Zao

Fantastic stuff!!! I am definitely on the lookout for this album - damn straight! Thanks.

 

You must !  Do you have any of Seffer's solo stuff ? Gilghoul is amazing.

That's surprising. You got many hours of top notch jazzy zeuhl to look forward to. It seems they have don't the cult of followers that many Zeuhl bands got, but I think the quality of their discography comes second only to Magma. Here's a track from Zhekinah, the album recorded with a (female) string section which adds a R.I.O feel that works magnificently: 

I too find Mahavishny pretty annoying, but love Kawana nevertheless.  I think all their 70's albums are really strong (grabTypareth if you come across it), but my vote goes to the one I listen to most often: Shekina. 

As others have mentioned Cahen and Seffer left MAGMA because Vander was now in control of the musical direction that MAGMA would take,instead of it being a band effort as on the first two albums. Seffer and Cahen's last recording with MAGMA would be under the name of UNIVERSIA ZEKT. It's interesting that MAGMA's next album("MDK") after these two left would emphasize female vocals,because ZAO's first recording that would come out the same year(only sooner) would also emphasize a female vocalist.Two very different records mind you. I think the vocals here and on "MDK" are what will make or break the two albums for you,because they are so prominant. The female vocalist Zao hired was a much in demand backing vocalist named Mauricia Platon,who is nothing short of incredible. Seffer being Hungarian badly wanted a violinist for this project,so they hired Jean-Yves Rigaud. Jean-My Truong was added as the drummer,he had played in a band with Seffer before Seffer had joined MAGMA. Joel Dugrenot was added as the guitarist. The album cover was painted by Seffer.

"Marochsek" starts off rather ominously before Mauricia yells "Zao !" and then goes off into some unique vocal melodies. Unfortunately this would be the only studio record she would record with the band. Keys,bass,sax and drums fill out the sound. Some good guitar after 4 minutes. She is amazing 5 1/2 minutes in with liquid sounding keys to follow. "Ataturc" has a nice jazzy soundscape with vocal melodies. The tempos shift and violin comes in. Vocals stop as the song calms down. The drums,bass and piano become prominant before violin comes back. Vocals are back before 5 minutes. "Ronach" is all about her vocals that sound like another instrument. They are very high pitched at times. In "Atart" it's like Mauricia is competing with the sax and she is definitely holding her own. The bass is relentless. Great tune.

"La Soupe" has a nice little intro before i'm blown away by not only her vocals,but the bass and drums. This is killer ! Some beautiful horn/vocal interplay before we get a sax solo. 3 minutes in the violin comes in. Great sound ! Then some ripping guitar as drums pound. The song calms down as only bass can be heard at first. Vocals are next, then a full sound. "Satanyia" features violin,vocal,bass and drum sounds but not much of a melody until after a minute. Her vocals are deeper here with a fantastic melody to follow. The tempo and mood continues to change. Themes are repeated including her deep vocals. Her vocals are so good 6 minutes in as the drums pound.

Well it took a while, but this became everything i had hoped it would be. I wasn't expecting the vocals that were presented or the violin,but it all worked perfectly. I much prefer this over MAGMA's "MDK",and it's a step better than MAGMA's first two albums in my opinion. Brilliant !

I like almost all prog, I really do. Search for me on this site and you'll find almost all my reviews are 4s with 3s and 5s scattered around. I like most of what I come across. I especially like the complexities of fusion, but zheul, which is supposed to be complex as well, is lost on me, or at least a lot of it is. I gave this album a chance a while ago and just did not like it. I decided to give it a second shot today. It wa snot a good sign that I was scared the opening second by a shrieking/yelling vocalist..totally did not expect that. This set the tone for the rest of the album as the vocals just are not pleasant to me, and just completely assinine babling in other areas. The music itself is...well, I just couldn't get into it, to much going on..sometimes LESS IS MORE!! - and this is coming from someone who loves fusion, the mahvishnu Orchrestras, napoli centerale, (sorry for spelling errors), brainstorm, lotus and other such groups!!