hroughout the ages, the story of King Arthur has often been set to music. Merlin, of course, is a vital part of that myth, but in most of these productions he plays only a supporting role. French musician Jean-Luc Hervé Berthelot, performing under the pseudonym TALES, recently decided to take an altogether different approach to the character. He opted to use the famed wizard as the inspiration for a melodic odyssey to a mysterious region whose location is known only by "those lucky few who remember marvels from their childhood."
Berthelot's eight-song CD Echoes From the Last Fairyland begins with the tempered, tremulous sounds of "The Breathe of Merlin, Part 1." Indistinct murmurs mix with noises mimicking whistling birds and calm winds in "Elves of the Golden Clouds," before somewhat more ominous and powerful tones--along with strange, electronically processed whispers--emerge on "The Wizard of All Times." Those voices continue to haunt cuts like "The Perfect Wand" and "The Right Formula (In Search of)," adding a rather enigmatic air to these eerie yet enchanting works.
Gentle rattles and bright bells enliven "Spheres of Knowledges," while waves of echoing effects cascade through "The Breathe of Merlin, Part 2." A quiet piano piece titled "Heteroclite Keyboards (Excerpt)" closes the collection. The liner notes introduce the album's overall scenario through a brief conversation between Merlin and a fellow sorcerer named Kandhelian.
The accompanying artwork--also rendered by Berthelot--showcases a dazzling computer-generated landscape overlaid with inscrutable runic symbols.
The muse behind Merlin's melodies
Almost every musical interpretation of the Arthurian legend incorporates age-old Celtic influences. In most cases, this classic approach is appropriate. However, by focusing on the mystical Merlin, Echoes From the Last Fairyland tells an altogether different story. Berthelot therefore integrates modern electronic instruments with slightly Gothic and Teutonic elements, creating a potent, timeless environment that's simultaneously ancient and futuristic.
"Elves of the Golden Clouds" is the perfect accompaniment for that portion of the tale which harmonically illustrates boundless forests where "white unicorns and iridescent dragons frolic peacefully." Ghostly artificial wails mix with tender purring tones and weird, synthesized warbles, producing a serene symphony infused with vague, unearthly voices.
This indistinct chatter takes on a harsher, Germanic tone on "The Right Formula (In Search of)," a haunting work that opens with a tense, agitated ambiance that's both uncanny and--due in part to an unrelenting ticktock beat--slightly unsettling.
Berthelot's dulcet journey even includes a few overt science fiction sections, as parts of the narrative take place "on huge ships flying over the Three Moons' Mainland." Songs like "Spheres of Knowledges," which spotlight tinkling, ethereal effects that recall the spectral sounds of pioneering electronic artist Kitaro, nicely evoke this otherworldly air. A couple of cuts, such as "The Wizard of All Times," meander a mite too much, but, as a whole, Echoes From the Last Fairyland is a mesmerizing, magical collection from a composer who clearly knows how to spin enthralling, inventive and tuneful TALES.
