MAGMA

How do you pronounce it? I MEANT IT RAY? Don't try to understand it, experience it and it will understand you.

New Magma! What else needs to be said? Incredible album that absolutely floored me and took me by surprise, as I am a newcomer to the group, only having heard online tracks and owning the one live album. I was totally spellbound by the ingenious music which at times sounds like the soundtrack to your worst nightmare, and at other times like a beautiful princess waking from an enchanted sleep. Nothing comes close to this. Magma have outdone themselves, if that were possible. In any sense of the word, masterpiece is the only way to rate this awesome epic album. So much to recommend it but the main thing that can be said is that the album mesmirises you from the moment those haunting strains begin, to the funeral procession at the end. I won't pretend that I understand any of the concept, but it is thought provoking and quite ethereal to immerse yourself in the Magmaverse, that is otherworldy and sinister, perhaps bordering on the macabre. The battle between good and evil is prevalent and heavy handed but it works as a monstrous thematic device to encase this compelling high strangeness.

Christian's vocals are spellbinding but his drumming is the main drawcard and they are off the scale, metronome shaking metrical patterns that I have never heard. The deathly dark choral voices are chilling and yet beautiful, and it is impossible to forget some of those relentless chants that build and build until they explode into nothingness, there are silent moments that are maddening and one must have infinite patience to withstand the high impact time signatures, and let us not forget those off kilter lyrics. I love the way Magma simply defy logic and break every rule in the book, whilst still maintaining some semblance of order. That is Zeuhl of course, that has become integral to the band and in fact encompasses what they stand for, after all they invented the genre. As soon as the album ends I had to listen again and then I completely found myself reliving the music but hearing it differently. It feels Wagnerian or even Brahms but so tender and guaranteed to haunt the listener.

On each listen something new is gained. Incredible! Listen to that vocal intonation on track 2! It is mind blowing. The dark bass passages absolutely pummel the senses. Am I exaggerating? No, there it is again, that throbbing pulse that just drones like nothing else. Oh, those heavenly female vocals. What is she saying? It has entered the conscious and now it doesn't matter anymore, it is enchanting and hypnotic, causing tears to fill my eyes. How could music like this exist? I leave this review to immerse myself back in the music.

Can I review this intimidating creature? I have no idea what it really means. And not because the language is not English. I listen to foreign language vocals every single day and while I don't know what the words mean, I can often understand the emotions the vocalist is conveying. Not here. I find the secrets mostly impenetrable. Do I like the music? Does it move me? I honestly couldn't tell you. I often feel differently about the album on different days, something which doesn't happen often for me. I suspect that outside of the Magma fan base, one's tolerance for an experience like this has more to do with situation/surroundings and state of mind/mood. Listening to it while writing is somehow stimulative. Listening to it in a darkened bedroom can be creepy but effective. Listening in my car during rush hour makes me want to kill other drivers.

Probably more accurate than saying "I like it" would be to say I appreciate it, and very much so. It is amazing music. This continuous 39-minute endurance test pummels the listener with repetitive waves of building tension, the "background" aura of the music always sounding similar, while the foreground of the beast is decorated with wild vocals and horns. It is the vocals that are so mind blowing here. This goes beyond just elaborate construction, it is almost pathological how much time and effort must have gone towards getting the female operatic chorus just perfect. The chants, the wails, the off-setting male guttural sounds, all blended over intense music into this cacophony which sounds like a soundtrack for life beginning again in the muddy pools of a post-apocalyptic planet. Or perhaps the soundtrack for a killer walking to the gallows. Or maybe a kid furiously pumping the pedals of his bike as he heads to the field to beat up another kid he's been jousting with. Occasionally there are brief respites where the incessant vocals fall away or simmer in volume, giving you but a moment to catch your breath, before they return in earnest and perhaps with driving electric guitar behind the vocal line to emphasize more power. It can be exhausting or exhilarating, again, I believe having as much to do with how you feel than anything else. I love how comments from other reviewers have ranged from "sexy" to "addictive" to "sick and somber" to "perfect" to "not music" to "an excerpt from a 1930s fascist rally" and finally to my favorite, "a rant following a nervous breakdown---I even smell burnt almonds." Put those comments together in your head and you'll have some idea what you're in for.

I've wracked my brain trying to figure out how to adequately review such an album as this and ultimately failed to capture it. But perhaps the less said the better. Sometimes a person simply needs to hear the music to experience it. It's an amazing accomplishment and despite being one I don't always enjoy, deserves the high rating for its audacity and true progressive spirit.

There's plenty of vocals on this one. Christian Vander's drums and voice sound just like he did over twenty years ago which is surprising as the guy must be a fair old age. This time new recording technology makes the whole album sound crystal clear. It's still quite intense and dark sounding - as you'd expect from a Magma album - although there's not that much on it that you'll be whistling to yourself afterwards. It's not that kind of album. It just sounds right and doesn't have the cheesiness that MDK had - that one always reminds me of the musical 'Jesus Christ Superstar'!

2009 was really quite a crumby year in terms of new music which makes this all the better, coming from one of the 'Old Guard'. It's a step up again from the K.A. album in 2004 and they still sound like no-one else.

Oh, and check out the Stockhausen type ending with spooky vocals which fits perfectly in a creepy kind of way. Long live Magma!

Vander's visionary and genius is very slighty brought to the frontline here. MDK had 7 tracks, but let's just ignore them, because this is an endlessly moving piece of music (and you don't want to pronounce all the track's name, do you?). The repetitive piano chords, virtuoso drumming, complex arrangement and the highly operatic vocals sung entirely in Kobaian (which divides the opinion of proggers here: some thought it was annoying, while others praised it brilliantly) gives soul and power to their music, called Zeuhl by the fans.

But, strangely while it was a turmoil of piano, drum and high choir voices, this is, in another strange way, catchy. This is where Vander cast his magic spells. His brilliancy secured Magma's place and MDK legendary in their own ways.

Overall, no debates 5 stars from me.Period.

What a group, and what a concert...

I am actually lost for words. Not since Soft Machine's Third have I been so lost for words as I am now. I am also new to both Magma and Zeuhl, with only a Magma single and Dun as my only Zeuhl experiences. I am therefore a newbie in this. Please be patient......

Zeuhl......... what the holy camel does this mean ? I will soon find out. Back to this album.

This album has it's basis in fusion......... I believe. It has one leg in fusion. The opening title track is pretty much a fusion track with some strange off kilter sounds and vocals added. Then the music turns into a landscape with flutes, off-this-planet vocals, various woodwind instruments and marching drums. The music is also surprisingly pastoral. The last song on disc 1, Auraë, is actually a very beautiful pastoral song. It almost takes the shape of a hymn from a Catholic mass. Some other parts of this album has some straight forward jazz and prog folk elements.

In as few words as possible; this album is a mix of jazz, fusion, prog folk, staccato classical music, avant-garde jazz and religious hymns. This is a heck of a mouthful for a novice to swallow.

I am totally new to this experience and my eyebrows has become an integral part of my receding hairline during my almost twenty listening sessions to this album over three weeks. So I am perhaps too intrigued and shocked to really be able to make up my mind about the quality of this album. But I think the music here is really good. Not outstanding, but good. This album has absolutely made me more interested in both Magma and Zeuhl in general. I guess three and a half star has to suffice for now. I may come back and add another half a star in the years to come.

3.5 stars

This EP starts out like something Matching Mole could had done. The jazz elements then comes kicking in and a type of male and female vocals which I have never heard anything like before. I guess that's what they call Zeuhl. The music is not millions of light-years away from Canterbury so I am not totally lost in this landscape. I feel there is features in this landscape I know pretty well from other genres.

This EP is only nine minutes long and I see from the CDs I got that Magma operates best around twenty minutes. These two songs is therefore not representative for Magma, I believe. But these nine minutes are good enough to make me want to investigate the rest of their discography.

3 stars