MEKANÏK DESTRUKTÏW KOMMANDÖH

I generally don't enjoy Magma so much for a few reasons, and when I do listen to Magma, I prefer their more funk-influenced albums, like Udu Wudu or Attahk. Having that said, Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh is absolutely delightful without sounding like either of the albums listed above. I think that might be because this album alone is what zeuhl is supposed to be.

Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh is one of the most dramatic and occasionally goofy albums ever, with its strong Gesamtkunstwerk-type sound - operatic, extreme, obnoxious, oppressive, powerful, and surprisingly heavy at times. For the time that this was released, I'd say this album was most likely the most progressive in its time, because I've not heard any one other band that sounded like this before Mekanik was released. A main part of this album is the plot line, which is about aliens coming to earth and tanks and everyone hates each other or whatever, I don't care - the music is good though. The musicianship here is strong, precise, and repetitive like you wouldn't believe, but it seems to work quite nicely. The sound of the album as a whole seems to suggest a type of revolution or some German-speaking dysphasia suffers. I think one of the main elements of this album that makes it stand out from the other super-dramatic Magma albums is a sense of earned energeticism, rather than being slow and boring and weird and nonsense all at the same time, which is an overwhelming concatenation of descriptors.

Seriously though, this is the definitive zeuhl album. I recommend this highly to anyone looking for super-eccentric progressive rock of the weirdest variety.