THEUSZ HAMTAAHK - TRILOGIE

Magma recorded these concerts after more than fifteen years of dormancy, so the fact that the band is so on point may come as a shock to listeners. The performances are passionate throughout while remaining technically flawless, and the recordings have a warmer feel to them than the band's Seventies material. Zeuhl has always been potentially somewhat off-putting to newcomers, but this (alongside some of the band's newer recordings K.A., Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré, and Félicité Thösz) is amongst the least intimidating recordings Magma has ever made, despite its length.

The fact that the material being performed here is essential in any case doesn't hurt. The band's best known album, Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh, is here, as are Ẁurdah Ïtah and the suite that gives the album its title (which still has yet to be released as a studio recording). All three rank among the band's very best compositions, and they are represented admirably here. The fact that this is the first recording in which all three (which are, as the title might indicate, three parts of a trilogy) can be heard performed by the same line-up doesn't hurt either, as it gives a consistency to the proceedings that cobbling the pieces together from different recordings would not have.

In short, this is essential for both interested newcomers and longtime devotees of the band. It's one of the best introductions to zeuhl I could imagine, and it's one of the high points of the genre. We can only hope that they give the Köhntarkösz trilogy the same treatment now that it's complete.

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