Faith No More "Sol Invictus (Digipak, Japan, Hostess Entertainment Unlimited, HSE-30351)"

Sol Invictus (Latin for 'Unconquered Sun') is the seventh and final studio album by American rock band Faith No More, released on May 19, 2015. It was Faith No More's first studio album since Album of the Year in 1997, marking the longest gap between two studio albums in their career, and their first release on Reclamation! Records. Sol Invictus was also the band's first album since Angel Dust (1992) to feature the same lineup as its predecessor.

The album marked the group's fifth collaboration with longtime producer Matt Wallace. This time, Wallace helped with the final mix rather than a more substantial producing role.

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 and 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 new full length covers to their repertoire, including "Ben" by Michael Jackson, "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis and "Switch" by Siouxsie and the Banshees. During the Soundwave shows, in Australia, and a run of shows in New Zealand, they covered the 1986 song "Don't Dream It's Over", by Australia/New Zealand band Crowded House. Faith No More had previously covered snippets of it in 1990, while on tour for The Real Thing. On the 2009-2010 reunion tour, songs that Faith No More covered snippets of include "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas, "Delilah" by Tom Jones, "Fuck You" by Lily Allen, "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga and "Popcorn" by Hot Butter. They also covered a Serbian folk song called "Ajde Jano" and Tony Montana's theme from the film Scarface.

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 continued touring in 2012, and played at Sonisphere France on July 7, 2012. During the 2011 and 2012 shows, they began covering parts of "Feels So Good" by Chuck Mangione, "Et moi, et moi, et moi" by Jacques Dutronc, "Niggas in Paris" by Jay Z/Kanye West and "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. They also covered the internet meme song "Trololo", which was originally by Eduard Khil in 1976.

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 July 4, 2014, 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 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 that it was set to be released on May 19, 2015.

The album was included at number 5 on Rock Sound's top 50 releases of 2015 list. Rolling Stone ranked it second on their list of the 20 best metal albums of 2015.

In June 2015, the album won a Metal Hammer Golden God Award for Best Album.

Tracklist:

1. Sol Invictus 02:37   
2. Superhero 05:15
3. Sunny Side Up 02:59  
4. Separation Anxiety 03:44   
5. Cone of Shame 04:40
6. Rise of the Fall 04:09   
7. Black Friday 03:19
8. Motherfucker 03:33  
9. Matador 06:08   
10. From the Dead 03:06   
11. Superhero Battaglia (Remixed by Alexander Hacke) 05:19  

Time:  44:49

Comes in a tri-fold digipak (with some text printed in gold foil) and includes an 8-page Japanese booklet and an obi-strip.

Recording information:

Produced and engineered at Estudios Koolarrow.

Vocals recorded at Vulcan Studios.

Mixed at Studio Delux.

Billy Gould – production, engineering, mixing

Mike Patton – vocal recording

Matt Wallace – mixing

Maor Appelbaum – mastering

Martin Kvamme – album design

Dustin Rabin – band photos

Ossian Brown – cover and booklet photos