ELOY

The Vision, The Sword & The Pyre (Part II) Artist stAtion

Concluding instalment of German veterans’ Joan of Arc concept.

There’s a lot to be said for a concept album telling a good story, and hats off to German progressive stalwart Frank Bornemann for taking no half measures when tackling the tale of Joan of Arc. So much so that it’s taken two longplaying instalments for Bornemann to do it. This and 2017’s Part 1 represent, he says, “an authentic and complete illustration of the events”. When you’re telling a story in song, though, the former won’t work without the latter. And here, Bornemann’s determination to maintain the narrative seems stronger than the drive to create an engaging musical accompaniment.

The opening salvo of An Instant Of Relief and Between Hope Doubts Fear And Uncertainty offers punchy, dramatic rock hooks, while Paris and Armistice Or War have a promising locomotion. But Bornemann’s voice sounds weak and melodically limited, and although strings sometimes add atmospheric strokes, too many of the tunes seem to chug along, mere afterthoughts whose chief purpose is to facilitate the next step in the story. It’s a rock opera, sure, but one where the fat lady never gets to sing.