KÖHNTARKÖSZ

After a string of four very good/excellent albums, Magma released Köhntarkösz. The album is another good release, and for the most part sticks with the formula of the last two (aka, the majority of the album is one epic track). Unfortunately, things don't work out quite as well on this one for me as on the last two.

All of the same ingredients are here - the dark, brooding sound, the monstrous bass and drumming, and the chant-like vocals courtesy of Klaus and Stella. Something, though, just doesn't feel right on this...at least the studio version. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the other incredible epics the band has released, I don't know. The vocals on this album are more toned down and spaced out than on the last two - for some this is a blessing, for others, it's a curse. Me, I tend to enjoy the vocals on Magma albums very much. The music itself is still very good on the album. Where MDK was big and bombastic, Köhntarkösz is dark and brooding. Unlike the previous two albums, there are two companion pieces here - Ork Alarm and Coltrane Sündïa. Ork Alarm is a very interesting piece with Jannick on cello (and bass, maybe?), and it's another very dark piece of the album. Coltrane Sündïa, on the other hand, is a beautiful piano-driven tribute to (you guessed it) John Coltrane.

For fans of Magma (or Zeuhl in general) this is of course recommended. It isn't a great starting point for their music however, and it isn't as good as several other albums, so I feel like three stars is fair.