FICTION

Eskaton's triptych of albums from their original run closes out with Fiction, which largely follows the model of Ardeur in terms of keeping most of the tracks at a bite-sized length rather than getting into the more epic lengths of the pieces on 4 Visions. The strong Magma influence on the band's music remains intact, even when sonically we step away from Magma territory slightly - take La Mort de Tristan, a dark, slow synth and piano piece which doesn't sound much like typical Zeuhl, but which takes its name from the Tristan and Iseult legend, and of course the Magma classic Wurdah Itah was originally published as a soundtrack for a movie adaptation of that story.

Still, whilst it's still thematically and atmospherically well within the dark Zeuhl universe, Fiction adds its own spin to the style, with the thick grooves you expect from Zeuhl combined with some decidedly sinister synthesiser work to create a strange hybrid beast, the final product of Eskaton's Kobaïan alchemy.