ËMËHNTËHTT-RÉ

Oh well - then I've had my first immersion on one of Magma's creations. Without ending up as a dedicated hardcore fan nor a dedicated loather of the band - but rather somewhere in the middle. Which seems to be a curious position to take on this act.

The main part of this album is made up by the 45 or so minutes long epic Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré, divided into four parts. Musically I'd describe this as a highly repetitive venture, where themes are repeated over and over by vocalists as well as instrumentalists, with one element changing art the time for the most part. The bass guitar provides much of the energy and momentum, while the drums provide minor alterations constantly to add a subtle element of variation to the strictly controlled performance. In style basically a form of jazzrock/fusion, with a few deep nods in the direction of Wagner - especially in terms of vocal performance - with some seasoning from avantgarde.

At best this is pretty intriguing. The musicians and vocalists are top notch, and on the third part of the title track they manage to perfect theis craft - the dark, brooding atmosphere, the repeated themes and melodramatic vocals matching up perfectly for an almost hypnotic experience. And the sheer skill makes most of the other parts interesting at best too.

Standalone number Funëhrarïum Kahnt is on the other side of the scale though. Too repetitive and lacking in subtle aspects as well as sophistication, this number was just plain boring despite the highly oppdressive, dark mood - elements I'm usually intrigued to encounter. And while final piece Sêhë is an interesting experience, the brief visit of this atmospheric piece makes it pretty hard to rate it as a standalone venture.

What I'm left with is an album that works despite the repetitive elements and the, to be frank, totally stupid choice of language. Sheer musical and compositional skill makes the best parts of this album an experience worth having, and can also be safely recommended to followers of fusion with a tendency to like avantgarde stuff as well. Especially if they enjoy speaking Klingon, finds the thoughts of living after Tolkien's Elvish time reckoning interesting rather than silly and in general enjoy fantasy escapes and escapades most people elsewhere have a tendency to ridicule.