Nosferatu, this band may be right up your alley.

The term Sol Invictus means "undefeated sun." It was a title used to refer to the Roman deities Sol, Mithra, and El Gabal, all of whom have solar association. The band Sol Invictus is certainly versed in occultism, and has a particular affinity to European Paganism (as well as Germanic Heathenry) and Mediterranean history. This is apparent in a number of tracks in Sol Veritas Lux. This album is a remastered version of the same release from 1990, and is a combination of the album Against the World and the live-in-Tokyo Jaws of the Serpent.

This album is straight-forward in that it uses little sampling or overlays. It is, for the most part, "raw," especially the live tracks. The songs are dreamy, dark, and leave plenty of room for the imagination. It's never assaulting on the senses; it's definitely astral. I've found this release to be perfect background music for reading, writing, spellcrafting, etc. This is the type of music that allows the listener to choose whether to let it to be a pleasant audile backdrop, or to become immersed in the emotion of the sound.



RAVEN DIGITALIS"