Search - Tony Wakeford :: La Croix

Basically another Sol Invictus album

IcemanJ | Ohio, USA | 11/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is excellent. I'm mostly writing this review to let reviewers know how similar it is to Sol Invictus around that time period, in case anyone is hesitant to buy it because they think Tony went in a completely weird direction that they won't like (although his second solo, "Cupid & Death" was a little more ambient and I don't like it as much). If Sol Invictus was on the cover instead of Tony Wakeford, you'd never think it was performed by an entirely different cast. Actually, it has the same flutist and cellist as "Death of the West," and there are 9 other musicians in addition to Tony Wakeford, so I don't even really know why it just isn't another Sol Invictus album. It sounds exactly like it would be a Sol cd anyways. The instrument lineup includes acoustic guitar, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, cornet, flute, and additional vocals.



The album starts out with an almost 8-minute instrumental with some female chanting type vocals, adding some industrial sounds and then some cellos/violas/violins, and adding some talking samples along the way. This is really not one of the better tracks and is kind of repetitive.



"The Fool" is a classic and is found on numerous live Sol Invictus recordings, it has the basic SI structure and feeling. "Double Cross" starts out with a great acoustic melody and builds upon it; it's a very good instrumental. "Come the Horseman" is another great song, with a dark atmospheric acoustic melody and what sounds like viola or violin plucking instead of being played with a bow, along with bow-playing also. Later on it keeps developing into some cascading melodies with all the string instruments followed by backing vocals by Tony himself.



"The Wheel of the Sun" is another instrumental containing sections of bass and cornet, and stringed instruments, with the acoustic strumming along with some low-pitched piano. "The Yew" sounds very calm and uplifting, with what sounds like an organ, violins, and flute, a thick wall of reverb on the vocals, and a delicate, pleasant piano at the end. The album ends with "La Croix," the same exact song name of the first track, and sounds mostly the same but with vocals included (another Sol Invictus trademark) then the female chanting returns at the end, this time with Wakeford's singing on top, and taking it a step further progressing on with additional instruments. The track is 22 minutes long but that first part lasts about 13 (which is pretty long for sol invictus), then there is a long period of silence and the last 3 minutes or so is the violin melody from earlier in the song by itself.



All in all, this is a great addition to anyone discovering Sol Invictus, and a pretty good place to start also."