Magma

180-gram vinyl. The only survivors of the former line-up, Christian Vander and Klaus Blasquiz, with a new team of supporting musicians, recorded Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh at the Manor Studios in Oxford in 1973. Many people consider this album to be Magma's masterpiece. From then on, Vander was definitively confirmed as the group's artistic director. If the instrumental performance gains more power, notably with the arrival of Jannick Top on bass, the most striking feature of Mëkanďk is the epic sound and masterly effort put in by the vocal section. The voices of Klaus and Christian are propelled by an inexorable rhythm and reinforced by female vocalists, featuring Stella Vander for the first time. They become fixed in our souls with these magnificent songs which seem to come directly from our collective memory, giving Magma its special qualities of universality and timelessness." (label info)