It was in 1970 that the explosive compound of a cavernous bass and a hammering beat erupted from our record players, as an otherworldly voice chanted in a mysterious language, the sound swelling with incandescent guitar riffs and the full force of a brass section. Thus began a first, double album, quite simply entitled Magma. Its cover emblazoned with a gigantic claw crushing human civilisation, this marked the first instalment in the Kobaïa epic and Magma’s blazing entry into the nascent world of French rock. Musically unclassifiable, resolutely odd, the group nevertheless belongs to the homegrown French music scene, not least because of its audience, drawn from local youth and arts centres and alternative venues. At the time opinion was divided, some responded with enthusiasm, others rejected from the outset the music and the image of a group that was like no other. Its strangeness and creative force meant that Magma would never appeal to everyone but the Parisian group’s landmark debut immediately guaranteed them a place in music history.

Hailing from such diverse musical backgrounds as jazz, classical, blues, rock and pop, the eight founding musicians had all the talent required to bring this unique and visionary music to life. Either already accomplished or promising soloists, such as the pianist François “Faton” Cahen, the guitarist Claude Engel, the saxophonist Teddy Lasry and the extraordinary singer Klaus Blasquiz, they also succeeded in fusing together to form an impressive collective. Proving over time to be not so much the demiurge as the keystone of the whole endeavor, drummer, pianist and singer, Christian Vander, always surrounded himself with collaborators, over a hundred in total, each of whom excelled within the group. So common was it for musicians to subsequently launch their careers as sidemen or soloists that people sometimes refer to the Magma school of music. It would be impossible to list them all of course, but mention should be made of the four bass players who, along with Vander, formed the inexorable rhythm section, the bedrock, the vital powerhouse needed to construct this infernal architecture of sound: Francis Moze, the first, Jannick Top, practically Vander’s alter ego, Bernard Paganotti, whose children would also play with Magma and finally, Philippe Bussonnet, with the group since 1992.

Despite Yves Adrien’s rave review in Rock and Folk, the second album, 1001° Centigrades, met with a rather mixed response; even the group themselves were not entirely satisfied. The album also marked the end of their first cycle, and the beginning of Christian Vander’s undisputed leadership. To celebrate Magma’s 45th anniversary, the drummer has produced a radically new version of his composition “Rïah Sahïltaahk” which is being brought out independently of the original album’s re-release. Also new for January 2015 is the release of ∑hlag Tanz, a score that strides like a metal symphony, previously heard only in performance.
In 1973, Magma gained international recognition with Mekanïk Destruktïẁ Kommandöh. Produced by eccentric impresario, Giorgio Gomelsky, this extended suite of devastating power dropped yet another musical bombshell. The brass was toned down to give the choir, driven by an implacable rhythm, pride of place; this was the first album to feature the voice of Stella Vander.

Between 1974 and 1978 the group experienced its most intense period of work, both in the studio and on stage: Ẁurdah Ïtah, a quartet which provided the score for the film Tristan et Iseult; Köhntarkösz, an album dominated by its somber and majestic title piece, whose themes were developed further in 2004 by K.A (Köhntarkösz Anteria), and in 2009 by Ëmëhntëtt-Rê. The Köhntarkösz trilogy will be performed in full at the Triton concert hall, eastern Paris, in November 2014. Üdü Ẁüdü was the culmination of the perfect symbiosis between Christian Vander and Jannik Top, including the legendary De Futura. Attahk, with cover design by Swiss surrealist painter H.R. Giger and featuring the magnificent Coltranesque ballad Dondaï, brought this cycle to a close, along with the magnificent live recording of the 1975 concert, Magma Live, which will be re-released for 2015 in its 1989 mix. After taking time out to focus on various related projects (Christian Vander Trio, Offering, Les Voix de Magma) and to build the “live” archive (Konzert Zünd, a definitive box set of 12 CDs due for release in Christmas 2015), Magma returned in 1985 with Merci, containing the sublime tracks Otis, sung in French, and Eliphas Levi. This ode to soul music and to Otis Redding was created in much the same spirit and possessed the same unique touch with which John Coltrane (to whom Merci is dedicated) infused Coltrane Plays The Blues.

You will hear and see the group’s current line-up, unchanged now for a number of years, in concert at the Triton. With the exception of keyboard player, these are the same musicians who presided over Félicité Thösz – only the group’s eleventh studio album in 45 years. In a league of their own, like every other previous incarnation of Magma, they are the guardians of an exhilarating heritage, riven with searing musical and sonic visions, as captured on each and every essential album in this anniversary series. (Pressetext)