Band:	Sol Invictus
Album:	Necropolis
Style:	Neofolk
Release date:	March 23, 2018
A review by:	RaduP

01. Necropolis: Portal
02. Nine Elms
03. Old Father Thames
04. See Them
05. Serpentine
06. Still Born Summer
07. Brick Lane
08. Turn Turn Turn
09. The Last Man
10. The Garden Of Love
11. Kill Burn
12. Set The Table
13. Murder On Thames
14. Shoreditch
15. Necropolis: Egress

2019 is now upon us, but before we truly embark, let's talk about why 2018 was a significant year for neofolk, one other distant relative of metal.

There's Sol Invictus...

Of all the three big neofolk bands, Sol Invictus came last, but its main man, Tony Wakeford, has been part of the scene for much longer, being a member of Death In June until 1984, performing on a few of their albums. And just like early Death In June, early Sol Invictus was kind of a mish-mash of post-punk and dark folk, later leaving the former behind to fully embrace the latter. But while the latest Death In June album is special for being their most layered and lush and upbeat in a while, Sol Invictus's latest uses layering in the opposite sense to create an entirely dark mood with no sense of irony. And with it possibly being the band's final album, the mood only darkens. Also Agalloch's Don Anderson plays guitar here.

Rich with instruments and layering and an overwhelming sense of dread and regret, Necropolis uses layering as more of a throbbing pulse, like the female or choir vocals and the synths that go along with Wakeford's vocals that are all supplemented by violins or pianos or accordions; it creates a sense of urgency in said dread. The repetitiveness here feels more drone-ish and industrial while not being at all either of those, but using similar means to realize Wakeford's vision and concept of a decaying London "of mausoleums and masonry". With proper songs thrown between minute-short interlude-songs, the album never feels like it lingers too long on a single note and manages to build what it needs to build before changing again.

Wakeford's vocals are clearly matured here. Perhaps the slight imperfections that he used to have back in the '90s made his music much more personal and emotional ("Abattoir Of Love" comes to mind), but it is clear here that this is a person who has been at it for decades and it's oozing of confidence. None of that shallow rock star confidence, but that of a man who knows what he wants to say. The only downside is that ironically this makes me pay less attention to the lyrics and more to his performance. But while his voice is one of the most important aspects of the music, usually in neofolk the vocals take much more of a center point, whereas here it feels like the music does a bit more of the work.

Sol Invictus started a little later than their counterparts and have been a bit less prolific, but even if this is to be their last album, which it could be, they would end on quite a high note and leave behind a worthy discography. Necropolis gives us Sol Invictus as dark and gloomy as they come. An eulogy to both London and the band itself.

Thus, with the three biggest neofolk acts all releasing some of their strongest albums lately this year, it is quite clear that 2018 was quite significant for the genre. But perhaps you'd like to go back to Death In June.