Festival of Invocations Offers a Hypnotic Escape for a World on Edge

It’s difficult to find a moment to sit, reflect, and enjoy music while resisting the constant urge to check phones or scroll through Instagram. Yet, the Society of the Silver Cross is determined to counteract that energy with a wild concept: stillness.

The band’s latest album, Festival of Invocations, goes deeper than simply a slate of songs. In short, it’s a gothic pilgrimage — a spellbound, sonic sanctuary woven from grief, survival, mysticism, and transcendence. Since the album is now streaming on Spotify, metal fans can enjoy the band’s ‘yogic metal’ sounds as they slow down, disappear into the shadows, and return from the changed and charged experience.

Meet the Band in the Temple of the Trees

So, who exactly is the Society of the Silver Cross? No, it’s not a secret society (though nothing stops fans from making one). Instead, the band is a Seattle-based husband-and-wife team: Joe Reineke and Karyn Gold-Reineke.

As for the Festival of Invocations, the band recorded the album inside a cathedral- like studio they crafted during the pandemic. They called it the Temple of the Trees, as if that wasn’t cool enough. Naturally, a studio built with such gothic reverence helped shape every note on the album.

A Sound That Exists Out of Time

The band likes to think of every Festival of Invocations song as an altar—each built from harmonium drones, shahi baaja twangs, Hammond B3 swells, and 12-string acoustic guitar. In addition to the instruments, the songs are infused with chant-like vocals that echo through imagined temples.

With a haunting combination of Eastern instrumentation and Western goth and doom, the Society of the Silver Cross has created a spell that sounds both ancient and futuristic. That’s not exactly an easy feat, and the effect is hypnotic. It feels almost like these songs always existed—locked in a box and buried in the strings of time—until now.

Breaking the Barriers of the Mundane

Festival of Invocations isn’t just a sonic experiment. Instead, it’s a personal offering from the band’s founders. Fans may recognize Reineke from ’90s alt-acts The Meices and Alien Crime Syndicate. Festival of Invocations was born during Joe Reinke’s recovery from addiction and surviving cancer.

Yet, instead of falling into sadness and despair, the album pulses with resilience and ritual life. Festival of Invocations doesn’t hide from life’s darkness. Rather than defeat, it honors resilience, which is precisely what the album is about.

Festival of Invocations urges listeners to step away from the digital world and enter something more ancient and profound to combat the instant gratification that plagues modern, tech-obsessed times. The album asks for patience, vulnerability, and presence. It doesn’t need quick validation. Yet to embrace everything the album has to offer, it requires a sacrifice of stillness and surrender.

As a reward, anyone who surrenders to the experience and sound will be emotionally and spiritually transported in a way that almost feels ceremonial. Call it what you want: a mirror, a meditation, or a spell. Like any good ritual, every listener will learn something different from the experience.

The Album’s Beating Heart

Some albums have regular beats, but Festival of Invocations has a heartbeat. Sure, it may feature intense shadows and chants, but beneath all that is a primal, pulsing reminder that even in darkness, motion exists. That’s transformation. That’s life. The album breathes, and it invites listeners to do the same.

So, who will vibe most with the Society of the Silver’s Cross Festival of Invocations?

Well, the band is defining its own genre. However, Chelsea Wolfe or Dead Can Dance fans will feel at home. Ultimately, the Society of the Silver Cross is forging its path with mystery, melody, and the most iconic mashup: shadow ft. light.

Festival of Invocations is available now on Spotify. Follow the Society of the Silver Cross on Instagram and TikTok to stay in the Temple of the Trees even when there’s only silence.