Magma
Magma (Kobaïa)

This is the first review I've ever written, and I'm not sure why it's for this album, or rather, I do know—because I listened to it today and it thrilled me. It's not my favorite album, but I've chosen it also because it's not reviewed on this site and there's not much about it online in general. This review will require a lot of effort, as it involves a very complex album, not easily reviewed.

It's the eponymous double album by Magma (debut album), representatives of progressive rock, the movement that started in the late '60s and reached its peak in the early '70s. We know that this genre manifested itself with a fusion of different genres, various trends, and diverse groups. Magma is an example of a prog group that blends free jazz (somewhat reminiscent of Coltrane, idol of Christian Vander, the drummer), contemporary classical, and rock. Their music is shocking, at the same time schizoid (see the screams of the singer as well as the saxophone, abrupt drum breaks, a crazed guitar with a wha-wha effect, final seconds of explosive songs) and macabre (haunting melodies that almost incite fear, abrasive, demonic). Throughout the album by the French musicians, there are fluctuations in tone and mood and dissonances.

The lyrics of the songs are in Kobaïan (already discussed in another Magma review on debaser), the language of the planet "Kobaia," whose science fiction stories are narrated. It's an artificial language created by Vander's incredible imagination; it's intriguing to hear singing in this strange language. At times, it sounds like listening to a ritual of a sect (even more so in their later albums). All of this is present in the album which can only be unsettling. The album is a true masterpiece in my opinion, even though it's not regarded as such by critics. It opens with the great "Kobaia", where mood swings immediately reign, with a sharp start and a follow-up with moments of stillness that then open up to free-jazz. The following "Aina", on the other hand, starts slow, in perfect jazz-rock style, and then speeds up and explodes at the end. Next is the beautiful "Malaria", where piano, guitar, and drums form a hypnotic melody, later joined by the flute, and it continues with the usual mood swings and variations with frenzied wha-wha guitar and drums that tune into a sort of chant. And then the most beautiful piece of the album, "Sohia", which begins and ends the same way, with an impressive duet of bass and flute, creating a haunting melody followed by significant moments of tension.

The album continues with a complex pattern similar to the previous songs. Noteworthy are beautiful lyrical moments in the crazy "Aurae", in "Thaud Zaia" and "Nau Ektila", which nevertheless contain shifts into acidic explosions and escapades into free-jazz. "Stoha" is the most schizoid piece, which, in the first few minutes, with a monologue of screams and shouts, becomes somewhat long-winded. The track that concludes the work is "Muh", which seems to signal a return to calm after the anguishing and terrifying journey of this album.