Magma... The Kobaian Mythology | Not Lost Media

[@Z-eb]

The"un-named" song is called Dotz Hundin ! (Mekanic Zain from "Hhai/Live" 1975 is the M.D.K. Part Two Portion after Nebehr Gudaht Speaks to the Kobaian People) Very Intresting video, but tons of errors in it ;) Zeuhl Undazir ! (Inedits were rehearsal tapes released by Klaus Blasquiz in total frustration due to Vandere`s perfectionism, it werent seen as an official album fo years)

[@nicolafiorillo4048]

Vander : En fait, il s'agit d'un disque-pirate. C'est un disque qui a été enregistré avec un magnétophone et qui consiste en des répétitions, des enregistrements radio, etc. Le disque est une forme de statut pour nous. Il y a des morceaux avec des musiciens qui ne font plus partie de Magma maintenant. Et puis, il était temps qu'un album de Magma sorte, parce que le précédent est sorti il y a assez longtemps. En plus, nous avons changé de producteur, donc on avait besoin de sortir un album avec lui, alors on a sorti "Inédits". Les enregistrements sont assez basiques, mais il y a un autocollant sur la couverture qui prévient les gens que la qualité du son n'est pas excellentes. C'est plutôt une sorte de documentaire. Si la musique est assez bonne, alors la technique ne compte pas.

[@miamiswacket803]

Never expected to be recommended an hour long analysis of magma, but I certainly am not complaining

[@Pseudiom]

"It needed to exist eventually," - Christian Vander on Magma.

[@kylequinn6695]

Glad I don't have to butcher the mythos trying to describe it to people anymore; I can just send them this video! Very well done, keep it up!

[@Pseudiom]

I think I gave as good as a shot as I could gwr with the material available to me in English and Spanish. It is difficult to gauge between what is really going on in Magma and what is just fan conjecture. As far as I know, this is the most complete compilation on the English Internet at the moment, beside the Elite Extremophile's article, which is why I made it.

[@SpongeBobaFett]

I had never even heard of this band before watching this. I was hesitant to watch when I saw the runtime, but I wanted to help support the channel and make sure you had those early release views so the algorithm might notice, so I clicked anyway. I'm glad I did! What a strange adventure discovering this band has been. Can't imagine how long it took to edit this. Truly the most underrated channel on KZbin. Keep up the good work!

[@Pseudiom]

Glad you gave it a chance. Even if the music isn't to your liking, Magma has an interesting history and story.

[@danalawrence4473]

Let me introduce you to one of the greatest compositions ever written- one that is dark, gothic, mysterious and cataclysmic at the end: Magma's "Kohntarkosz." This is a great live version, and there are many. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4XYlKCsfqqVmMk

[@lexidarling]

I first heard Magma around 2007-2008 when I was getting more heavily into prog rock. For a long time they were a very tough nut to crack, as you said they were kind of the final boss of 70s prog. As a writer of science/fantasy their lore always fascinated me, and eventually I just kind of learned to lose myself in the chaos and I can now appreciate a lot of their work. I have a ton of respect for them and Vander as this auteur of cosmic weirdness.

[@dhbole1]

"Final boss" is the perfect descriptor. Took me a while to get into them but, here I am.

[@daviddevilliers2828]

My friend I first heard Arriund 85, 86, 14 years old, and now the journey continue

[@SSladfingers]

> clicks on your channel cause you had cool video about weird online Naruto internet culture > most recent video is a full in depth documentary on Magma Officially one of the coolest KZbin channels ever

[@georgewilson7432]

Thanks for introducing me to this musical experience. Everybody should follow William Blake's example and create their own mythologies. It worked for Lovecraft, Perlman, Sun Ra. Speaking of Sun Ra, Magma's themes remind me of his piece Space is the Place. It is indeed. The most important endeavour of man. Have you heard Sun Ra? It's another cosmic experience.

[@Pseudiom]

Sun Ra is one of those musicians who influenced a lot of musicians I like, but have never listened to directly. Walter Becker of Steely Dan was a fan, Magma has some similarities (especially with Egypt, Science Fiction themes, and a philosophy of transcendence) and a lot of modern Internet art music is also indirectly influenced by Sun Ra. I know the basics about Sun Ra, but there would be a lot of material to work through. I'll make a proper effort of investigating Ra and the Arkestra one day. I know there's been a few independent documentaries already so I'd have to see if I could give it a unique interpretation.

[@georgewilson7432]

The idea itself of traveling to the stars to save us from Earth also has an interesting pedigree. The most notorious proponent is William Burroughs, but there are others like the author of Mind Parasites, Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrik, and I think there may be more. Maybe in Roman or Greek marginalia, someone write about visiting the Celestial Sphere.

[@sonder152]

And both Aleister Crowley and Austin Osman Spare. (maybe even Andrew Chumbley)

[@СемёнСемёнов-ы1ь]

Bingo! Both Sun Ra and Magma are individual and parallel musical dives into the cosmic spiritualism and are kind of sound-visionary experiences. I discovered 'em almost simultaneously and also was fascinated, how both of them are really connected and similar, yet totally independent.

[@sudicalwig]

"Felicite Thösz" really is Stella's finest moment on an album. Great job on this video!

[@lizardjr.7826]

I got really into magma back in 2019 so this was a treat

[@Pseudiom]

I hope this works as a good road map for people trying to get into Magma or figure out what they're singing about. There's plenty of more weird stuff about the band I could have talked about (like how bizarre Christian Vander is as a person, but I think that comes across in the material). I'd also recommend "To Life Death and Beyond, the Music of Magma" as a biographical look at the band and that doc is pretty accessible online.

[@ProfessorChocolateCake]

I've been obsessed with this band for the last five years. The first song of theirs I ever heard was the original 1971 version Riah Sahiltaahk, by this time I was already heavily into prog and wanted something new and this song left me speechless by the end of it, it was like no other music I'd ever heard. From that moment I was immediately hooked and tried to listen to as much more of their music as I could find. I even bought a Gretsch drum set just like Christian Vander plays and replicated his drum and cymbal layout and everything and it's unbelievable how much sense it makes when you play songs on it. Thanks for actually putting the albums mostly in the right order and you got most of the pronunciations right as well. The only bad thing I have to say about this video is that it lacks actual Magma music being played although I understand you don't want to get into copyright trouble and all that which I suppose is a fair enough reason to not use it.

[@Pseudiom]

Being unable to feature the music is just sort of a feature I've accepted on KZbin. My idea is people who already know Magma will find this video or this video will convince them to give it a listen. I discovered Magma due to a random comment on one of my videos and got obsessed by how how unique and impassioned the music sounded while still conveying a strong story. Though, I think some people need a lot about Magma conveyed to them before tipping their toes in due to how confrontational (most) of the albums sound. I guess Magma fans are sort of "Initiates" in that manner. I know Vander really focuses on that relationship between listeners and the band. I also found your video of "Hhai" using footage from "Cleopatra" while doing research. It is very, very good video and combination!

[@ProfessorChocolateCake]

@@Pseudiom Thank you, did you like the MDK one? I'm really happy with how that one turned out.

[@Pseudiom]

It is excellent! Haven't watched it all the way through in one sitting, but I'll make time to watch through it all. I was planning on maybe using old anime/animated clips in this video as well, but I just settled on "Tristan et Iseult" and old silent movies. Magma attracts similar minds.

[@СемёнСемёнов-ы1ь]

@@Pseudiom Those demo-rehearsals of Wurdah Itah from 19972 Manor studio, used in Tristan et Iseult are known as barbaric version of WI, Vander said, that after this session piano need to be repaired.

[@marc3dartist601]

French are known to create weird original things, sometimes very creative and beautiful. The band Igorrr is another example of that, mixing death metal, baroque, classic and electronic.

[@bobsbigboy_]

okay but igor sucks

[@j.c.m.2181]

Hearing the sheer fun Pseudiom is having pronouncing *MEKANIK DESTRUKTIW KOMMANDOH* over and over gives me life.

[@Pseudiom]

Kobaian is very pleasurable and fun to say. Especially when you ham it up. I often find myself chanting "Ïma sürï dondaï!" and the choir sections of Zess.

[@j.c.m.2181]

@@Pseudiom oh, I do that too! In one particular instance though, I got warped by a misheard lyrics - so now the only thing I can hear in the eponymous song on MDK when the it speeds up in the second part is "Hey hey hey I wish to borrow Pakistan!"

[@Minisauro]

I’ve likely listen to that album hundreds if not thousands of times. It’s a sing along for me. What a perfect album that is.

[@danalawrence4473]

Along with "Zee-ben Strayn De Gooshtah." 🙂

[@josdurkstraful]

@@j.c.m.2181 In MDK is a little section where I always hear: "The boss won't sign".

[@BigBoolinScienceMan]

Excellent, more obscure music history, just what I needed.

[@Pseudiom]

I'm glad I can provide.

[@MrEvan-xw6nn]

this is incredible man. fantastic work, deserves so much more views, i feel spoiled finding something so great

[@ThePassionFwuit]

Great video! There was a lot of things I didn't know, even as someone who's been a Magma fan for ten years! While it doesn't fit nicely into the album-by-album narrative you told the story in, Magma was a bit more active in the early 80s than you say, making some of their strongest ever live albums like Retrospektïẁ and Bobino 1981. I'd even go out on a limb and say this was probably the best lineup Magma ever had. Bernard Paganotti is one of the most talented musicians ever to be in Magma and Lisa Deluxe is an absolute hawk of a singer who totally delivered on both the more traditional Magma sounding tracks as well as the more poppy R&B ones. Retrovision is my favorite Magma track because I think it's such a perfect blend of these two sounds. It's heavy and poppy all at once. The Bobino version is the best but the one on the recently remastered (2021) Retrospektïẁ I-II-III is very good too! This era of Magma deserves to be remembered more fondly.

[@Leipaa]

Good work, overall, you did a very good job with this! With my comments, I don't mean to be overly critical. You did a phenomenal job of giving an overview of Kobaian mythology.

[@juankgonzalez6230]

Really have to dive deeper into Magma one day. What I've heard from them so far is very intriguing, and this video is top notch

[@Pseudiom]

I think "MDK" is a good start if you like Metal, "Merci" (and the Offering albums) is a good start if you like Jazz, and "Udu Wudu" is a good start if you like Pop music. I think "Da zeuhl wortz mekanik" from MDK, "Lihns" from Live/Hhai, and "Tsai" from Felicite Thosz are three basic songs to show Magma's range. I'd say most of the interpretation in this video is mostly conjecture and theory from what the band has said over the years. As I noted in the video, Christian Vander has changed his interpretations and thoughts over five decades. He use to be a lot crazier or people at least got better at roping him around. I think Magma is very interesting as art/music by itself though, actually alien.

[@juankgonzalez6230]

@@Pseudiom Damn, thanks for the recommendations Pseudiom! I'll either listen ti MDK or Merci (or both) then. Once again, stellar video, my friend

[@Olive-gd3wn]

Vander's father Maurice Vander was a great jazz pianist

[@tombyrne]

This video must have been a phenomenal effort to produce, but the results are astounding. As a magma fan of some 47 years, I am relieved that my interpretation of this epic, with its digressions and revisions broadly aligns with yours. I would have liked to see mention of Hhai, which is one of my favourites.

[@feather3563]

Amazing in-depth video! I think Offering is a great and often overlooked project. Earth from Offering I-II is one of the craziest pieces of music I've heard.

[@MrBenMcLean]

I greatly appreciate this video being made because before now, all I knew about Magma was from reading the super confusing wikipedia entries on it.

[@BENzoic-zj2do]

I love this video, ive listened to a binch of their albums isolated from eachother, and even have a couple vinyls. Im planning to do a complete story listen, now i know what its supposed to be like

[@baronvonpenguin6112]

Thank you for reminding me I have one of Magma’s records in my collection. It’s been too long since I’ve listened to this guys.

[@sinajakelic]

I believe it is pronounced EM-EN-TET RE, it’s very rhytmical. All e’s sound the same, like ‘ae’ or a slavic ‘e’. Imentet (Ament, Amentet or Imentit, meaning "She of the West") was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion representing the necropolises west of the Nile. This could have been the inspiration. Also, the greatest of the old Memphis gods was named Ptah. Thank you for a fantastic video, from a huge Magma fan.

[@NicolasSequeira]

Your series "not lost media" is a great counterpoint to all the lost media out there

[@danalawrence4473]

By the way, the Magma graphic was actually designed by Klaus Blasquiz, who had training as a graphic artist.

[@vagabundo220]

Such a great video, i've been listening to magma since 2020 and finished his discography some months ago, I really wanted to go deeper in the story that the albums tell and know more about the Kobaïa culture. I love the context of zess, and I wish magma can perform music until the end of times. Glory to all of Kobaïa

[@ilocosmetro]

He has risen!!!

[@skeletalmesh9872]

Fantastic video, I only had a vague knowledge of Magma because of Jodorowsky's Dune, but the lore is fascinating and you did a terrific job at giving an introduction to everything. Great job on the pronunciation of those kobaian names as well (probably)

[@Leipaa]

Honestly, offering 3 was unbelievable

[@СемёнСемёнов-ы1ь]

And one little detail about Zess. It's theme and myth is almost exact analogue of vedanta's terms of 'Pralaya' and 'Maha-pralaya'': en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pralaya >Hindu cosmology posits an endless cycle of the periodic creation and destruction of the universe. >Atyantika refers to the liberation of one's sense of self. Atyantikapralaya is achieved with the knowledge of God, which occurs when one loses oneself in service to the Paramatman, the Supreme Self. This involves the recognition that most of the cause and effect that occurs in the phenomenal universe is maya, an illusion, and that all that has a beginning and an end is not real. One conquers avidya (ignorance) with the realisation that there is no distinction between one's own Atman (Self) and the Paramatman. When one finally realises this truth, one's sense of self dissolves into and unites with Brahman, and one achieves mukti (liberation).

[@budspencer7530]

I watched your entire presentation and found it very enjoyable.He was saved by Coltrane's music. He referred to Coltrane as a Master Here's my thought after watching it. The Kobian story seems to parallel Vander's own life on an emotional level.

[@FeliciteThosz]

The great thing about Magma is that they leave a lot to the imagination, so I want to leave you room to explore your ideas without too much censorship. That said, listeners should know that some of the interpretations of the albums' contents are clearly incorrect and misleading. It seems that you have the general stories of the trilogies, but aren't clear on the breakdown of the content of each album. In broad outlines, this is good stuff though, and will give people more of an "in" to esoteric Magma.

[@СемёнСемёнов-ы1ь]

"Magma like a final boss of prog-music" - well said, dear sir! What about Zeuhl itself, I like the description, Vander himself gave it: it is multidirrectional' music. I'd say that Zeuhl is multi-dimensional, that with little efforts an attention will put you in trance-like state and allow to free your mind as wide as possible. This exact trace, provided through their music is the very essence of Zeuhl and it's greatest achievement.

[@frankalfar]

Tytyty for this nerdly fascinating deep dive into Magma!!!!

[@foxtemple1952]

That's nostalgic. I really liked this type of narrative music when I was younger. Coheed and Cambria and Magma, mainly

[@corruptedmilk2481]

Try Cardiacs maybe? In the same vein as weird/obscure rock with great influence

[@Pseudiom]

I'll definitely check them out.

[@corruptedmilk2481]

@@Pseudiom Absolutely wonderful, that band is well and truly a rabbithole. I recommend you check out the video on them by Tantacrul for a basic loedown

[@zorbeclegras5708]

Nice effort! Kreuhn Köhrmahn will be satisfied!

[@СемёнСемёнов-ы1ь]

Bravo! BRAVO! BRAVOOO!!!! This is the most complete and complex attempt of interpretation of Magma's legacy up to date! An achievement of it's own! Being a long-time zeuhl-fan, I can only applause all your efforts and courage to try to covet Magma's music universe as a whole unified concept. I always said, that this particular kind of systematic analysis is the most honorable and compelling thing to complete due all the hard-working beneath such a presentation of theme (you have to know all the original material, gather and filter all the surrounding information, find all the key-points and distill all the unnecessary details and so on up to final presentation). Suck kind of research demands great amount of time, passion and patience. But if all the stages were done correct, the final result will shine like a crazy diamond :3 And you have withstand that thin like between facts and fan-gossips very well! Almost all the info were correct, all the little details were downplayed and the central narrative of kobaian mythology was presented in all necessary colors, but without unnecessary bullshit (and oh boy, there is so mush of it amongst Magma's music...). The only lacking info, you may be omitted or have not reached was very detailed booklets of 40th anniversary studio box-set. They provided a lot of detailed info about circumstances of making of all the Magma's studio releases from very first hands. A lot of seemed strange decisions all have the proper background and reason behind them. For example, why Udu Wudu is such a chimera of Magma's LPs and how the theme of Orks was emerged mostly due Janik Topp's suggestions. But anyway, I do not see any serious weak points in this fabulous essay. All the facts were in it's places and all the major points were mentioned. The rest are details for fans, who accepts and understands the artistic chaos of truly visionary music of Magma. Because Magma is but a peak of the whole Zeuhl genre and all the Magma's family releases (and there are tons of it). Aujourd'hui est le jour où nous allons mourir, et je te dis merci.

[@sonder152]

An interesting connection between Magma and Voivod (who is another band associated with progressive and experimental music) I see, is that both are bands that are led by their drummers, who compose most of the lyrics, music and artwork. And both have mythologies. (that said Voivod kinda gave up on their storyline after a while but still carried on into their music in the early 90s).

[@progfrogian9226]

I can 100% tell you that I saw Away Langevin at one of the Magma concerts here in Québec (can't remember if it's Montréal or Victoriaville) 🙂. I saw them 4 times here, one time in the USA and also the 50th anniversary show in Paris in 2019.

[@sonder152]

@@progfrogian9226 that's freakin awesome. I can definitely see that happening, both being weird avantgarde prog bands drawing from some shared influences with scifi themes. Both Away and Piggy have quite a diverse range of influences, so I wouldn't be in the least surprised if they were also fans of Magma.

[@cutg2722]

You need more subscribers, seriously great job

[@comradekev2843]

Hey. I am a HUGE Magma fan. Well done. I Watched your entire video and gotta say i’m hugely impressed with your analysis. Great job! You’ve got a subscriber. I would definitely recommend Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré 2&3 as starting points to how great their music is. Thank you. Avoid Merci…

[@СемёнСемёнов-ы1ь]

Merci is flaweless! You can put it on repeat and listen to it whole day without being tired of it!

[@FVFS]

Avoid? Merci may not rank among their best albums but it's still distinctly Magma-sounding and highly recommended for fans of the band.

[@volodymyrbilyk555]

Hell yeah! Magma is one of my all time favorite bands and their live album Hhai is out of this world mayhem. Will you ever cover the madness that is the band called Hawkwind or the legacy of Robert Calvert?

[@Pseudiom]

I'd probably talk about Space Rock and Hawkwind in some form at some point. I've touched the edges of it in my Cusco viddeo and Dungeon Synth video. I'm also familiar with it due yo Michael Moorcock working with Blue Oyster Cult. What I mean is I've done a lot of stuff in its orbit so I'll probably get to it at some point. I need to listen to more Hawkwind though.

[@ThatOneGuy7550]

Amazing video! Was always curious about this group

[@Baueresque]

Great video, amazing work. Thank you

[@Rem1Gnova]

A brilliantly informative piece of work. Thank you!

[@doodleydoo2369]

I'm so pumped for this video

[@flannigan7956]

Great stuff, lots of good info and well put together. Makes me want to go back through albums. Good to know there was eventually more stuff about em made available on the internet than the hardly-crap of 20 yrs ago heh heh

[@ATEN_DNAR]

This is freaking awesome!

[@gguioa]

My god saying KÖHNTARKÖSZ so many times must have taken a toll on your psyche

[@danalawrence4473]

One more post. This clip is Magma live from just over a week ago, when they played the Montreux Jazz Festival. This is a new song, written by keyboardist Thierry Eliaz, called Walomendëm warreï, and will be on the new disc coming in October. This version of the band now has 7 singers (!), and has Jannick Top's son Jimi on bass. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmfTko2bepprgqc

[@sudicalwig]

It's been a while since I saw them. This was really good. Is Bussonett out of the band? Never knew Top had a son. He sounds like his dad in many ways..

[@danalawrence4473]

@@sudicalwig Philippe has been gone now for over two years, and from my perspective, he is dearly missed.

[@sudicalwig]

@@danalawrence4473 Yeah he was great with Vander. A super guy. Huge sound

[@croiners4166]

Only have a few of their records, and I found this interesting,thanks

[@Leipaa]

Theusz Hamtaahk, BBC Londres (1974) is by far the best version!

[@soarel325]

Finally it's here! This is incredible. Are there any other bands you'd cover in this manner (or possibly individual works of music you'd cover like your Imaginos video)?

[@Pseudiom]

There is a lot, but I'll mention a few off my head. I'd like to do a video on Jerome Reuter's band/project ROME which I like a lot both musically, lyrically, and in his subject matter. I'm not sure if I'd do an overview on his work or focus on his historical albums like "Flowers from Exile", "A Passage to Rhodesia", and "Le Ceneri Di Heliodoro". Only issue is his music deals in complicated historical events and highly charged events, though I've covered things like that in "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner" before. I'd also like to make a follow up to my Imaginos video after Albert Bouchard releases Imaginos III and I have another idea for another Dungeon Synth video. I also have somewhat of an idea for a Sea Shantey video and a video about Argentine milonga poetry/folk music. There is also a few ideas for Japanese music like the band Mouse on the keys and some Japanese folk singers, but the only difficulty there is how much material (even in Japanese it is somewhat scare). I'm interested in seeing what I can being over from the Japanese and Spanish spheres of the Internet. There is also Les Luthiers which some of my Argentinian viewers have mentioned to me. I'd like to do a video on them to gave them some exposure on the English internet, but they're basically an old comedy group with their own lore who do music and shows with incredibly obtuse Spanish/music jokes I only get half the time and would have no idea how to translate. A lot of footage of them is also copyrighted so its liable to get blocked in a lot of countries which means making a video might be tough. There is more, but those are an overview of the more developed ideas.

[@soarel325]

@@Pseudiom Ooh! Would be very interest in the Rome and Les Luthiers videos.

[@zelenahull293]

Wow I'm happy finally I am early!

[@lynnpehrson8826]

The "machines to us" concept is crazy

[@chocodoco4855]

Take a shot every time he says "MEKANÏK DESTRUKTÏW KÖMMANDÖH".

[@sonder152]

One of the best bands

[@LautarosTongueinAspic]

Thank you so much for this excellent documentary.

[@bakomusha]

The latest I've commented since becoming a patron! Thanks life for being butt! Well worth the wait tho!

[@tookmyjob]

The titles of songs from Live/Hhai were changed for copyright issues. I'm still wondering where the single Mekanik Machine fits into everything.

[@Pseudiom]

Ah, overlooked that. I think my points on Live/Hhai and related material stand though. I'd plead the fact Magma/Kobaian is vague so things can have more than one name. I didn't try to place the singles as well because that's a loosing battle. I think Mekanik machine (thematically) fits in somewhere around the Udu Wudu/Ork songs. It was written by Jannick Top and seems to cohere to the foreshadowing Top was doing with things like "Ork Alarm" on Kohntarkosz at that time. Or I could be completely wrong.

[@tookmyjob]

@@Pseudiom I thought Mekanik Machine would have made more sense on Kohntarkosz than Coltrane Sundia. In its original form, Ork Alarm seems out of place.

[@danalawrence4473]

Mekanik Machine was released in 1974, so it comes out just before Kohntarkosz did, so I would view it as coincident with that disc.

[@maotse-tung4438]

Love Magma and great video!

[@ToastersChannel]

I am so happy you made this video. Thank you. Bless.

[@ToastersChannel]

The first song is called Dotz Hündin btw!!

[@ToastersChannel]

Their debut album Kobaia just blows you away. Their live concert in 1981 at Bobino is still one of the greatest performances ever. My favourite album is probably Attahk with "The Last Seven Minutes".

[@anonymouse8953]

thanks a loot! fine picturizin tuu 😀

[@TrailBlazer-d3j]

This is a fantastic video with a lot of information. Could you possibly do an alternative vocal track without vocal-fry and accents? It was a little distracting to get past. This is just a request and I am not trying to be rude.

[@georgewilson7432]

The ultimate concept album, the Kobaians wrestling Earth from the clutches of The Invisibles.

[@Pseudiom]

There is a sort of serendipity all these music projects were sort of synchronized to the same ideas at the same time in the late 1960s/early 1970s. BOC in America, Magma in France, and Tangerine Dream in Germany. Must have been something in the water...

[@georgewilson7432]

After reading Acid Dreams, it was probably that.

[@jasonmillion5970]

Magma the creators of the Zeuhl genre !!!!!!

[@InsanityPlusOne]

As much as I can respect their work, going entirely on the opening piece, this is Jazz not rock, it might be hardcore or heavy jazz but it is jazz, RUINS is rock (in quite literally every sense). These guys sound like they quite literally wrote the soundtrack to JAZZPUNK. It could be the lack of a notable heavy bassline, it could be the weird instrumental choices, it could be their whole vibe but the rock of their music is is lacking, it sounds more like an acid trip than the inner rage turned outward at the systems that form it that is rock & roll.

[@jasonmillion5970]

Which one of their songs sound like john coltranes music ?? I dont see it

[@thegodofsoapkekcario1970]

I always wanted to hear more about the Kobaian mythology, but I always found nothing when I searched it up other than the first few albums, until I looked in the description of the video, bruh.

[@VitalMusique]

very interesting ... but why can't we hear MAGMA's music in the background (strange to say the least !) ?

[@Bajun94]

14:20 Nice, wonder where he got that from. When did he say this, do we have a date?

[@Pseudiom]

Not an exact Vander Quote, but I did purposefully phrase it that way to reference a certain novel series/anime about the clash of two ideologies in the universe which Magma always reminds me of. (I was considering using LoGH footage for the video but decided against it because LoGH is a bit "harder" sci-fi than Magma.) Vander by coincidence expressed the same thematic idea as Yoshiki Tanaka in his interview with MUSCOscribe. This translation was apparently by Stella Vander so I don't know the original French. "The story of these people leaving Earth for a better place, another planet … is not finished. Because as [early Magma bassist] Laurent Thibault said, Kobaïa is a planet … Kobaïa [is like] Earth, but without - how do you say - the stupid, the dumb people. Instead it had people with something in mind, and who wanted to work for a better place. They wanted to make this place a better place, but they had to do it on another planet. Because it looks like it’s impossible to do that on Earth. We could verify this, you know? So, it’s not science fiction. You see what I mean? It’s not about another planet with other people already living there. It’s just [about] escaping from here, and there are many different ways to escape. But this is one of the ways, trying to create another planet somewhere. It doesn’t have to be in space." (From: archive.ph/UU8Fm) I know you speak French (if you're the same Sieur Fitz) so you can probably find more in depth interviews in French. Magma and "Zeuhl" is apparently popular in Japan though! There's pictures of Christian and Stella Vander looking very awkward on tour there. An idol group did a cover of the "Last Seven Minutes": kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKiUhYmkoa2gfac

[@Bajun94]

@@Pseudiom Indeed, I am the same Sieur Fitz. I'll probably look into it, to see if the ideas are the same, but from what I've seen, the English translations are quite on point, and it does feel like there is common thematic of two opposite set of ideals clashing without an end in sight. Sadly I've never been a big Magma fan, they are a bit too prog and out-there for me, but your video was still very interesting, thank you for another great foray into a not-so-well-known band.

[@danalawrence4473]

@@Pseudiom kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3bKinSImplmi6M

[@bobsbigboy_]

humanitYYYYYYYyyyyy

[@retsz]

Whaaaaat? I missed a Pseudiom upload? My sub feed let me down. I always go into a video confused and ignorant of the topic, and leave still confused but less ignorant.

[@circlebrophy3179]

Blessings and thanks for this.

[@Captain1nsaneo]

Saw this video in my feed and was going to give it a pass but then I saw who had made it. Excellent as always.

[@CustomOfTheGame]

what is merci? its heat

[@No___Name]

its a shame this doesnt have many views. guess the mainstream isnt quite ready for prog yet.

[@richardlanchester249]

What amuses me in listed comments is when Google Translate pops up offering to translate the Kobaian, then only manages one word at most in a sentence or phrase-- like 'de' --and gets it wrong!

[@dapperblueberries9779]

Magma, Coheed and Cambria, and The Dear Hunter are the best progressive rock concept bands to ever exist. Their stories are so damn good to where every album can be an essential listen in many sense of the word

[@thanksgivingsandwich]

God thanks so much for this .

[@_ratherBursadboi]

Based Magma video

[@shauncampbell969]

Frightening

[@StarlessBandNJ]

Wow great great job

[@martinluc2361]

i need a zeuhl translation !

[@Leipaa]

Yannik Top. Not "jhanik". He was low key the only musician in Magma on par with Vander himself.

[@geraldbeslon3884]

Merci

[@InfiniteRhombus]

magma rules, amazing band, i also wanna point out "love in the darkness" from offering is just a stripped down version of "Call from the dark" from merci

[@A-Saxy-Bard]

Gonna preface this by saying that i love magmas music and especially zeuhl by other bands. It's a shame that Christian Vander is likely a fascist. It's hard not to see parallels to nazi mythology and occultism in Magmas work; although shrouded by the Coltranian spiritualism. There was a whole intervention online about it way back in 2010 but Vander never addressed it directly and the responses from Magma side stepped the issues. Great video though, despite my reservations about Vander's personal beliefs I won't deny that he, like Wagner and Orff before him, were incredibly talented musicians.

[@sonder152]

There isn't much evidence, it's highly unlikely

[@hazardousjazzgasm129]

No evidence

[@sinajakelic]

I was exploring quite a lot about this issue, read almost everything I could find and even though one can get a lot of clues to form this opinion, it is interesting how magma’s fanbase never included fascists. If his ideologies are such and implemented in the music, as some imply, wouldn’t hordes of fascists and ideologists of similar beliefs flood magma’s shows and online forums. yet, I am still to find a single one. Still, hints of nazism or similar words in magma music can be interpreted in another way, so it is in the eye of the beholder (death of an author concept, and all that) but as for his personal beliefs, we will never know for sure as he didn’t feel the need to adress the rumours. I personally enjoy magma every day and no plans to stop :)

[@dhollsynthmusic]

No one called Roger Waters a fascist when he sung "and that one looks jewish, and that one's a coon...if i had my way i'd have all of them shot!". It's no different with Vander sermons: he's playing a role when he says lines which resemble German lines like "sie werden sterben" or has words which look like "incinerator". The conceptual story is after all partly about conflict, war & upheaval.

[@posermetal8884]

Lotta people saying there's no evidence for this but there's literally? So much? Google the really old Daevid Allen (from Gong) interview where he talks about how Vander's bedroom was covered in nazi flags, photographs of Hitler, and would often jump up in the middle of his solos to do imitation Hitler speeches. Magma are a fascinating and profoundly interesting and entertaining band, but to say there's no evidence of Vander's sketchy beliefs is kinda just willful ignorance at this point.

[@zachabel805]

u not a G if u haven't witnessed the conflict between Kobaia and the nation of Azeroy also known as the Aze-Kobaio hyperwar

[@InsanityPlusOne]

Okay having listened... well it seems like as an artist the lead somehow fails to understand art, art would die without the struggle, a utopia would be my hell as it is where creativity dies, you need the conflict to have adaptation... I thought from the video on Ruins Magma would resonate with me more but it seems Magma just lack the introspection required to know what art even is, or to grasp basic ideas like utopia (given the idea of being utopian yet having an "ultimate weapon" The ideas behind it sound like delusional jaded hippies which kinda fits the jazz vibe, the kind of hippies who lost all higher function to the chemicals they ingested back in the 60's. A terrible take on creativity blended with religion and the kind of dirt brain you can't recover from is not what I expected from a precursor to Ruins. Magma writes the idea of Kobians as something more akin to Nazi's than an actual utopian & creative race (which again would be a paradoxical pairing of tags for one race anyway ignoring the fact that as mentions utopian communities don't carry undisclosed super-weapons) Unlike the idea of Valhalla their warring lore comes across and hateful and lacking in passion or anything worthy of respect, their lore is an edgy teen eating a medicine cabinet and getting locked in eternal psychosis despite clearly wishing to pull on the idea of Valhalla. Trust the french to be delusional, a country that thinks a city stinking of piss and cheese is romantic isn't expected to produced well adjusted or smart people. So yeah, was expecting to like em going in but Magma are pretentious trash with weird religious cult bullshit in it's lore, fuck em.

[@HenryFordOfficial]

very bad vocal fry, you should have hired a narrator

[@couleurlourde3352]

Merci