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

Ẁurdah Ïtah is the fourth album released by Magma. This album is the second in the Theusz Hamtaahk trilogy, placed between Theusz Hamtaahk (which is only available on live recordings) and MDK. After their previous masterpiece (MDK), this one (which as others mention, was officially released as a Christian Vander solo album) continues on in basically the same style, but with a very stripped down lineup. Gone are the horns, gone is the guitar, gone are the female vocalists (except Stella). Vander himself plays drums, adds vocals, plays the piano/keyboard parts, and some auxiliary percussion. Klaus sings and plays some hand percussions. Stella only sings, Jannick (as always) only plays some thundering bass. What the band lost in lineup, they didn't lose in quality of material, though - this one is nearly on par with MDK. For my tastes, it's not quite at the same level, but it is very close. The chant on this album isn't as all-encompassing as on MDK. Just like that album (and Köhntarkösz, and K.A., and Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré, and Theusz Hamtaahk) this one is technically one big epic. Pointing out specific "favorite tracks" isn't the way to go with many of Magma's albums, as they're meant to be heard in their entirety.

Rating for this one is difficult for me - I love it quite a lot, as I love many Magma albums, but as I said it's not quite at the same level as my favorite Magma studio albums. Thus, I give it four stars - still an excellent (beyond excellent, really) addition to any prog collection. Would be four and a half if we had half stars here.