43 minutes, 53 seconds

Sol Invictus
Trees in Winter

Probably the first good Sol Invictus album. Sol Veritas Lux was marginally OK for a debut, but Lex Talionis was pretty awful. So what changed with Trees in Winter? Well, for one thing, the songwriting is a lot more accomplished, both lyrically and with regard to the arrangements and the breadth of instrumentation. But if I had to pick one thing that makes the most significant impact on this album, it's Joolie Wood's violin.

You may know Wood from her appearance on several Current 93 albums; she's also worked with a lot of other bands in the onetime World Serpent stable. Her plaintive and sad yet strangely uplifting contributions to the songs she plays on seem to elevate a mere folk song to something elegiac. Here, you can hear it to best effect on the songs "Here We Stand" and "Deceit."

She's released some solo material recently, which I haven't yet had the chance to hear much of. So much new music, so little shelf space...

Also today:

43:52 Cranes, EP Collection, Vol. 1
43:52 Wappenbund, Zeitenwende
43:51 Radio Kuolema, 10050 Cielo Drive
43:51 Thirteenth Exile, Assorted Chaos and Broken Machinery
43:50 God Module, Let's Go Dark
43:49 Beefcake, Hôte
New arrival! 57:20 Berkana, Lichtrad
New arrival! 55:22 Am'Ganesha'n, Estolia
New arrival! 47:34 Crackletone, Journey to the Sea of Sparks
43:47 Data-Bank-A, Salad Days
43:47 L'Effet C'est Moi, Tomber en Héros
43:47 Photophob, Music for Spaceports