KEEP PUSHING

Fifty-four years ago, Magma opened the gates to Zeuhl and unleashed their otherworldly music on our unsuspecting ears. Despite countless line-up changes, they’ve continued on their experimental path and have now arrived at their most accessible album yet, Kãrtëhl. Longtime vocalist Stella Vander Linon explains how their recent restructuring has brought new life to their unique sound, and reveals why they’re still pushing each other to keep going.

Rob Hughes

“We had problems, not only musical problems, so we started to think about who could be in the band. We’d been together for too long and everyone was tired of each other. For me, it wasn’t a band anymore.” There was a worrying air of finality about Magma’s last album. Released in 2019, Zëss was an apocalyptic vision rescued from the vaults, the belated fulfilment of an abandoned project that dated back to the late 70s. The timing seemed very apt. Fifty years since they first formed in Paris, Magma appeared to be tidying up loose ends for one end-of-days blow-out. Leader Christian Vander even suggested as much in the translated lyrics: ‘We are here, we are ready in this ancient stadium/We have come for the last gathering’. Thankfully though, and…

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Prog (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 136

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