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Having taken a bit of a battering in recent years from its loyal fan base; this release from 2006 is one of my favourites with 9 tracks segued together to give 80 minutes of varied and un-broken music. Edgar and Jerome (Froese) are joined by Thorsten Quaeschning, Linda Spa and Iris Camaa. The 12-minute opener is a tad broody and uneventful but the album really grabbed my attention with the wonderfully ‘grandeur’ feeling of “La joie” which kicks off with a wonderful synth melody before being joined by the much maligned Linda on the sax. Slowly we drift into “La force du courage” which has a gentle percussive sequencer loop which plays almost throughout with drifting synth melodies and sax in 8-minutes of dreamy delight. Fading sequencer and choral voices lead us into “La solitude dans l'espoir” which announces its arrival with a solitary piano note. Various synths join the piano tinkling as the expectation builds before a first real rhythm starts a great piece of electronica which weaves and diversifies. The opening piano melody plays us out and into “La marche” which opens softly before a whirring synth effect is joined by a bass rhythm which resembles the title! Some percussion hits the soundwave and then it’s very much full-on with an array of sounds which then weave gently into “La sagesse du destin”. There is no slow build here as a bass synth is quickly joined by strings, a gently thumping melody and the flute. A gentle meandering journey, with a high keyboard lead during the mid-section, plays until that feeling of ‘grandeur’ returns as piano, synth and sax gently play us out. Haunting effects announce the arrival “Le combat du sang” before a percussive loop breaks free, soon joined by soft-synths and more percussive notes. The ‘dark’ theme returns briefly before the soundscape alters to a theme very reminiscent of many 1980’s live shows. There’s no real melody here just an array of electronic magic! The track slows again before drifting about for a while before leading into the 14-minute opus which is “Le combat des épées”. A high piano solo plays with a slight echo effect, before a synth lead takes us into the next journey of sound – a high 4-note keyboard sound which is joined by the sax. After 4 minutes or so the mix alters and a sequencer takes over briefly, soon joined again by those 4-notes, the sax and some somewhat sparse percussion and then the flute. At the mid-point there’s so much going on you can only sit back and simply take it all in. Each aspect drops away until at the 8-minute mark we have just an expectant percussive sound which opens out into a magical drum solo of sorts! Just as you think things might be ending we then get a weaving synth melody which whirls away before being joined by a new 3-note melody which plays over the top. String effects then join the mix as do further musical leads which play on unabated for a few minutes. It’s almost as each sound is competing against the other to demand your listening attention – it’s fabulous! Finally after 13 minutes they all simply disappear and a watery effect leads into the final segment which then leads into the final piece “La libération”. All very grand but a tad disappointing given what we have just enjoyed. Some TD releases in the millennium years have been poor with only the odd worthy track here and there; but “Jeanne d'Arc” is a recording the band should be rightly proud of and if you’re a fan and haven’t bought it you should.Read full review
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