SOL INVICTO, Featuring Members Of DEFTONES And CYPRESS HILL, Releases Visualizer For 21-Minute Track 'Initium'

Summary

• SOL INVICTO releases Initium, a 21-minute experimental track featuring Stephen Carpenter, Eric Bobo, and Zach Hill.
• Originally recorded in 2011, the track was previously shared only with a private fan community.
• Producer Richie Londres dedicates the release to Jack, a young fan with autism who connected deeply with the music.

After more than a decade locked away in a private fan archive, SOL INVICTO has finally released Initium, a 21-minute experimental track recorded in 2011 (watch it below).

The project brings together Stephen Carpenter (Deftones), Eric Bobo (Cypress Hill), and producer Richie Londres, whose intention with SOL INVICTO was to reject standard formats and release cycles entirely.

Initium is now available to the public for the first time in full, accompanied by a minimalist visualizer.

The track was originally reserved for members of the band’s private fan community.

Origins

Londres, who composed, produced, and mixed the track, founded SOL INVICTO as a space to explore music that didn’t conform to traditional expectations. “I wasn’t making music for myself but for a higher calling,” he said. From its inception, the project avoided commercial polish, Initium was never meant to be a single or part of an album rollout.

The track combines industrial textures with tribal rhythms, drawing influence from electronic structure but filtered through heavy, distorted tones.

Zach Hill

Adding another layer of unpredictability, Initium features a rare extended performance by Zach Hill (Hella, Death Grips, Team Sleep). Hill recorded his part in a single session, and according to Londres, his input radically changed the direction of the piece.

“There’s no repetition, just movement,” Londres noted. Hill’s drumming disrupts and reassembles the rhythm continuously, giving the track a fractured momentum that never settles into anything expected or predictable.

Production team

In addition to Carpenter’s guitar and Bobo’s percussion, the track features co-production and editing by AJ Cookson, and mastering by legendary drum-and-bass producer Technical Itch.

The entire process reflects the anti-mainstream, purposefully raw ethos of the project, no compression toward accessibility, no compromises made for radio or playlisting.

Dedication

The public release of Initium is also a personal tribute. Londres dedicated the track to a young fan named Jack, a child with high-sensory autism and physical disabilities. Jack’s mother had contacted Londres years ago to explain how Initium, played accidentally during a dental appointment, had triggered an unexpected and deeply positive response.

“He didn’t shut down. He didn’t cry. He tapped along and he smiled,” she wrote. It was the first time Jack had responded that way to any sound. Not even Deftones had the same effect, according to his mother.

Jack, who has since passed away, was buried with SOL INVICTO’s music. Londres described the moment as transformative: “Jack’s mother’s testimony meant more to me than any Grammy or award ever could.”

Mission

For Londres, Jack’s story redefined the purpose behind SOL INVICTO. What began as a non-commercial art project took on personal significance. He explained: “In a cold and heartless industry that exploits and controls creativity, her message gave me a reason to carry on.”

The project is now explicitly aimed at creating work that can resonate on a deeper, even therapeutic level, for people who may not connect to music through traditional means.

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