Given my recent orders from French bands and labels I almost feel like an essential factor in France's economy: Several records from WV Sorcerer Productions albums, a shipment from Seventh Records, which included an Offering CD box and Magma's fantastic live double album "Eskähl 2020" - and also two (or four depending on how you count) precious vinyl reissues:
MAGMA - Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh (copper vinyl LP) (1973/2022)
It's damn impossible to overstate the importance of this album. Of course there are other worthwhile starting points into the unique world of Magma, and it's for sure ok to have other albums as personal favorites. But ultimately "Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh" remains the central artistic statement, the at its time absolutely alien booster detonation of Christian Vander's newly created genre Zeuhl, which combined wild, yet hypnotically repetitive progressive rock with the free jazz spirit of Coltrane and modern classic composers like Orff and Strawinsky, seasoned with choirs chanting in a made-up language and the drummer's own ecstatic vocal scats.
Even though the still active band has improved and refined many skills over the decades, the impact of "M.D.K." hasn't decreased in the least. This piece of music remains monolithic, enigmatic and mind-blowing, no matter if you see the band performing it today or stick to the original studio recording. Or in short: There's no doubt that the music on this album is untouchable.
So since I've had very good experience with previous vinyl reissues from Magma (as well as the label Music On Vinyl) and only owned this one on CD so far, I just couldn't say no to this limited copper edition.
It sounds great, a flawless pressing in my book, and it has a shiny gatefold cover including French liner notes and Kobaïan lyrics. Beautiful item, definitely worth it!
It was not only great in itself, but also stirred my interest for this three LP box, which combines the completey "777" trilogy of the albums "Sect(s)", "The Desactification" and "Cosmosophy".
What's the concept of the trilogy? I honestly don't know - and the song titles, which are just "Epitome" with a Roman Numeral from I to XVIII, don't really help. But honestly, I don't really care either, so why am I even mentioning it? Let's just look at this thing!
The bad:
I'm aware that most buyers of sets like this will probably be hardcore fans, who already own the album in another form. Still it would be a pretty nice gesture for newbies like me to pair a pricy acquisition like this with a download code.
One of the three included posters, which shows the box cover's hourglass, is missing - not only from my copy, as I've heard. Instead the "Desanctification" poster comes twice. Not super important to me, since I don't have free wall space anyway, but still a pity.
The good:
Three diverse albums of sensationally great, boundless avant-garde black metal with strong industrial influences, melodic and dissonant, beautiful and infernal stuff happening, while simply just going into every possible direction its creator wants to stir it. Which most of the time is not as out there as what obvious Blut Aus Nord fans like Esoctrilihum, Bríi or also Imprial Triumphant are doing today. Yet it's still a pretty wild - and from album to album more daring - ride, which on the final, in the beginning very My Dying Bride doomy chapter even includes a piece which sports French hip hop. Combined with the generally very unapologetic drum computer sound that's of course a "Le Privilege Des Morts" moment for the Laibach listener in me. But all in all these three albums are just overflowing with amazing ideas presented in a sick signature sound. No doubt, the music alsone deserves more than a threefold fuck yeah.
On top of that this musick is pressed on some very splendidly coloured exclusice vinyl versions, packed in gatefold covers, all within a simple yet gorgeous box.
And since I recently got a new turntable, the final kicker for me to purchase this box was of course that it also includes a slipmat.
By the way: My old player, which has moved to another room now, was allowed to keep its slipmat. Its design is none other than the famous logo of... Magma. And that's what I call a closed circle.
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