Formed in 1987 by English musician Tony Wakeford, Sol Invictus ranks among the most productive and significant acts tied to the neo-folk and apocalyptic folk scenes alongside Current 93 and Death in June. Wakeford characterizes his output with the phrase “folk noir.” The ensemble merges acoustic guitars and neo-classical elements with touches of industrial electronics while its lyrics convey a bleak perspective on contemporary life, although subsequent works turned toward more introspective subjects. Wakeford alone has remained throughout the band’s existence, yet additional participants have encompassed Ian Read, Karl Blake, and Gareth Smith.
Earlier, Wakeford performed in the 1970s punk outfit Crisis before helping establish Death in June in the early 1980s alongside Douglas P., another Crisis alumnus, and Patrick Leagas. Expelled from that group in 1984, he launched the post-punk project Above the Ruins, which attracted notice for its links to right-wing politics. He dissolved the ensemble, distanced himself from those associations, and created Sol Invictus in 1987. Its debut album, Against the Modern World, surfaced on L.A.Y.L.A.H.—the same imprint that issued material by Coil, Nurse with Wound, and the Hafler Trio—in 1988, displaying a shadowy post-punk character that incorporated facets later labeled martial industrial. The following year S.V.L. Records issued the live recording In the Jaws of the Serpent, which included Rose McDowall on drums.
Wakeford established the Tursa imprint in 1990 and secured distribution through World Serpent. Trees in Winter became its inaugural title, after which numerous Sol Invictus albums appeared across the ensuing decade. The group steadily moved toward a neo-classical approach, a trajectory further examined through the side project L’Orchestre Noir. Wakeford also issued joint recordings with Steven Stapleton of Nurse with Wound, American painter and musician Tor Lundvall—whose artwork frequently appears on Sol Invictus sleeves—and Matt Howden. Once World Serpent ceased operations sometime in the 2000s, Cold Spring assumed distribution duties for the catalog. Tursa resumed activity in 2007, and two years later Sol Invictus aligned with Auerbach Tonträger, the neo-folk subsidiary of Prophecy Productions, thereby ending its arrangement with Cold Spring. Auerbach subsequently issued deluxe reissues of the band’s catalog together with the 2011 box set The Collected Works. The 2013 single “Mr. Cruel” heralded the 2014 studio album Once Upon a Time, while the 2016 single “The Last Man” preceded the full-length Necropolis.
