A To Z of Sol Invictus

Faith No More's seventh studio album was released TEN years ago, on 19 May 2015.

To celebrate the anniversary of this astounding comeback record we have put together an A to Z for everything need to know about Sol Invictus.

A IS FOR Amoeba

In November 2014 Faith No More surprised fans with an intimate show at Amoeba Records, San Francisco, to celebrate Record Store Day Black Friday and the release of Motherfucker on 7" vinyl. The set consisted of five songs including two from Sol Invictus.

'Most of the band’s Bay Area family — including their teenaged nieces and nephews — crowded along the side of the stage. Said nieces and nephews mercifully did not roll their eyes when others in attendance explained they had been following the band since they were “their age.” ' - SF Weekly

B IS FOR Brothers Johnson & Boz Scaggs

Each era in FNM’s history seems to include its own particular ad-libs featured in the breakdown of various songs. A favourite of Chuck Mosley's was Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven, whereas Mike Patton famously dropped in Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic and Vogue by Madonna.

During the Sol Invictus tour as the band halted Midlife Crisis mid song, Patton crooned the 1971 song Strawberry Letter 23 by Shuggie Otis (made popular by Brothers Johnson in 1977). In the same spot FNM would also break out into the 1976 song Lowdown by Boz Scaggs.

C IS FOR Cone Of Shame

In November 2015 Faith No More released the fourth single from Sol Invictus. Cone of Shame was accompanied by a gritty video directed by Macedonian Goce Cvetanovski, who had worked with Bill Gould previously, and produced by Lynx Animation Studios with Faith No More.

“This is one of those tracks that had to be a video, really, because it lends itself so much to visual imagery. Given the song’s sense of Americana, it would have been easy to shoot this in Arizona or New Mexico, but having been to Macedonia several times, there’s a vibe there that I felt wouldn’t be out of place as a backdrop to this song. Goce Cvetanovski, as a director, understood this immediately; he knew exactly what to do with it, and along with an amazing cast, has managed to create something very dark, and beautifully cinematic.” - Bill Gould 2015

"My first impressions were more horror-like. Lyrics like “I like to peel your skin off, strip the bones off,” etc, gave me images of some cannibalistic druid kind of ceremony. But after talking with Bill, he explained me that the song is more about a love gone wrong, wrong decisions and jealousy. We also discussed the spaghetti western ambient of the music, if you listen carefully you’ll find a bit of Ennio Morricone influence in the guitar. The story developed from there and I was listening the track in loop for days, while working on the script." - Goce Cvetanovski | FNMFollowers 2015

D IS FOR Dementia

Faith No More also shared a video for the track Separation Anxiety. A compilation of footage from the 1955 American black-and-white experimental horror film Dementia (Daughter of Horror) directed by John Parker. The video was edited by Finch Lynch.

E IS FOR Estudio Koolarrow

Sol Invictus was the FNM first album to be fully self recorded at the group’s rehearsal space and Bill’s studio, Estudios Koolarrow, in California.

"Everyone said, ‘Well, why don’t we just produce it ourselves? Why don’t you produce it?’ and I was just like, ‘Oh god, man, that’s a responsibility! I mean, my stuff’s going to get stacked up next to Andy Wallace’s stuff and Matt Wallace’s stuff!" - Bill 2015

“You have to understand, it was recorded by us… written, arranged and performed obviously. Mixed by us, in our place. I mean, this is really about as self-contained an effort as you’re gonna get and I’m super proud of every guy that did it. To me, the result… I couldn’t make it any better. And I want people to hear it for themselves.” - Bordin | Drum Magazine 2015

To realise their vision the band called on their old friend Matt Wallace to help with the mixing and production.

"We didn't even have an engineer when we recorded it. It was just us. There was only one other person who came in, and that was Matt Wallace, who finished the mixing. Having an extra perspective and an extra set of ears was really important at that point, and Matt goes back with us back to 1982—he's like a family member" - Bill Gould | Revolver 201

F IS FOR Followers

The News of Faith No More's first album in eighteen years and subsequent tour prompted a group of super fans to establish the ultimate FNM fan club. Faithnomorefollowers.com was created as a non-profit hub for all things Faith No More related, reporting news and chronicling past events with accuracy. In 2020 we upgraded to the webpage you see now. Over the past ten years our group has been supported by the band and their management.

The team includes members from Europe, Australia, South America, Mexico and the USA, all who have been active participators in the online fan community since the 90s.

In 2018 members of FNMFollowers joined Podcast Croissant the only dedicated Faith No More podcast.

G IS FOR Gimp

In February 2015 Faith No More revealed to the world the title and release date of their seventh studio album accompanied with a photo of the band dressed in black gowns heavily shadowed by candle light. Dustin Rabin's cult-like photographic vision for FNM would be included on the sleeve for Sol Invictus.

'In some early discussions about ideas they said they wanted something dark and almost horror-like, so I suggested doing some Film Noir lighting.' - Dustin Rabin | FNMFollowers 2015

Some of Dustin Rabin's album promo photos revealed FNM’s dominant nature with the addition of a gimp! Straight out of Pulp Fiction the leather clad character accompanied FNM on their first run of shows. At The Wiltern in LA the gimp suit was worn in secret by none other than GnR bassist Duff Mckagan!

“Their ‘Gimp’ guy got stuck in traffic or something — something like that — and Patton asked if I’d be the ‘Gimp.’ And I’d just gotten to the gig, me and another friend. I’m wearing all black, and everybody else was wearing white. ‘Cause they play in white, and everybody backstage, their crew, they all have white on. The guy I came with, Jerry Cantrell [Alice in Chains], he wore white, because he had gone to the show the night before. I picked him up, [and I said], ‘What are you doing wearing all white?’ He’s, like, ‘Faith No More white, dude.’ [I was, like], ‘Oh, yeah, I blew it.’ But being the only guy dressed in black, I was the instant ‘Gimp.'” - Duff

H IS FOR Hyde Park

The band made a return to the live stage after a full year's break at British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park, London. The set included the premiere of Superhero and Motherfucker.

“We knew that we were making a record at that time, for sure. That was the first time we played those songs though, so it was kinda high stakes. The decision to wear the priest outfits and play Motherfucker right then felt pretty bold. We had been working on this stuff behind the scenes but we weren’t ready to tell anybody. Then again, anyone who saw us play that day with Sabbath would’ve figured out what we were up to.” - Roddy Bottum | The Skinny Dec 2015

I IS FOR Ice Hockey

New York Rangers defenseman and Faith No More fan Dan Boyle joined FNM as a roadie during the East Coast swing of the tour. Much to the approval of Mike P and Mike Bordin who are both huge hockey fans.

“It was an amazing experience. I didn’t do too much the first night; I was pretty much just watching. But by the fourth show, I was helping out every which way I could – dispensing VIP tickets, decorating the stage, bringing guitars and basses out.” - Dan Boyle | Rolling Stone

J IS FOR Joe Lynch

The band hired American film and music video director Joe Lynch to create a film for the third single release of Sunny Side Up. The video is a hallucinogenic tribute to One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest featuring a cast of geriatric mischief makers in the roles of the band members.

‘Funny enough, I’ve been trying to make a Faith No More music video since I fell in love with the 'Angel Dust' album back in 1992. I wrote a video treatment for every single track on that album and sent them to Slash Records, I never heard back…’ - Joe Lynch | FNMFollowers 2015

K IS FOR Kimmel Live!

During tour Sol Invictus Faith No More performed on radio and TV to promote the album. Their first TV appearance in twenty years was was on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show in May. In June FNM recorded a set of six songs live at BBC's Maida Vale studios. On September 3rd Faith No More performed five songs on Jimmy Kimmel Live! dressed in tuxedos.

L IS FOR Lump

Straight after the performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! FNM took to the stage for a secret show at The Troubadour in Hollywood under the pseudonym Lump. The gig stood out in the 2015 run as the band took a more casual approach ditching the white outfits and the gimp.

‘No gimp! Whaaaa? Just a lot of instruments, sneakers and sweat. The entire band was in good spirits. It was weird for everyone. It was glorious madness. Patton crowd surfed many times and ended up on the bar in the back with, unfortunately, a shot of Jack Daniels. Almost the entire Sol Invictus album was played along with highlight “Be Aggressive” and after a band meeting, ending with “As The Worm Turns.”' - LA Record

M IS FOR Mystery Song

The seeds for Sol Invictus were sown as early as 2011 when FNM premiered Matador their first original composition in fourteen years - known then to fans as Mystery Song.

"I was like, This is great that we’ve all connected, but I need to do creative stuff. I was always hands-on where this band is concerned. I’m just that guy, and if I’m putting all this energy and effort into it, I need something. I need some oxygen. It was one of those things like, Don’t ask. Don’t tell. Don’t bring up new music. Don’t talk about it. Finally I thought, Fuck it, man, I’m just going to fucking say it: I got a song. Do you guys want to hear it? Stop talking about fucking covers all the time and think of doing some fucking music? And everybody was like, Yeah, sure, great." - Bill Gould | Small Victories

Mystery Song, became the subject of much discussion between fans who at the time labelled it an unheard leftover from a previous album. The band performed the song in Buenos Aires and it became a regular fixture in the set for the next few years.

"Honestly, 'Matador' felt so obvious. Not in a bad way, but like a comfortable shoe. It felt like somewhere we go typically as a band. We have this language among the four of us that's sort of unique and inherent to people who sort of grow up together; we have a go-to language that we all relate to really well. So hearing it was like, 'Oh yeah, that. I get it!'" - Roddy Bottum | Revolver April 2015

"Bill brought in a new tune that he wrote, and said: 'Shall we try this? And when we heard it, yep, we knew what to do exactly, boom boom boom. It's like a secret society when you're in a band, with your handshakes and your lingo, and even after all that time, you still understand it. It's part of you. We started playing that one song live, and it felt good. So okay, let's proceed." - Mike Patton | Classic Rock July 2015

N IS FOR New New Song

Fans brimmed with excitement as our friends at fan page FNM 2.0 revealed Faith No More's new new song on May 12th 2015. The song turned out to be a spectacular parody created by St Sanders. The FNM shred was arranged by Bill who had previously met Sanders at a show.

O IS FOR Ossian Brown

The images used throughout the sleeve of Sol Invictus are taken from a collection of anonymous Halloween photographs from c.1875-1955 curated by English musician and artist Ossian Brown in the book Haunted Air.

The eerie vintage photos used compliment the dark tones of the music. Martin Kvamme’s distinctive graphic design on the album cover sits perfectly amongst FNM’s catalogue.

P IS FOR Periscope

For the first time Faith No More utilised the power of social media, opening up to fans a glimpse of life on the road. FNM launched their official Twitter account in mid 2014 with the exciting news - ‘Hey! Stay tuned for more Tweets from Twats!!! The reunion thing was fun, but now it's time to get a little creative.’

Facebook and Instagram followed as did Periscope on which Roddy Bottum presented his post gig show called Tour Talk! During these 30 minute live chats Roddy spoke with his band mates and various people close the band. A highlight was when Roddy and Bill recounted the story of them taking revenge on a Safeway by calling in a bogus bomb threat, at the age of 12!

Q IS FOR Quality Time

Faith No More releasing their first album in eighteen was a huge deal for fans, music press and for the band themselves. FNM had no idea whether they would release a new album so rehearsals were conducted in secret, the band didn't even tell their wives they were working on new material.

“We kept it in-house and behind closed doors. And we were fortunate to be able to keep it as insular as we did because we had no expectations or deadlines. Really, it’s a chicken shit way to do it. But at the same time it allowed us freedom.” - Roddy | Billboard May 2015

Faith No More recognised that fans would be concerned about the music living up to the legacy they had created.

"A lot of people are afraid of us making a new record, and I get that. There's a template to this, I think: You were a good band, you break up, you get back together and you put out a shitty album. But we tried really, really hard to resist that template. We kept our minds sharp and we still have a lot to offer. But people like the stuff we did in the past. We're older now and they're afraid of what we might put out as an older band. They're worried that the music we might make today might not hold up. But even if this new record fails, I'm still a lot happier doing something creative and productive than I am just going to work and playing the old songs." - Bill Gould | Kerrang! April 2015

R IS FOR Reclamation Records

In keeping with their DIY attitude Sol Invictus was released via Patton’s label Ipecac Records with the aid of Bill’s label Koolarrow. FNM created their own imprint called Reclamation Records.

S IS FOR Sonarworks

Sonarworks revolutionised audio mixing with new software to make headphone listening much clearer. FNM worked with the software on various songs from Sol Invictus.

'In a nutshell, the idea behind their software was to compensate for imperfections in mixing rooms in order to provide a more accurate listening environment.

As a band we try to take chances and explore new concepts all the time, and realized in this FNM tradition, that it might be cool to include some of our fans in on the experiment—as far as I know, no one has done anything like this before.' - Bill Gould 2016

T IS FOR Trollfoot

Patton’s unlikely friendship with Hollywood actor Danny DeVito began when DeVito’s son took his pop to a Fantômas show in 2005. Danny soon became a huge Patton fan and even starred in a Peeping Tom video.

DeVito was first spotted at Coachella in 2010 watching Faith No More. In 2012 he made an onstage appearance at Hammersmith in London. We most recently saw DeVito's famous social media alter ego Trollfoot appear side stage at The Wiltern in 2015.

U IS FOR Unconquered Sun

Sol Invictus takes its title from a Latin phrase meaning "unconquered sun," which was also the name of a Roman religious cult.

"We just won't go away! And when you think about where we are, and what we've accomplished over the course of so many years, there's a timeless, regal, etched-in-stone quality of that title that really works for us." - Roddy Bottum 2015

V IS FOR Vulcan Studios

Although Patton has never discussed the name of his home recording studio Vulcan can be traced as far back as 1999 - 'electronics, voice, additional overdubs on She by Maldoror at Vulcan Studios'. Mike has recorded or engineered vocals for many of his projects in the San Franciscan hold-up including albums such as Tētēma, his collaboration with Jean Claude Vannier and more. Patton recorded is vocals for Sol Invictus at Vulcan.

“I hate to be unromantic here, but the lyrics to me are just another instrument. I see them as such, and there's a reason we don't really print them on our records. I don't think we ever have. Maybe we did once or twice and that was just under duress. I feel that the words are really up to you. I'm giving them to the public, and I think that, you know, whoever's listening should be able to interpret them the way they want. From word to word and sentence to sentence, if there's a grand meaning, you come up with it, because I certainly can't. I don't have one. I'll tell you. I don't have a grand plan. I write lyrics based on music, on a musical flow, and what sounds good at the time. If I can fit a them into that, then hey, I'm lucky. If not? I don't care. They're just words. If they're political, if they're antisocial or god knows what — if they were, then that's not my problem. I just write them, and it's up to the world to decide what they are. That's my position.” - Patton | NPR May 2015

W IS FOR Wiltern LA

Faith No More toured Sol Invictus for eight months, they played sixty nine gigs in twenty five different countries. During this run of shows many of the band's sets were professionally captured on film including Download in the UK, Pinkpop in Holland, France's Hellfest and many more. Pro footage from The Wiltern in LA was shared on the Carson Daly show.

X IS FOR X-Rated

Motherfucker was released on November 28th 2014 on 7" vinyl limited to 5000 copies.

In typical FNM fashion their first single in 17 years was unplayable on the airwaves because of its x-rated lyrical content. Between them Roddy Bottum and Mike Patton chant the phrase 'mother fucker' approximately twenty five times.

"It felt like a really nice statement to put out into the public, to let people know we’re not playing any games. We don’t really care if it’s on the radio. It’s sort of offensive and playful and bold and maybe a little bit antagonistic. Just the word itself was a fun thing to put out there. But yeah, it’s totally different than the rest of the record. It’s me singing on it, which is a little bit different, and it’s really simple and stripped down. Something called “Motherfucker” just felt like a nice place for us to kick off a new chapter for Faith No More." - Roddy Bottum | Noisey | March 2015

Y IS FOR Yahoo!

What needs to be said other than - Faith No More live at The Fillmore full set via Yahoo!

Z IS FOR Zombie Yeti

Alan Forbes, Junko Mizuno, Tara McPherson and Zombie Yeti are just some of the artists responsible for the amazing graphic poster designs from tour Sol Invictus. Many of them were available signed by the five members at concerts and are still for sale in the Secret Serpents store.