FANFARE DU CHAOS

This album has provided me with the nearest thing to classic MAGMA that I've ever experienced. There are also quite a few moments in which I am reminded of PRESENT and the other French and Belgian RIO artists. Heck, there are also a few moments that I swear I'm hearing the jazzy orchestral sounds of BURT BACHARACH and Hollywood movie soundtracks!

1. 'Toz' (9:24) opens with the power and sound just like MAGMA (except for the piccolo). The crazed saxophone and electric guitar soli and the movie soundtrack interlude at 3:45- 4:15 are a little beyond anything I've heard from Magma, but otherwise this is an awesome song right out of Neb'hr Gudahtt's iPod playlist! (9/10)

2. 'Intermud' (2:59) is an interlude instrumental purely from the realm of classical chamber music. Here brass and woodwinds exchange and intermingle minor and dissonant chord structures. It is quite interesting and not as distant or depressing as the usual modern chromatic chamber stuff. (8/10)

3. 'Dunb' (8:54) opens with a bang as multi-level and multi-layered vocals chant over the throb of a full band of bass, military drumming, horns and woodwinds. The delicate flute-led interlude at the 1:40 mark provide quite a contrast to the power and insistence of the opening 100 seconds. Kind of like yang and yin, masculine and feminine. A return to power and drive is introduced by electric guitar before a male baritone voice takes off running-- everybody else trying to keep up, fuzzy, chunky bass and soprano chorale the most persistent. The 4:45 mark is where I'm hearing the distinct orchestral sounds of Burt Bacharach--followed by a kind of Michel Legrand/Debussey theme. The warrior chorus takes up their march again at 6:10 but find themselves intermittently distracted or slowed by the soprano sirens, woodwinds, and piccolos. Interesting song! (8/10)

4. 'Bumlo' (5:32) sets into motion with a rolling bass line supported by a much more jazz- oriented ensemble, sounding like until at the 1:30 mark the music falls away and a more chaotic, cacophonic free-form jazz--complete with Ornette Coleman-like sax solo--takes over. By the fourth minute the song has evolved into a more structured Zeuhl song, but this finds itself intruded upon by an interloper from the California surfin' music of the Fifties and Sixties! Dude can sing like Bill Haley or Buddy Holly! (8/10)

5. 'Mlues' (6:15) opens with a sustained chord straight from some Miles Davis song from the Sixties. The evolution from there is definitely shaped by 1970s jazz fusion. I'm especially reminded of the music of the film music for the Balck 'sexplotation' films of the 70s as well as some of Freddy Hubbard's experimental stuff (until the male vocals enter). The high speed frenzy after the 5:30 mark to end is more reminiscent of some of the early hard rockers--those who later earned the title of Heavy Metal artists. (7/10)

6. 'Ih' (8:15) opens with a psych-jazz sound, a very cool, very sophisticated sound and feel as if from a very intense scene of a 1970s murder crime film. At 2:30, as the female vocalist and new bass, guitar, and woodwind riffs take over, the soundtrack feel continues--as if the stealthy chase of the protagonist intensifies, gets closer to the criminal danger. The tension only thickens with dynamic shifts from 4:45 to 5:15. Then a chaotic loud period ensues--as if confrontation is at hand--followed by another bizarre chase scene (capture, unconsciousness, drugged, delusional awakening, and death??) Awesome song. Awesome mood setter. (9/10)

Definitely an awesome album of top notch Zeuhl. Papa Vander must be proud! Solid four star effort--highly recommended for the adventurous prog lover and a real prize for the Zeuhl lover.