KING AND QUEEN

On the heels of the unintentional masterpiece "The Killing TIde", Tony Wakeford's SOL INVICTUS returned to a more acoustic and folk savvy album with "KIng and Queen". While the lyrics may be almost as dire as a vicious song cycle about murder and cannibalism, the feel is lighter, with arrangements on woodwinds and strings that explode the clinical ranges of the folk aesthetic, read they are simply lovely. This is particularly the case in the lounge folk of "Tears and Rain" with its cascading keys, and the poetic and melodic meter of "Edward", while "The Return" is cloaked in medievality that might have inspired Americans like WOVEN HAND some time later, circa their near masterpiece "Mosaic". I may need a break or a revisit of my recent audiology exam though because I'm liking Wakeford's voice. Maybe the hearing loss is in his frequency, which would be a narrow one indeed.

On the less gossamer side is the catchy "The World Turned Green", like a more refined but no less acerbic take on those early punk influenced numbers, but "All's Well In Hell" is a raucous bore, and "Someday" is just a bore, other than a few provocative lyrics. "The Watching Moon" is almost as weak but benefits from more imaginative keyboard accompaniment. The opener and closer are, as customary, of similar lineage and reasonably effective at kickstarting and wrapping up the original release. Again, the bonus material is a hodgepodge of alternate and live takes, in this case entirely incongruous with the more sedate affair originally proposed.

Now that we have cracked the 5 star sonic barrier with "Killing Tide", I can freely consider this option in the future and even kick the tires on a few prior reviews. While likely SOL INVICTUS royalty, "King and Queen" offers a few too many repetitive and unimaginative motifs to sit on the SI throne unchallenged. It's still quite enthusiastically recommended.