Da Zeuhl Wortz Mekanik!
L. M. Gulick | Warrensburg, MO USA | 03/21/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The more I researched Magma, the more I kept reading that they were even better live than they are on their studio recordings. After hearing "Kohntarkosz/Hhai," I'm just about convinced that that's true.
It certainly is where the (first) title track is concerned; the sound on the original of "Kohntarkosz" is somewhat muddy, but there's none of that here (C. V. -did- remaster this album from the original tapes). Moreover, there is a fabulous violin player (Didier Lockwood) who adds energy that seemed to be missing on the studio album.
"Emehnteht-Re" benefits from this energy as well, as does the other title track, "Hhai" (a new favorite for me!). Kerry Livgren of Kansas once cited Magma as one of his more bizarre musical influences, and "Hhai" gives us more than a hint of the musical structures found on later albums by Kansas, particularly the device of doubling violin and guitar.
The excerpt from "Kobaia" has more of a zeuhl flavor than its original, (and definitely clearer vocals!) and "Lihns" is a lovely piece that sounds just like what it is--"lihns" is Kobaian for "rain."
"Da Zeuhl Wortz Mekanik" is performed straight from "MDK," although without so much of Klaus Blasquiz' falsetto; and "Mekanik Zain" is actually both "Nebehr Gudahtt" and "Mekanik Kommandoh" from the same album. Again, Klaus' ad-lib vocals are absent in favor of instrumental solos, and the pace of the music is somewhat faster than on the studio album (something I've noticed about many live albums...not sure if it's band adrenaline or differences in tape speed).
One thing I wasn't quite prepared for was the editing of the performance. Usually, live albums don't use fade-outs on tracks unless they're continued on the next album side; but it was done several times on this album, and "Lihns" simply stopped, with no crowd feedback afterward. It took a little getting used to, but beyond that, there's very little to complain about. It's a great performance, and worth the extra money for this 2-disc set."
