THE UNNAMABLES

In 1972, Magma released an album under the pseudonym Univeria Zekt. This album, The Unnamables, was meant to be something of an introduction to the sound of Magma. The Unnamables completely ditches all the sci-fi themes of their first two albums, and the lyrics are sung in English on side one.

There are similarities to Magma's sound on side one, especially to their self-titled release. It heavily features groovy, jazzy blues rock with exciting and unconventional structures. The song "Altcheringa" sounds like The Rolling Stones and Santana collaborated to try to record a zeuhl song. "Clementine", meanwhile, is a gentle bit of prog-folk. Side one closes on "Something's Cast a Spell", an energetic, bluesy cut that reminds me of the underground hard rock act The Gun. The brass arrangement features Magma's signature oddness, though.

Side two contains Christian Vander's three contributions to The Unnamables. The first is "Ourania", and it's immediately obvious that side one had been written by the other band members. The flow is smooth and relaxed, with piano and gentle brass leading the way. Vander's drumming is the real star here though, especially in the song's second half.

Following is the 11-minute "Africa Anteria", which opens with a bouncy jazz-rock passage that goes through some fun evolutions. The squealing saxophones in the foreground grow grating after a few repetitions, but they don't stick around for that long. 

The Unnamables closes on "Undia", the most Magma-like song on the album. After starting as a gentle acoustic piece, growling organ and brash brass enter to add some propulsion to the piece. The lyrics are in Kobaïan, as well, though this is outside of the Kobaïa mythos, as far as I know.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2022/04/18/deep-dive-magma/