Ka: Kohntarkosz Anteria

Artist: Magma
Label: King Japan
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 4909346716759
ASIN: B0006FGYBI

Release Date: 2004-12-30

Ka: Kohntarkosz Anteria

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Tracks:

K.A I
K.A. Ii
K.A. Iii

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Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh
Viva Koenji

Customer Reviews:

Magnum Magma.......2006-05-20

After their 'Attack' record which was the last one with the recognizable style of composition and sound we all love and crave from the creators of the zeuhl genre, i had not heard of any new (with new material) Magma effort. Tha album was done long ago in the late seventies. After that, many projects by the leader have appeared regularly (Offering, Fusion, etc.) but none was as satisfactory as the Magma band of earlier glorious days. So, when i saw this i was not enthusiastic at all. I thought it would be another disapointment (like so many reunion bands). NOT SO!
This is a thrill-to-your-skull Magma record as there ever was. Amazing compositions and excellent musicianship. Gorgeous recording too. Recommended!

Magma through and through.......2006-02-19

This release is certainly among Magma's best work, which puts it strongly in the running for some of the best music ever made. Christian Vander's drumming is as excellent as ever; the melodies are spine-tingling; the invariably diverse instrumentation continually lends itself to a vastly engrossing and original offering; the choir-like Zeuhl vocals are as amazing as on any other Magma release. Overall, the three pieces have that Magma feel that cannot be replicated by any followers or imitators. Magma's music is simply Magma, through and through. They are an island unto themselves, and on that enchanted isle they have created some of the greatest music of the modern ages. _KA_ is certainly not an exception.

Any fan of the band will enjoy this immensely, and any newcomer to the band that is not afraid of 10-20 minute songs should be able to get into this.

Au Magma Eternel.......2005-11-01

"Yay"" ...i know that sounds childish, but..."YAAAY!" i am so so happy with this new Magma album that i can't help but act foolish ansd giddy. i was a little apprehensive with the idea of this amazing French group giving new life to one of their old, unheard compositions. one has to admit, it could've been a sour affair. but Magma does not dissapoint, in fact, they shot over my expectations...way over....into the other stratosphere. Kohntarkosz Anteria is the real deal. a triumphant album that sounds like the band has a rekindled creative fire. perhaps all those live shows they've been putting on for the past years gave them a good push. whatever the case may be, this is a jaw-droppingly astounding album and, possibly (possibly!) Magma's best album...ever(?). the verdict is still out on that one, but let's just say that if i was to recommend a Magma album to someone who was semi-curious about the band, you could do no worse than to pick up Kohntarkosz Anteria!

Magma is not an easy band to describe to people. in fact, i feel like the term "band" is not adequate and is misleading. the same goes for labels and genres like "prog" or "fusion." sure, there are plenty of those styles represented within Magma's core sound; and their influences are easily felt in their music. but Magma, to me, are a force...a gigantic, almost monsterous presence that cannot be ignored. their sound is huge and massive, filled with moments of terror and beauty. stark minimal rhythms give way to colourful audio explosions, drenched with harmonious voices and thundering bass and guitar. and the drums...wow. well, the drumming is just brilliant. this French group has enjoyed legendary status for decades, and has been highly influential (spawing many Zuehl obsessed bands...Ruins, Guapo, The Flying Luttenbachers...just to name a few), but yet their overall appeal is quite limited. probably due in no small part to their choice of language to sing in (a language called Kobian, which Christian Vander, drummer and mastermind behind Magma, has invented in order to explain the concepts behind his group's music and lyrical stance). there pieces are long and full of complexities and brilliant twists and turns...dark, treacherous, disonant avant-prog with intense crescendoes that bubble and boil with an electrifying power and joy that is both familiar and strangely alien to the senses.

ghostly distant voices and warm cymbal washes greet the listener for the first few seconds of Kohntarkosz Anteria, and it sounds (briefly) like a cut from Donald Byrd's brilliant album A New Perspective. but within moments, the Kobaian chanting begins and the song erupts forth in it's cosmic swing. there are still lots of elements of the gospel influence here on KA, as seen in Magma's Udu Wudu & Attahk albums, although now it feels like that gospel influence has been refined to fits more in with the traditional Zuehl and avant-proggy sounds. the choir has been stripped down to only five singers (including Vander), as compared to the seven member group that graced the third disc of the Theusz Hamtaahk Trilogie Live 3cd box set (that Amazon does not seem to carry at the time of this writing...shame), and it sounds alot more open and clean, allowing these beautiful voices to rise and soar among these infinitely expressive and impressively complex structures. and i feel lucky and blessed to have witnessed this amazing album performed live on their Japan tour this past September. and if you thought this album sounds good at home on the stereo; you have no idea how powerful it can be in a live setting! wow! Kohntarkosz Anteria is a more than worthy addition to the otherworldly Magma legacy. Hail!

Embarrassing.......2005-05-25

For many, 1973's 'Mekanink Destructiw Kommandoh' is one of the most amazing records ever made. The only problem is that the sound quality is murky, and every edition of the CD released always attracts the rumour that it has been recorded from an LP (albeit a pristine copy) rather than any tape master. It's an album crying out for a re-mastering -- ideally to a 5.1 SACD format.

In the absence of such, I was intrigued by the blurb about 'Ka', which seemed to herald a return to Magma's 1970s values, while promising 2004 recording quality. The only original members stil in the band, as far as I can tell, are Christian and Stella Vander. Desperately missed are Jannik Top (now working on stage productions like Notre Dame) and vocalist/shrieker Klaus Blasquiz.

The result is an anodyne, no-risks return to pseudo-MDK compositions. Unfortunately it now sounds to me rather like an amateurish school concert in which a few ageing teachers have donned their flairs one last time to play for the parents, with the headmaster's secretary on backing vocals.

It undoubtedly has its musical moments, but just as most of us had grown out of Star Wars by 1985, so we also learnt to put away the childish things of the Kobaia story about 30 years ago.

Fantastic!.......2004-12-27

What an incredible CD! Having bought everything Christian Vander has ever recorded through the years, I did not expect this CD to be a disappointment. But little did I know that this tour de force could very well be Magma's greatest album!

While Christian Vander has always been busy musically, it has been many years since there was a "true" Magma album released of new studio material. "K.A" is the CD that Vander fans have been waiting for, and the wait has been well worth it! Vander wrote the music for this album back in the 70's, but it took him this long to get it recorded and released.

While so many bands reform to cash in on their former reputations and release sub par music, "K.A" is a very welcome exception. Of course Stella Vander is also present, but for the most part Christian Vander has reformed Magma with a new, fresh, young lineup who are still up to the task at hand! I rank it right up there with some of Magma's finest legendary albums and I'm sure that with time, "K.A" will also go down in history as being another such milestone.

The foldout CD packaging comes complete with a book of lyrics, entirely in Kobian!

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