Progressive Rock:
French Zeuhl
The second in a series of highly successful articles on prog will focus on the movement known as Zeuhl, which sounded very similar to jazz fusion during its origins, and still does, but is also catagorized by extremely prominent bass, complex drumming, and chanting. The genre was developed by the French band Magma in the 70s, and later spread to Japan in the 90s. The Japanese vision of Zeuhl is much more hectic, chaotic, and avant-garde. This article will focus on the Progressive Fusion movement in France, which I will from now on refer to as French Zeuhl.
Hey, what does "Zeuhl" mean anyway?
It is a word in the Kobaian language that means "celestial". Its origins come from this band:
Magma
Zeuhl was developed by the band Magma, whose albums are all related in that they chronicle the mythology of the planet Kobaia. This is not important in understanding their music however, as the lyrics are sung in Kobaian, a language created by Christian Vander, drummer, leader, and only constant force behind the band during its existance.
While the statement sounds radical, Magma was French Zeuhl's ONLY real band during the 70s. Any others were offshoots in which one or more former members of Magma participated. The 80s brought unique bands with them, and I shall discuss some of them here as well.
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| Kobaia (1970) | 1001° Centigrades (1971) | Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh (1973) | Köhntarkösz (1974) | Wurdah Ïtah (1974) | Üdü Wüdü (1976) | K.A. (2004) |
As this is the most important band in Zeuhl, the majority of their albums can be considered essential listening. Their most famous is Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh (shortened to MDK for sanity). It should definately be on your playlist if you like Zeuhl. There is an alternate version on their "live" album Retrospektiw I-II released in 1981 (claimed to be live but actually recorded in studio and overdubbed with crowd noise) which I also recommend. MDK has very prominent brass and choir sections, making for a majestic experience, though these additions sometimes interfere with the dynamics and subtleties. The version on Retrospektiw I-II does not have a brass section. Also, this is technically all one song.
The albums I would recommend first however are Udu Wudu and Kobaia (their two disc debut). Udu Wudu I consider their most accessible along with Attahk (1978), the latter unfortunately having a good to weak track ratio of about 1:1. Their debut is good for fusion fans who would prefer a more subtle and jazzy introduction to Magma. From Udu Wudu and Kobaia proceed to MDK and then Kontarkosz. From here, if you are a big jazz or fusion fan, try 1001 degrees Centigrades. If you are the type of Zeuhl fan who wants to stay away from jazz for the most part, go get K.A. (full name Kontarkosz Anteria), their first studio album in 20 years, which is a much welcome return to form after three weaker albums. Finally, once you become fully indoctrinated in the ways of Zeuhl, listen to Wurdah Itah, originally released as a Christian Vander solo album but now part of the Magma catalogue.
By the way, their weaker albums are not "weaker" per se, they just contain more simple compositions and sound almost poppy/disco-ish.
During the 80s Christian Vander continued in a more jazz orientated direction with Offering. He recently brought Magma back together to record new material.
You mentioned something about a mythology?
Nothing gets by you! Correct, this mythology is the unifying force behind much, if not all, of Magma. Because of the lack of information given to fans by the band, much of the story is up for debate and speculation. In fact, in their debut album, the language was not much more than gibberish. It was not fully developed until later albums with the help of Klaus Blasquiz.
Anyway, here is the known plot as written by Peter Thelen:
Hidden content (Click to reveal)The first album, a 2 LP set simply title MAGMA [or, Kobaia], is where the story begins. The first disc concerns itself with the departure and journey to Kobaia, arrival at their destination, the long and patient process of building a new society according to their vision, and their process of learning how to live in harmony with their new surroundings, while attaining a high degree of technological advancement. The second disc involves the rescue of a foreign spaceship which gets into orbital difficulties over Kobaia- this ship turns out to be manned by a crew from Earth. The visitors tell of the continued degeneration and disasters that have afflicted Earth, and at the same time are impressed with the progress that the Kobaians have made, their philosophy and societial organization, and how they have learned to live as one at peace with their surroundings. The Earthmen request that the Kobaians visit Earth and attempt to propagate their philosophy in order to save society from its certain destruction. After some deliberation, a small party agrees to accompany the stranded visitors on their journey home.
1000 DEGREES CENTIGRADES, the second Magma album from 1971, begins with the arrival of the Kobaian party back on Earth, and the seemingly friendly welcome they receive. The Earth people listen to the stories of the establishment and growth of Kobaian civilization, to their philosophy, and ideas for the betterment of life on Earth through purification and spiritual enlightment. But after airing these ideas at a meeting with the Earth authorities, the Kobaian party is promptly imprisoned and their spacecraft is impounded. But a message is sent to Kobaia, and a rescue effort is begun. The Kobaian rescus party offers the Earth authorities the choice of releasing the imprisoned Kobaians, or face certain destruction by the Kobaian's ultimate weapon. The imprisoned Kobaians are promptly released, and although they vow never to return, their visit is to be remembered by the few they came in contact with for a long period of time, their ideas preserved and passed on for future generations.
One of these people who remembered the essence of the Kobaians' visit was a man named Nebehr Gudahtt, a spiritualist who is the subject of the third Magma album, MEKANIK DESTRUKTIW KOMMANDOH, recorded in 1973. His message to the people of Earth is that their only salvation from an ultimate and certain doom is through self purification and communication with the divine spirit of the supreme being, the Kreuhn Kohrman. With this album we are introduced to the story of the Theusz Hamtaahk (literal translation: Time of Hatred) concerning the period of time on Earth between the Kobaian visit and the celestial march for enlightenment led by Nebehr Gudahht which concludes this album. At first Gudahtt's message is rejected, and the people march against him, but as they march they begin to question their very existance and purpose. One by one, they begin to see his truth, slowly reaching enlightenment, and begin to march with him instead of against him.
MDK is the third movement of the Theusz Hamtaahk, which leads one to the question- where are the first and second movements? Originally, the Theusz Hamtaahk was ambitiously planned to be three cycles of three movements each (nine movements total), but the idea was apparently abandoned after MDK- at least further movements beyond that point were not identified as such. The second movement appeared the following year as the soundtrack to the Yvan Lagrange film 'Tristan et Yseult,' recorded by a scaled down 4-piece version of the band and officially listed as a Christian Vander solo record. In fact its CD re-release is credited to Magma and restores its proper title WURDAH ITAH (translates to: Dead Earth). The first movement of Theusz Hamtaahk, a full length thirty-five minute opus, was performed regularly live, but was not released on record until the 1980 live album RETROSPEKTIW I-IV.
With their forth album KOHNTARKOSZ, Magma began what is presumed to be the first movement of the second cycle of the Theusz [H]amtaahk, the story of Ementeht-Re. Here the story gets a bit more cryptic, intentionally so, as by this time Magma's music is taking on a more spiritual and purely musical nature, where vocals seem to be more an element of the music than a vechile for delivering lyrics. Kohntarkosz is a man who discovers an old Egyptian tomb of an ancient master, murdered before reaching his aim, which was immortality. When he enters the tomb, he has a visioin of Ementeht-Re, and all of his secrets are then revealed to Kohntarkosz.
The story goes on. A presumed second movement of Ementeht-Re was never recorded in one piece, but is scattered randomly across the next two albums MAGMA LIVE (the tracks 'Hhai' and 'Ementeht-Re') and UDU WUDU (the tracks 'Zombies,' 'Soleil D'Ork' and 'De Futura'). At this point, the story becomes increasingly unclear. Other tracks like 'Om Zanka' and 'Gamma Anteria' (from the live album INEDITS) and 'Ptah' (from the unauthorized live MEKANIK ZEUHL WORTZ) seem to be into the general concept as well, but Vander offered few clues as to where the story goes after Kohntarkosz. Magma's 1978 album ATTAHK appears to have a theme also, but it seems to be unique unto itself and not tied with any of the previous records. Again, Vander offers few clues. This also marks the last studio album which is sung exclusively in the Kobaian language.
The short version:
Kobaia: Some people leave a dying Earth and found a new society on Kobaia.
1001 Degrees Centigrades: The Kobaians visit Earth to teach their philosophies, but are treated badly and vow never to return.
Theusz Hamtaahk & Wurdah Itah: The first and second movements of the Theusz Hamtaahk (translated as Time of Hatred) trilogy (third movement being MDK). Not much informtion, but assume that time passes and things on Earth get more and more desparate.
MDK: A man who believes in the Kobaian teachings tries to lead everything to adopt those ways. In the end they do.
Kohntarkosz: A man discovers the tomb of Ementeht-Re, who discovered the secret of eternal life but died before using it.
Okay enough with the Magma already!
Zao
The earliest offshoot band from Magma, Zao was founded by two former Magma members who left after recording Kobaia and 1001 Degrees Centigrades. They left because they did not want to participate in the direction Magma was taking with MDK. Instead, Zao continued in the vein of Magma's first two albums. However they progressed away from Zeuhl with each release and more towards normal fusion. Their later albums have been compared to Weather Report.
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| Z=7L (1973) | Osiris (1975) | Shekina(1975) | Kawana (1976) | Typhareth (1977) |
This is their entire discography (other than a 1994 reunion album not worth mentioning). As you go from left to right you gradually get less and less Zeuhl influence until finally you are left with Typhareth which has almost no connection to Zeuhl, as the made up language (not Kobaian though) chanting present in their first three albums is gone. Zao has gone through line up changes in between each album and each sounds slightly different as a result.
Eskaton
Eskaton formed in 1970 under the name Eskaton Kommandkestra, but did not record anything until almost 10 years later, releasing three albums.
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| 4 Visions (1979) |
If I said that Eskaton took all that was good and beautiful about Zeuhl and put it all on one very acessible album sung in French, would you do all you could to get this little gem into your possession? I rest my case. The bassist has catchy licks that rival any pop/disco group and the overall sound is more rock based than jazz based (as Magma's was). I almost think this would be a better introduction to Zeuhl than Magma, but that would be heresy wouldn't it? Regardless, get this album! Their other two follow along the same lines, but aren't quite a match.
Weidorje
About the same quality of amazing as Eskaton, while keeping more faithful to Magma. All this means is that they sound more like Magma than Eskaton did, due in part or in whole to the two ex-Magma members (bassist Bernard Paganotti and keyboardist Patrick Gauthier) involved. Their name is taken from a track off Magma's Udu Wudu album.
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| Weidorje (1978) |
Only one recorded studio album, with two live bonus tracks. I would compare the sound to Udu Wudu era Magma, though Weidorje is more funky.
Dün
An oddity, mainly because it sounds closer to Japanese Zeuhl (like Happy Family) than French. The sound is much more chaotic than traditional French Zeuhl, whose sound has always been much more cohesive.
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| Eros (1981) |
The sheer randomness of this lone release is enough to put off potential listeners. Eros, based on the Dune series by Frank Herbert, is probably what Zeuhl would sound like if Fantomas had a go at the genre. As a whole each track is impossible to understand. Dissected however, each individual section (skip to any part of any song and listen to it for a minute and see if you aren't impressed) is like a gold mine of unusual melody and unique sounds.
Eider Stellaire
Founded in 1980 by the drummer of Offering (is Vander like the leader of some musical cult?), Eider Stellaire is like a mixture of Magma and Eskaton, but not as oppressive as the first or as loud as the second. Yet darker sounding than either. They put out three albums, plus one unofficial one which I'd only try if you really like the others. In general, the drumming is more simple and straightforward than that of the other bands.
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| I (1981) | II (1986) | III (1987) |
Their first is their best so go with that first. Their second is less accessible but pretty good, so get it next. Their third is a bit different and somewhat not as good, so use your judgement. The first two are worthy acquisitions for hardcore Zeuhl fans while the third sounds kind of similar to the next band on this list, minus the avant-garde.
Shub-Niggurath
Shub-Niggurath is equal parts Zeuhl and Univers Zero. Pretty different from all of the above. I would recommend this Zeuhl-chamber rock hybrid to fans avant-garde and RIO (basically, if you like The Red Masque, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and of course Univers Zero, you'll feel at home here). I like this though and I find similarities with Zeuhl so I believe they are worth checking out.
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| Les Morts Vont Vite (1986) |
This is the only album of theirs I've heard so its the only one I can recommend. Also, rumor has it that while their other two albums: C'Étaient De Très Grands Vents and Testament are pretty good, this one is their best.
Wow, you sure wrote a lot you should be promoted to admin or something.
Hey yeah I know.
And that's French Zeuhl (and all its variations) for you in a single post. Happy hunting!
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Progressive Rock (The Best Genre in the World): French Zeuhl