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A magnificently satisfying Sol Invictus album, The Hill of Crosses builds upon the lush glory of In a Garden Green. This time horns by Eric Roger add a special twist to the fine songs and playing. Strong presence on vocals of the lovely Sally Doherty.
'The Hill of Crosses' is the all-new studio album from Tony Wakeford's merry band of lads and lassies, Sol Invictus. Wakeford, Howden, Blake, Doherty & Roger once again get together to bring us the finest Sol release to date. 'The Hill of Crosses' has been described as a 'fair balance between continuity and innovation'. For instance 'December Song''s skirmish with a warped form of jazz will cause consternation or delight depending on the listener. The last two tracks, 'Hundreds' and 'The Hill of Crosses' nod in the direction of Lithuania for inspiration. Peons of praise for that country's mixture of Christianity and Paganism that survived despite the malignant efforts of Nazi & Soviet domination. The tracks provide a glimmer of light at the end of a dark tunnel. Subjects such as Hitchcock, Mortality and ecological destruction are added to this melange of musical misery.
Strange Fortune listener reviews are a free space to share your impressions of the music.
blackwinged says on 16 Apr 2004
The thing I love so much about Sol Invictus is with each new album the band seems to add something new to the music while still keeping their traditional folk sound present in the music. Few if any artists do this, which is why I consider Sol Invictus to be one of the most gifted bands ever.
Aside from the normal folky tunes this album presents there’s a few other interesting styles shown. Upon placing the CD into your stereo you’ll be awoken by an enchanting neo classical styled song with choirs, orchestral instruments, and some spoken vocals. This style also reappears on track six ‘Chime the Night.’ A stranger new element present in the music is a more jazzy side, which is displayed on track four ‘December Song.’ This song features some light guitar plucking, with a nice jazzy sounding trumpet and Sally Doherty’s superb vocals. Finally the song ‘Hundreds’ is a more experimental like song with militant percussion and spoken vocals. In a way this reminds me of some of the songs that Sol Invictus was doing over ten years ago.
Now of course what I love best about Sol is the folky songs and this album delivers some of their best ones ever. ‘Eve’ has a large usage of beautiful violin playing from Matt Howden plus a very catchy chorus sung by Tony Wakeford and Sally. ‘God told me to’ opens with a lengthy sample with violin and weird samples in the background, and finally after almost two minutes the actual song begins. The chorus of this song is just so amazing with the violin, trumpet and once again Tony and Sally sounding great while singing. Lastly ‘The Street of Many Muders’ has got to be one of the best songs this group has ever created. Tony sounds so sad during this song one would think he was about to cry and the music is so lovely it almost makes the listener do the same. I’d honestly have to say the chorus to this song is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever heard. Again there’s a wide usage of violin, trumpet, and piano with some very morose sounding vocals from Tony and Sally. I could probably listen to this song a hundred times in a row and not get bored with it.
In conclusion Sol Invictus’ ‘The Hill of Crosses’ is certainly one of the most ambitious and highly structured albums to be found in this impressive bands discography. The band does experiment a bit, but for the most part the listener is treated to a wonderful neo folk album. Highly recommended to both new and old fans alike.
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CPRL says on 24 Jun 2004
An interesting thing about this album is that there is a sample from the movie Barton Fink of John Goodman running around with a machine gun yelling out some nonsense. This, of course, doesn't really say much about the album, but it does suggest that Tony Wakeford is sitting around watching Coen Bros. movies... The album is a damn good one, although I might suggest getting an earlier album if you have never heard Sol Invictus. I would also warn you that Tony Wakeford's voice, although I enjoy it thoroughly, could be considered something of an acquired taste.
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