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Mekanik Kommandoh (1973)Genres: zeuhl, heavy progressive, dark progressive |
Christian Vander proves that he is a brilliant and truly original composer (we already knew about his percussion skills) with “Mekanik Kommandoh”. The piece is basically the first draft of “Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh”, Magma’s most famous and praised piece of music. And what a draft it is. Rough outline might be a more suitable description since the main difference between the two versions is that MK is a lot rougher. The sparse instrumentation consists of bass, drums, organ, piano, xylophone and, of course, the choir. The sound is dominated by the drums and the unorthodox singing of the choir, while the organ and the xylophone can be heard sporadically in the background. Vander’s performance behind the drums is phenomenal and the choir chants and screams like madmen. Vander really puts his made-up language (that reminds me of German) into full use with this choir dominated piece. If you believe that inventing your own language is a clear sign of madness, or just pretentiousness, imagine the whole piece sung in French. Then think again. The composition relies heavily on repetition for its effect. Typically a theme is introduced by the choir. Then the instruments join in and the theme is repeated over and over with increasing intensity. And when both Vander’s drumming and the chanting of the choir are so intense you cannot imagine them putting more energy into the next repetition a female voice pierces the theme with a shriek and the whole thing reaches the climax. At that point you are most likely in a state of ecstasy. The formula doesn’t work every time though; once or twice the repetition of a theme becomes slightly tedious, since there is no noticeable development of the theme. Fortunately, these rare occasions do not affect the overall impression of the piece.
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Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (1973)Genres: zeuhl, heavy progressive, dark progressive |
Let me tell you right away that I prefer the “Mekanik Kommandoh” version of this piece. This version is denser, more sophisticated and richer orchestrated (with the inclusion of a brass section, guitars and flute). The drums are no longer a lead instrument (in fact they are barely audible). In addition the choir is more polished, which means that they do not sound like the bunch of madmen that gave MK its rough edges. This might sound like a good thing, but to me it is not. If you ask me the drums and the unorthodox singing of the choir were essential to the success of MK. So the sophisticated version turns out to be the dull version (dull in comparison that is). Think of it as a domesticated beast if you will.
