I’m glad that I’m getting back into the normal swing on here. That little gap I had was something I didn’t intend to happen, but it did anyway. Thankfully, I’m back on schedule, and with the two anime reviews out of the way, I’m not right onto the metal review, and it’s a doozy! A release from a band that’s been out of the game for almost 2 decades, and a release that people were absolutely blind-sided by. Filled with 90s goodness, it’s an album that’s sure to stir music fan’s nostalgia to a frenzy. With that said, let’s look at the 7th studio album from the returning Faith No More, Sol Invictus, and see if they still got it. Let the review begin!
Background ***
“On February 24, 2009 after months of speculation and rumors, Faith No More announced they would be reforming with a line-up identical to the Album of the Year era, embarking on a reunion tour called The Second Coming Tour. To coincide with the band's reunion tour, Rhino released the sixth Faith No More compilation, The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection, a double album that includes their hit singles and b sides & rarities, in the UK on June 8. Faith No More then played in major European festivals including, Download Festival in the UK in June, Hurricane and Southside festivals in Germany, Greenfield Festival in Switzerland, Hove Festival in Norway and Roskilde Festival in Denmark, among other dates. The tour continued into 2010 with appearances at the Soundwave Festival in Australian cities throughout February and March. During their tour, the band added covers to their repertoire including "Switch" by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
After an eleven month hiatus, Faith No More played four shows in South America in November 2011. On the first date (November 8, 2011), the band played a "mystery song" - later confirmed as "Matador" - which led to speculation of new material. They played Sonisphere France on July 7, 2012.
In a January 2013 interview, Mike Patton suggested that the band would not remain active beyond the reunion tour, stating that "it's sort of petered out" and the band was "maybe a little too conscious for [their] own good." In July 2013 Billy Gould hinted the band may record new material in the future, saying "We will do something again only when all members are with the focus on that, and ready for the challenge. This is not the time... yet." On May 29, 2014, Faith No More posted a message (along with a photograph of Mike Patton) on their Twitter account, saying that "the reunion thing was fun, but now it's time to get a little creative." On July 4, Faith No More played their first show in two years at Hyde Park in London, supporting Black Sabbath. At that show, Faith No More debuted two new songs "Motherfucker" and "Superhero" (also known by fans as "Leader of Men"). On August 20, the band posted "The Reunion Tour is over; in 2015 things are going to change." These tweets led to speculation that the band was working on new material. On August 30, Gould said that the band was "considering doing something new", and might begin work on a new studio album at some point in the not-too-distant future, explaining, "to do something creative would be a really good thing to do." On September 2, Bill Gould revealed to Rolling Stone that Faith No More had begun work on a new album. On February 10, 2015 the band announced the title of their new album, Sol Invictus, and was set to be released on May 19, 2015.”
Basic Description
The 90s have returned!
Yeah, I know that sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but it’s true! When you put this album into your CD Player (Or put the MP3 files onto your player), it’s like the band never broke up. Sol Invictus make for a surprisingly good time machine: all of the music on here sounds like a great continuation of their previous release from 1997, Album of the Year. The Nu-Metal, the funk & rock-n-roll, the whole thing! Everything that was great about Faith No More, and maybe some things that weren’t so great, can all be heard on Sol Invictus! If you miss the 90s, and want a nice journey back, then this album is perfect for the job!
Best Song
Picking a best song is difficult, ladies & gentlemen. Sol Invictus was built with such craftsmanship, such skill, and such artistry, that one could call this album a glorious work of art (If one was narcissistic enough). After listening to this release a couple times, I ultimately decided to pick Matador as the best song of Sol Invictus. As only Faith No More can, they created a strange yet sincere return to the world of music. Strong vocals, odd sound effects, heartfelt piano, and groove-laden guitars practically built this song. If you were to pluck someone from the 90s, and put this song into their ears, they’d swear that it was something straight out of the band’s material from 2 decades earlier. Heck, even I was surprised by the 90s vibes that was coming from not just this song, but from the whole album as well.
Matador
Worst Song
Curiously enough, I consider Sol Invictus’s first single, Motherfucker, to be the worst song. Even then, I actually don’t consider it to be the worst thing on here. To me, this song’s only real flaw is monotony. There’s some great & catchy beats here, and Mike Patton’s singing is perfect, but I’m getting the feeling that maybe the track needed a little more energy injected into it’s veins. Again, Motherfucker isn’t a bad song, but I wish a little more could have been done with it.
Motherfucker
Overall Impression & Rating
Sol Invictus is a modern day blast-from-the-past! Faith No More have returned to the world of music with force, and this album spearheads this return. Bringing their 90s mix of Nu-Metal, Rock, and Funk, the band has proved that not every bit of music from the 1990s sucked. I cannot talk anymore about how much you need to buy Sol Invictus, so go grab it!
Sol Invictus gets a 9.5 out of 10
Well guys, I’m taking the next few weeks off. With September not to far off, I’ve got to get ready for the 1-year celebration of this blog. Hope you don’t mind the wait, and I’ll see you soon!
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Taken from Wikipedia
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