CHRISTIAN VANDER: TRISTAN ET ISEULT [AKA: ẀURDAH ÏTAH] (OST)

As many reviewers have stated before me, this is, for all intents and purposes, a MAGMA album, not really a Crhistian Vander solo album. But then, aren't all MAGMA albums Christian VANDER albums? Released after the ominous, deliberately-paced, more spacious Köhntarkösz and just one year after the ground-breaking, band-, and sub genre-defining Mëkanïk Dëstruktïw Kömmandöh, Wurdah Ïtah is a powerful, more fast-paced submission into the saga of the relationship between planets Earth and Kobaia. What makes Wurdah Ïtah such a great album is the wonderful clarity and definition each voice and instrument receives in the recording and engineering. The voices and every piece of percussion are so clean and clear and distinctive. And yet the mix transposes the music masterfully into one well-woven web of power and effect. I love this! What sets this piece apart from the 'big' and 'bombastic' feel and effect of MDK-like Magma albums is that there is less ecstatic frenzy, more control and respect or even reverence in the feel of the music, as well as the feel of a much smaller, more intimate ensemble. MDK feels like it's being performed in a large cathedral (as if it needs to have that kind of space) while Wurdah Ïtah feels like it's in a small studio. For some reason I like this. (Not that I like it 'better' but rather, I like its difference.) Wurdah Ïtah is much more piano-based than other Magma recordings I've heard. Like the scaled-down accompaniment one might find during a rehearsal for a Broadway musical. This undoubtedly has a great deal to do with why I find the performances of the vocalists, bass and drummer to be so much more vibrant and in-your-face. It is a nice effect--different from so many other Magma recordings. I have lots of favorite little moments, but the one that stands above all others is the opening to the final song, "De Zeuhl Üdazïr" (3:41) (10/10) in which Vander transports the listener back to MDK and in which every instrument, every sound is augmented and defined to be sure to register this fact deep within the subconscious. I also love the numerous excesses, embellishments and flourishes contributed by the vocalists throughout. They always seem so random, spontaneous, and expressive. Wonderful! To my ear and heart, this is yet another amazingly masterful contribution to the lexicon of progressive rock music. I feel no hesitation in dishing out another five star rating for yet another Magma recording. They're worth it!