MAGMA [AKA: KOBAÏA]

Okay, I'm moving on to Magma's self titled debut album (also known as Kobia). This album is the start of a string of concept albums conceptualized by drummer and band leader Christian Vander. The storyline of these albums is about people who flee from the planet earth to a planet called Kobia, and the conflict arises between them and the inhabitants of the planet Kobia. That is what the story is supposed to be, but, at least in this album, i find it hard to follow the story because all of the vocals with the exception of the first song are done in Kobian, a language that Vander made up. So the storyline is really more or less left to the listeners imagination rather than explained in the lyrics of the songs. I am pretty sure that is how it is done in Magma's other albums, but i dont know for sure as this is the only Magma album I have listened to in full.

Now, as for the music, i would say that it is somewhat good. Vanders drumming is spot on, he was able to easily play aloung with the complex jazzy rhythms of the songs. The vocals are incredibly hard to understand, even when they are sung in English.There were also several places in the album in which all music stopped and all that was played was screaming and incoherant babbling which i assume is Kobian. I did like the choir arrangements though, i found those quite nice. The guitars were pretty cool, as some pretty rocking guitar riffs were played in several different places in the album. I found that the whole sound of the album had a very nice jazz fusion feel, which was very nice.

In conclusion, i would recommend recommend this album to anyone who is into jazz rock and complex prog rock, but if you're just getting into prog, this is definently not for you.