I’ve always marveled at the apparent lack of irony shown by many “neo-folkies” that elevate antiquity over modernity by assailing the injustices of the modern age. Often the ancient world is cast as an avenging angel that will destroy the evil inherent in today’s system. Never mind that antiquity had more than its share of iniquities (the feudal system, nobility exempted from any rule of law, et al.) and that the modern age may have done nothing more than refined the instruments of oppression available to the rich and powerful. Where before there were unjust land “leases” now there are unjust predatory mortgage lenders. Maybe it’s a bit more genteel, but the deck is stacked just as surely. Further, there seems to be no recognition of the paradox of using modern technology in the form of amplified and electronic instruments to rage against the injustices of the modern world. Say what you will about appropriating the tools of the oppressor, but I’m not buying it. In some ways, Sol Veritas Lux is a prime example of this strange preference. It collects and re-masters two early Sol Invictus releases from 1988: the studio “Against the Modern World” and the live “In the Jaws of the Serpent” in a deluxe re-issue package with photos, lyrics, and some pretty honest liner notes from Tony Wakeford that help put the creation of these works in their proper historical context. It’s a nice package and I’d like to see them try to get the same results on a vintage Gutenberg press. Clearly there are some advantages to be had nowadays.
Aside from the packaging, when I first put this on, I was underwhelmed by the music and the performances. Often times stiff, almost sing song vocals painfully demonstrate Wakeford’s limited range at that time (which to give him his due he cops to in the liner notes). The arrangements are similarly static and brittle with very little give in them. To compensate for this sparseness, the production bathes the whole package in reverb and echo. I was just about to dismiss this disc as another dreary example of gloomy apocalyptica and then a funny thing happened. Despite all of these distractions, the songs from “Against the Modern World” started to get to me. A lot of this has to do with the visceral appeal of most of the songs themselves. The chopping overlapped chant-shouted vocals of “Wolf Age, Axe Age”, the great cavernous single synthesizer notes hanging over the verses of “Angels Fall”, the tremulous a cappella intro to “Raven Chorus”, and the creepy minimalist sermon “Untitled” all speak to a band making the most of what were obviously pretty limited chops. And on repeated listens, even if the vocals are often embarrassingly amateur, the strengths of Wakeford’s convictions come through in the lyrics. Whether or not I agree with his theoretical formulations is kind of beside the point. He’s obviously a man who believes salvation can come from dismantling the injustice inherent in the system. May he succeed where others have failed.
The live record has its middling moments (“Somewhere In Europe”, “Gold Is King”, and the version of “Twa Corbies” among them) but perhaps more than the studio material it suffers from the inexperience of the band at this early stage. “Angels Fall” and “Rise and Fall” (really “Summer Ends” - perhaps an alternate working title at that point?) are particularly inept in comparison to the studio version, and even the “The Runes” great gritty distorted bass cannot transcend its plodding politics. Were Sol Veritas Lux to end on these notes, it would definitely be only of interest to hardcore fans. However, the “hidden” 2006 remakes of “Angels Fall”, “Against the Modern World”, and “Summer Ends” that end the disc prove that in retrospect the musical underpinnings of these songs were remarkably solid and all they really needed was a little experience and confidence to tease out their potential. The version of “Summer Ends” in particular shows how much the fullness of time and some practice ripens the hard, tentative kernel of the original into a much more assured and ornate place (at least musically, Wakeford’s vocals are still going to annoy some). Not widely recommended, but on the strength of the historically interesting “Against the Modern World” and the three remakes, worth exploring for the curious.
