Grievance – The Phantom Novels (1999)

Country: Norway

Tracklist

1. Origin In Vain 04:58
2. Angels Succumb 06:03
3. Atrocity Upon Deceptions 06:55
4. The Mask Of Sin 05:35
5. A Devil's Rhyme 05:42
6. Craving Path 06:20
7. The Phantom Novels 02:06
8. Enterance (Bonus Track) 02:12
9. A Poisoned Icon (Bonus Track) 06:32
10. Craving Path (Bonus Track) 05:45
11. Scarlet Rain (Bonus Track) 04:09

Grievance was a short lived melodic/symphonic black metal act

featuring Robert Bordevik (Antestor, ex-Vardøger) and Kenneth Finndahl.
The band was originally formed in 1994 as a four piece project under the name Vigrid.
In late 1997 a demo was recorded in X-Ray Studios that got the attention

of Head Not Found and eventually a contract was signed in early 1998.
The same year they released their self titled MCD featuring the tracks from their demo.
By the summer of 1998 Grievance started working at the Fredman Studio on their first full length release

with the help of Pål Espen Johannessen (keyboards), Jesper Strømblad (guitars) and Anders Fridén (vocals).
The album was mastered at Strype Audio by Tom Kvålsvoll and released in 1999 under the title "The Phantom Novels",

while the Japanese version that released on Avalon Records included as bonus tracks their 1998 MCD.

Memory

Sol Invictus – Lex Talionis (1993)

Country: England

Tracklist

1. Blood And Wine 01:32
2. Lex Talionis 06:01
3. Black Easter 04:29
4. Kneel To The Cross 04:47
5. The Ruins 02:50
6. Tooth And Claw 06:52
7. Blood Against Gold 04:24
8. Fields 03:56
9. Abattoirs Of Love 05:23
10. Heroes Day 02:39
11. Rex Talionis 02:25
12. Wine And Blood 02:29

13. Black Easter (Live Bonus Track) 04:15
14. Reynardine & Abattoirs Of Love (LP Version) 05:10
15. The Hammer Or The Anvil (From Original DAT) 03:25
16. Fields (Originally Released On The Yangki Vinyl) 04:07
17. Abattoirs Of Love (Edit - Originally Released On "V/A - Sacred War") 03:18

Sol Invictus is an English neofolk band fronted by Tony Wakeford and formed in 1987

after the disbanding of his project Above The Ruins.
The name Sol Invictus (The Unconquered Sun), derives from the Roman cult of the same name.
Wakeford has been the sole constant member of the group since its inception,

although numerous musicians have contributed and collaborated with him over the years,

including Sarah Bradshaw, Nick Hall, Céline Marleix-Bardeau, Nathalie Van Keymeulen, Ian Read and Karl Blake.
Wakeford repeatedly referred to his work as folk noir.

Beginning with a mixture of a rough, bleak, primitive post/punk/industrial sound and acoustic/folk elements,

the band's music gradually evolved toward a lush, refined style,

picking up classically trained players such as Eric Roger, Matt Howden, and Sally Doherty.
In the mid-1990s, Sol Invictus spun off a side project called L'Orchestre Noir (later changed to Orchestra Noir)

to explore an even more classically influenced direction.
2005 saw the departure of longtime contributors Roger and Blake,

leading to a new line-up including Caroline Jago, Lesley Malone and Andrew King.
In 1990, Wakeford formed his own label, Tursa, to release his material and the music of other artists. 

The World Serpent Distribution previously distributed this material worldwide, followed then by Cold Spring Records.

In 2009, Sol Invictus signed to Prophecy Records and in June 2011,

they announced the end of their partnership both with Cold Spring Records and musician Andrew King.
The band's imagery and lyrical content, in its early days, was influenced by traditionalism

and antipathy towards the modern world and materialism.
A superficial interest was the Italian philosopher Julius Evola while a more serious influence was the poet Ezra Pound.
The band also had considerable interest in heathen and Mithraist themes, often with an explicit antipathy to Christianity,

reflecting the involvement of Wakeford and other members in neopagan groups.
The 1997 album "The Blade" incorporates an Odinic chant, Gealdor, into its varied laments.
Wakeford tended to write from a melancholic position of doomed Romanticism,

which lamented the loss of beauty, love, and culture.

He saw the American influence on global culture as very damaging to Europe.
The later albums have seen a turn to a more personal writing style, as interest in,

what Wakeford calls, "knee-jerk anti-Americanism and anti-Christianity" has been rejected.
Sol Invictus album artwork has often showcased the expressionist paintings of American artist-musician Tor Lundvall.

Memory

Voxus Imp. – Idafeld (1998)

Country: Germany

Tracklist

1. Opfergang 05:03
2. Speermerkung 04:59
3. Idafeld 05:26
4. Uruz 06:20
5. Sonnwend 2:30
6. Berserkergang 04:23
7. Bloataar 09:06
8. Heill Dagr 05:48
9. Donarsdagr (Bonus Track) 04:36

Ambient / Experimental music project that remains rather underground

when compared to some of the better known artists operating in the post industrial genre.
The music of Voxus Imp. is deeply rooted in themes of Central and Northern European Heathen spirituality,

drawing upon predominately Nordic and Northern Germanic mythological references.
Voxus Imp. has created a unique brand of percussion driven music that experimentally combines

various musical elements into a powerful and effective musical formula.
The unconstrained heathen essentials of faith, refuting themselves by diverging visions of downfall,

are the subject matter of the artistic concept of "Idafeld".
In classical Icelandic literature, "Idafeld" is the symbol of the everlasting.
At this place of renewal, the guiltless gods unite to strive towards Ragnarok (The Twilight of the Gods) once more.
In stanza 58 of the Völuspá (The Vision of the Prophetess), a major poem of the Elder Edda, it is written:

"The Aesir find each other on Idafeld, also to commemorate the mighty world-entwining Midgard Serpent,

and there they remember the grand judgments and the ancient Runes Of Fimbultýr (Odin)."
The only possible access to this subject matter is via ritual.
Only the rite grants the ability to comprehend the manifold through the exceptional.
The approach is done by sacrifice and the resulting overcoming of given boundaries,

initiated by means of spiritual elevation: music.
This "ritual music" by Voxus Imp. is largely purely electronic, but with a pleasantly organic feel to it.
"Idafeld" was originally released in 1998 by Mjölnir Tonkunst on vinyl on a limited edition of 300 copies

and in 2005 it was re-mastered and re-released by Eis Und Licht as a limited gatefold Digipak CD including a bonus track.

Memory