MEKANÏK DESTRUKTÏW KOMMANDÖH

The complexity of the music, the length, the sometimes unnatural, inaccessible and improbable changes in time signature, key signature and lyrical expression can tire out one's brain after a while. It took a bit of mindless music to wash it all away, lost of electronic music and, yes, even rap. But everyone needs a change of pace periodically throughout their life, and since life is always a full circle, it was inevitable I'd come back to prog.

I just didn't think it would be to this album.

Granted, anyone who's a fan of Magma knows the story, the brainchild of Christian Vander and his made-up language that looks and sounds like French and German had a baby. But even though this isn't the first in his storytelling project, it is widely considered to be THE album that personifies this genre called "zeuhl" that the band pioneered. What the genre is isn't necessarily written in stone, but from the first nine minutes of the album it's quite clear that at is roots, it is a fusion of rock and jazz, with sporadic elements taken from the world of contemporary classical music, as well as opera (LOTS of opera, in fact all of the singing is very operatic and melodramatic in fashion).

Now I was a percussionist in William Paterson University, which has a New Music program, a program which plays music from composers such as Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Iannis Xenakis, amongst many others, so this kind of music isn't too jarring, as I'm sure it is to many others. This is a kind of music that's best witnessed as a performance art rather than bumping in your car stereo. But the classical elements break up what would otherwise be just a typical fusion band. "Hortz" trugs along for roughly 5 minutes in rhythmic fashion before abrupt and jarring shouts and screams couple with some atonal jabs and stabs from the ensemble. It finishes rather chaotically before "Ima Suri Dondai" bounces jovially, almost dance like, across a quick 7/8 syncopated beat. In popular music terms, this is probably the catchiest track of the lot, if you can even use that terminology.

After 15 minutes, though, it starts to set in a very rhythmic, almost minimalistic pace. The main key signature never changes, save for maybe a few atonal breaks, shouts and freakouts interspersed, but otherwise, it's one long song from start to finish that doesn't really have any true breaks or interludes, save for a brief piano break in the beginning of "Nebehr Gudahtt". The piece only truly changes at the final three minutes, where it all but degenerates in a slow, tribal march-like tempo, fit with loud drums, screeching horns, feedback and lots of screaming.

Now I'm not sure the first live performance of this album had the some kind of riotous impact as, say, "The Rite Of Spring", but I'm damn sure it got a close enough. Even in a made up language that you can't understand, it's quite obvious an impactful story is being told here, and not exactly a very peaceful one (This ain't a peaceful LSD acid trip on a classic Gong album here). There is emotion and hatred being in expressed in the kind of manner that is shunned in the music world. It's the kind of album that would be made by a jazz-rock fusionist if Terry Riley and Anton Webern had a bastard stepchild.

Magma's first album "Kobaia" is actually a tad more accessible, because each track is isolated, and feels more like a classic rock band exploring the outer limits of music trajectories, whereas "MDK" is the result of such transformation. It's not perfect (once you get past the 12 minute or so mark, it gets rather repetitive), but it's easily a landmark album for laying down the roots of this underground genre of progressive music.

I only wonder if they gave out translation sheets at concerts so audience members could try and sing along...

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