Short Reviews [ Magma - 2021 - "Eskahl 2020"]

One would be hard-pressed to find another band pursuing a musical path as lonely as Magma, but for more than 50 years that is exactly what they have been doing. Formed by Christian Vander in 1969, there have been comings and goings over the years, but he is still very much at the helm. From the beginning Vander created a language he called Kobaian and most of their material is sung in that, while the music they have developed has its own styling, Zeuhl, which according to Vander means celestial. A few other bands have followed in their footprints and have also played Zeuhl, while Vander says this is what “you'd expect an alien rock opera to sound like: massed, chanted choral motifs, martial, repetitive percussion, sudden bursts of explosive improv and just as unexpected lapses into eerie, minimalist trance-rock." There is no doubt that the band are an acquired taste, as it is quite strange, and with a large series of both studio and live albums over the last 50+ years (they did disband for 12 years at one point), it can be hard to know where to start. Personally, I must say that this is a musical area I have not explored, and this is the first Magma album I have actually played, but having done so a few times now, I can certainly see why they are a band who are either loved or hated. There is no middle ground here, as either you will understand the complexity and experimentation which is bringing together so many different styles, or you will hate it as there is nothing here in terms of normal time signatures or song structures. This double CD set does include one song which is only five minutes long, but they average above 10, while the closing number of disc one is “Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (Fragment)” which is above 20. That is of course from the 1973 album of the same name, the one which has gained the most critical acclaim throughout their career (even though their original recording was rejected by their label at the time). This is not something to be played in the background, as this demands close attention. As an introduction to their work this is a great place to start, so don’t be frightened of their back catalogue but instead dive straight into the live set taken from concerts they managed to undertake in 2020 before touring was stopped.