4 VISIONS

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"4 Visions" is another masterpiece from the French scene. But this band doesn't play theatrical prog. Rather, ESKATON were influenced by Zeuhl inventors, MAGMA. For those of you unfamiliar with Magma's sound, their music combined Wagner-esque grandeur with Eastern European rhythms and melodies, Germanic-like chanting (keep in mind that MAGMA sang in a made-up language), and almost ritual-like repetition (slowly building grooves to a frenzy). Unlike MAGMA, ESKATON emphasized quick and furious theme development, and less repetition. They also sang in French rather than Kobaian. ESKATON consisted of a guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, drummer, and two female singers. The most impressive musicians in this band is the bassist. He is a monster on the instrument, and effortlessly spits out grooves that are fast, funky, and absolutely danceable (some part of your body will move to his grooves). The reissued CD consists of the 4 original tracks, and a bonus track. "4 Visions" is one of the top Zeuhl albums out there.

For those of you who couldn't get into Zeuhl the first time around...

Eskaton's 4 Visions is one of the easiest album to get into when talking about the Zeuhl genre. If you didn't like the repetitiveness of Magma, the darkness of Shub-Niggurath or just think that the Zeuhl sound is too weird for your taste then this is the band for you.

Let's start with their sound. This band is one of the grooviest (if not the grooviest) band I've heard from the genre and its all thanks to the excellent bass player, André Bernardi. His furious, pompous and groovy playing will keep you hooked from start to finish and it's virtually impossible not to move or dance while listening to this album. The vocals are very typical from the genre with two female vocals singing and chanting in French, they don't get as harsh as the vocals in Magma's MDK though. The rest of the band are pretty much in the same caliber without anyone showing off. Their sound reminds me a lot to that of their fellow English men from the 70's era. Even though they have three players on the keys, but they aren't a keyboard driven band. As typical from Zeuhl bands, the leading force is the drum and bass players so expect excellent rhythm sections through the whole album. Their songs are fairly long all between the 8 to 13 minutes, but they don't drag along or try to bore you. Every song is full of energy and life with catchy yet complex melodies and skillful playing. Also, their sound isn't really "out there" or adventurous at all so it's very melodic, bombastic and accessible even for new comers into the prog genre.

I can't recall any bad moments in the album or any drawbacks at all and it's consistent all the way through. I highly recommend this album for every single prog fan out there specially for fans of the bombastic and pompous side of prog and for those who don't enjoy the Zeuhl genre, this album might possibly change your minds about the genre. I'm too picky with my 5 star albums so I'm going to give it 4.5

Eskaton (or le Eskaton Kommandkestra) were roughly contemporary with Magma so this is a rather late release in terms of the band's development. Contained within is music akin to zeuhl but with more immediate thrills and less build-up. To this reviewer, anticipation and suspense are vital parts of good music and so the potential to be majestic is traded for the likelihood of excitement. That's not always a bad thing by any means - at their best, Eskaton perform daring and compulsive zeuhl-rock, driven by truly propulsive bass-playing (you'll note that every review so far has been understandably enthusiastic about this element of the music) yet this reviewer has always felt there was some small element missing, one that would render the music complete and the album a masterpiece.

Perhaps it is simply the Kobaian mythology that is missing; although Eskaton have strong zeuhl ties and a great name, their music does not feel cosmic and the lyrics are in a relatively mundane language. Together with the aforementioned lack of patient hypnotism that Magma thrived on, these small failings tie Eskaton to planet earth and it's impossible to suspend disbelief.

Don't let my misgivings discourage you (I mark them down for having followed much of Magma's musical lead but not their spirit) because this is a fine album containing some almost-momentous musical ideas.

This is my first taste of Zeuhl,and from what i understand this is a great place to start,as ESKATON decided to sing in French instead of using the Kobaian lyrics in order to be more accessible.This record took a couple of spins just to get used to the dual soprano female vocals,but now i really like them.You could describe their vocals as trance like chanting.I can't really tell the two ladies' vocals apart,and they often sing together.The music itself is uptempo and energetic with the vocals and drums dominating.Some great synth and bass work as well. "Eskaton" has a spacey intro as the drums start to build.The uptempo vocals come in,as synths and keys are added.Lots of tempo changes,as guitar comes and goes.The first 4 minutes are fabulous, and then we get some disturbing vocals(haha)."Attente" opens with the wind blowing and some spacey noises.Drums ,vocals and bass come in,to create a good beat.Some good aggressive guitar,and the drums are prominate later in the song."Ecoute" has some good outbursts of guitar,and the bass is incredible.The vocal melodies are terrific later in the song."Pitie" is my favourite song on this album.A spacey intro with synths as keys play.Nice.Reserved vocals come in.The song starts to build in volume with heavy drums and lots of guitar melodies.It all sounds so wonderful.The mellow,spacey soundscape comes back from the intro 7 minutes in."Le Cri" is a mid paced tune with some great bass and drums.Synths 4 minutes are played quite aggressively.The sound becomes quiet with cymbals and bass, before the soundscape rebuilds with some more great bass,vocals,keys and some intricate drumming. If you want to try some Zeuhl, this really is the perfect place to start.Highly recommended.

French band Eskaton (consisting of no less than eight musicains) is an unique musical formation. Often their gigs ended up with discussions between the band members and the audience because Estakon their message is" to call a meeting of minds". The sound is influenced by the seminal fellow Frenchmen Magma (Zeuhl music) but they refused to follow Magma's elitism like cerating an own language: "No esoteric twaddle but music of the people for the people" as I read in the booklet.

This CD contains five tracks, four (between 8 and 14 minutes) are taken from a cassette entitled Four Visions (1979) and the LP Ardeur (1980). The final song is a bonustrack entitled Le Cri, it is from the unreleased album I Care (1985). The bass is unusually dominant (magnificent and very propulsive) in combination with two female vocalists, very special to say the least or more specific "pleasantly hysterical"! The keyboards sound very melodic with a lot of Fender Rhodes piano and spectacular synthesizer play in Le Cri. This intricate prog will not appeal to many progheads but I am sure the Zeuhl fans will appreciate it. By the way, strange to notice that this French band is on a Swedish label, where was Musea?

4 visions is a fantastic and underrated album that got me into Zeuhl, I strayed away from the genre mainly because I was never a big fan of magma - the forerunners of the genre but on a whim I decided to get DUN's Eros album along with 4 visions and it was one of the best musical choices I have ever made.

4 Visions has some serious groove, mainly because of the bass, it's often the focal point of the music and carries it to some amazing places. The drums are just as good if not better, drummer Gérard Konig lays down some seriously jazzy beats, you could really dance to this stuff thanks to this amazing rhythm section (personally I prefer lying in bed at night listening to it) and it quickly becomes apparent.

The fat driving rythmn makes it easy for the melodic components of the music, they often occupy the realm of subtlety but they are extremely relevant and interesting in their own right, the guitar is amazingly competent and there are some great synth and organ moments to be had.

The vocals are an interesting point I was at first a little turned off but the female operatic style vocals (even though they are sung in French and are quite sexy) but in time I grew to like them and eventually stopped really noticing them as a separate entity from anything else in the music, they certainly do fit in.

With music such as this where everything seems to be connected and flowing into one song but if I had to pick a favourite it would be Attente with it's particularly fat bass driven groove although it really needs to be said that every song on 4 visions is a thoughtfully crafted and well executed work.

Overall this is an excellent album and I can't really fault it, I thoroughly enjoy it every time I listen to it (on that note ESKATON's entire catalog is well worth checking out), highly recommended for fans of zeuhl or darker symphonic prog.

Eskaton is probably regarded as the best Zeuhl band after Magma, and it's haed to deny that they are indeed among the better ones in the style, but if you are to include Art Zoyd, Univers Zero and Present into the ball game, this position is likely to be challenged. The group was named after an old Germanic legend of god's cyclical creation of humankind, and their first album, only ever released in cassette in the 70's, was reputed really rare. Until the mid-90's when the mis-titled Ad Perpetuam Memoriam label (now long defunct) released a Cd version of this album, which has become almost as rare since. Apparently (I have no confirmation of this, but APM had not found the master tapes, so their reissue was taken from a cassette. Graced with a superb artwork and lyrics sheet, Four Visions has yet to receive another legit release (a boot version is out there)

If musically Eskaton is undoubtedly Zeuhl, and their themes are not exactly about the joy of sunbathing (more like bathing in the Sun), the tome of their music is not nearly as oppressive as in Magma's albums. Starting with the eponymous track, the group plunges into a mas world of crazy bass thumps, topped by some of the most bizarre lyrics (just Imagine Gong's Camembert gone French), Eskaton brings a much wider spectrum of mood than Magma's terribly fixed, sombre mythology. Don't get me wrong, Eskaton has its own mythology, but it's more accessible, partly because sung in French (instead of the seldom-used Kobaian) but the music is more moody as well and this group pretends to some real solos from the front instruments, namely Blésing's blazing and fiery guitar. Attente is another 10-minutes epic, which will ravish Zeuhlheads. Both the lengthy Ecoute and the shorter Pitié are again small tour de force where the Fender Rhodes layers help hide and conceal the powers of Eskaton unleashing mayhem with Bernardi's bass sounding like cannonball blasts whizzing by your head. Both Paule and Amara's voices manage to pull their own advantages over a raging background as well as in the quieter moments.

Clearly one of the evident flaws of Four Vision is the lack of real good production, but there is absolutely nothing shameful on the album proper. This is however not the case with the bonus track (from a first session) where it sounds like a really dirty vinyl playing with the stylus needle filled with dust and hair, even stopping at once. And the real sad part is that Le Cri is yet another beautiful moment and the real audible problems occur in a solemn and quieter moment. Whether APM could've done it better in restoring the track is up to the listener, but overall, the album proper is indeed well transcript-ed enough to digital for most Zeuhleads to achieve a least a few Aural orgasms.

This is one of the albums recommended to all Zeuhl newbies. So I went ahead and bought this album.

Easy listening, it ain't. That Dun album is far more accessible than this album. The opening track Eskaton is almost opera with some insane jazz and marching band rhythms thrown in. Zeuhl in other words and pretty similar to what Magma is doing. Attente is a typical piece of Zeuhl. Ecoute has a good jazz theme as it's major asset. Pitie is much more a pastoral piece of music than a Magma clone. Le Cri is also a good jazz/zeuhl song.

My gripes......... Nothing really. Maybe the Zeuhl genre is a bridge too far for me. Jazz and Post-Metal is OK for me. Zeuhl.......maybe not. I still think this album is good though. Ecoute, Eskaton, Le Cri and Pitie is for me the best tracks here on an album I have spent a lot of time on. I do not fully understand Attente and I have some problems grasping the whole Zeuhl genre. That is my problem and not Eskaton's problem because 4 Visions is in essence a very good album. I give this album three stars and reserve my rights to come back and up it to four stars if I finally grasp this Zeuhl thingy.

3.5 stars

4 Visions is one of those albums that hits the floor running. A heavily pulsating distorted bass guitars and commanding pounding jazz-drums wipe out any doubt about this bands message: "We're here to take Kobaia by storm!"

It took Eskaton 8 years to record their debut and 2 more years to get it released, as a result it sounds very indebted to Magma, but upon closer inspection there are some elements setting it apart from Magma and announcing a tighter and more rocking type of Zeuhl/Avant-Rock, reminding me as much of Magma as of more recent bands such as Guapo, Nebelnest and Nil who gave the heritage of Magma a new breath of life in the 00's.

The basis of the sound borrows heavily from Magma: prominently pounding drums, a frenzied bass attack, 2 piano's, organ, synths, female vocals and tasty guitar accents. There are no trumpets, no male vocals, no violin. Nevertheless it's an impressive orchestra and the best thing is how Eskaton managed to make it sound tight and direct. Eskaton put much more focus on the songwriting and chose to only develop their best ideas instead of throwing in every idea at hand. Of course, words like 'tight', 'direct' are relative things in a Zeuhl context.

The dual soprano vocals are decisively Zeuhl but are more accessible then Magma. I wouldn't say 'catchy', as classic pop formulas don't dare to come anywhere near to this album, but due to the use of French and the slightly more melodic approach, they are certainly more digestible. Again, take 'accessible' and 'digestible' for what they are with regards to Zeuhl

A last note to point out is the spacey atmosphere of this album. The organs, synths and guitar give the music a more psychedelic feel then Magma and turn this album into prog heaven for me. Just imagine, a hybrid of Zeuhl, dark rock and space-rock. On top, each of the tracks has a very distinct character, making for a varied listening experience. There's even some synth work in Le Cri that sounds like Marillion's Mark Kelly joined for a jam. Great work from keyboard player Gilles Rozenberg who shines on all moments that he touches on this album.

Highly recommended, both as an introduction to Zeuhl or as an extension beyond your Magma records.