FÉLICITÉ THÖSZ

After thirty something years of listening Prog heard my first MAGMA album and it was K.A. The effect was devastating for my pocket, because I became an immediate fan of the band and bought all their albums in a matter of two weeks, but even though I liked all of them, no one reached the level of Kohntarkosz Anteria, and this impression was reinforced when I bought Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré, which I found fascinating but less impressive than their previous release. By that moment I started to believe that Christian Vander and company had reached their peak in 2004 and that even when they would still release fantastic albums, would never reach the peak again. But Félicité Thosz demonstrates that you must always expect the surprise factor with MAGMA, being that this short album is simply mind blowing and comparable to their best release, mainly because of the amazing vocal work that as usual reminds me of Karl Orff with a hint of Wagner and the brilliant insanity of Chrtistian Vander.

The album only 32:24 minutes long is divided in two tracks, and is opened by the hallucinating 28:06 minutes long Félicité Thösz, an epic that has absolutely everything we can expect from MAGMA. The ten parts in which the suite is divided are full of pomp and brilliance with the intense vocals by Stella Vander and Isabelle Feuillebois (two singers that manage to be better with the years) contrasted by the soft melodic voice of Herve Aknin all of who create a magnificent sort of opera that should be recognized as the real Wagnerian Rock.

Instrumentally the band is impeccable, with the unique style of Bruno Ruder in the piano, who really shines in Waahrz a fantastic piano movement that momentarily breaks the supremacy of the human voice over the instruments.

In my opinion the most impressive section is the portentous "Tsai" where the whole band explodes in a blend of sounds and voices that kept me at the edge of the seat and prepares the listener for the breathtaking performance of Christian Vander in Öhst who apart from his outstanding drumming, offers one of the most bizarre and ingenious vocal works I ever heard.

The music is so out of this world that I'm beginning to think that "Kobaïa" is more than an invention, and that Christian has managed to make us believe its just mythology.

The album is closed by Les Hommes Sont Venus, an unusual song for MAGMA, being that the habitual pomp of the band is replaced by a sweet intricate vocal work by the female singers, some sort of minimalistic work that could be expected of Phillip Glass and relaxes the listener after the previous epic.

Strangely I have no problems with the rating, because Félicité Thösz should be placed in the dictionary as the definition for "Essential masterpiece of Progressive Rock" along with K.A.

¿What, I forgot the rating?......... Well, 5 shining stars without hesitation.

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