MEKANÏK DESTRUKTÏW KOMMANDÖH

and Zeuhl was born..

Much has already been written about this Magma albums that somehow became more known among the common prog listener then other albums of the band. Though the sound seems to have changed a lot when comparing MDK to 1001 Centigrades, it's actually a quite consistent release when looking at the compositions. The big difference is however that MDK is the first Zeuhl album to feature the recognizable female vocals. The atmosphere is dark, the intensive rhythm changes and repetitive intelligent piano-parts, the angelic and war sounds.. this could be seen as the the basis of all Zeuhl.

When comparing MDK to later Magma albums I must say the mixture of both a wind-section ánd female choirs is quite rare in their discography. The Wagnerian use of heavy wind arrangements make the strong compositions of Vander sound even more impressive.

The recording is of the album is quite good for it's time of release. It must have been hard to give all instruments/vocals a good place in the mix.

Now the big question is, is this the right place to start your Magma collection? This band is very hard to get into if you used to listen to symphonic prog only. Its surely is a good album and it captures Magma quite good, which wasn't always the case on later studio albums. Perhaps this is the good start for newcomers, but I do advise to watch some live material (dvd's, youtube) in order to understand how special this music is. There are also numerous live version of MDK on the retrospektiw and trianon albums for example. All are quite good.

Conclusion. Recognizable Zeuhl is born with a worthy third album of Magma, which should be in your collection. It's really atmospheric, it's a big technical achievement and the composition is plain brilliant. This must have a real shock back in '73. Five stars, with the last halve star earned by it's historical significance. Perhaps Konterkosz and Wurdah Itah are even better Magma studio albums.

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