FLUXEUROPA: L'ORCHESTRE NOIR

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L'ORCHESTRE NOIR

Eleven
1998
Tursa 020 CD

Eleven is the imaginative and exciting second album from L'Orchestre Noir, the neoclassical project of Sol Invictus' Tony Wakeford (here more formally styled as 'Anthony Charles Wakeford').

It's a requiem for those who fell in the First World War and an expression of hope for peace in Europe in the future. Sensitive to the pity of war while admiring martial qualities, Tony's worldview escapes the fatuous simplicity of any trite pacifism.

On Tony's most ambitious (and duly successful) album to date, the Black Orchestra has grown into an orchestra and choir, and in comparison with the first album there are altogether more vocals if one discounts the Sol material which got tacked on to the end of Cantos.

The album spins on the axis of the title track which opens and closes it in 'Dawn' and 'Dusk' versions. At the beginning it starts with a strident drumbeat. This is almost immediately joined by a synth-drone, and then by cello, trumpet, and Tony's vocals - electronically distorted - which add a certain disembodied, non-human quality seemingly emphasising the mechanical dimension of the 'Storm Of Steel' and bringing to mind the insect-like automatons to be found in Wyndham Lewis' wartime paintings. The repetition of the number 'eleven' evokes a strong sense of ritual reminiscent of certain magical folk songs or Tolkien's verse about the forging of the rings.

At the end of the CD, 'Eleven' is sung by Skald's Sowila and builds to a truly climatic conclusion and sense of closure. Sandwiched between is a rich feast of Nymanesque neoclassical phrases, ethereal female voices, sacred chants, and a French ballad, 'La Chanson Du Roi Renaud', also beautifully sung by Sowila.

The first 2000 copies come with an 11-track bonus CD and in special packaging. This contains alternative and generally sparser arrangements, but also enjoys the addition of Fabrice Roux on guitar, Nicolas Beroul on bass, and some extended harp playing by Skald's Jaufré Darroux. The CDs were jointly arranged by Tony and Eric Roger, who also contributes trumpet, cornet, recorder and keyboards. The tasteful classical packaging is the work of Renée Rosen (Le Chat Noir, www.lechatnoir.com).

Rik - 20 January 1999