In
Toulouse, before a stunned audience the formation of the grand epoch "accomplished"
a fiery concert, and the movements of that tornado went like this: drums from
another world, imperial violin by Lockwood, bulldozer bass from Paganotti, the
hypnotic keyboards of Gauthier and Widemann, voices from the abyss by Stella
Vander and Klaus Blasquiz, all the instrumentation was furious and dealt directly
with the fantastic compositions:
'Köhntarkösz' enigmatic and resplendent in a sharper version than that on 'Hhaï / Live', explore the fascinating paths contained herein, so intense and soaring that they seem to have been harnessed in the course of many tours.
Christian Vander's singing at the start of 'Hhaï is instantly recognisable, a sort of variation prefiguring perhaps OFFERING. A volcanic version to which one returns very quickly for a replay.
'Kobaïa' is transformed, more ample, more rock, somewhere between the Magma of the great days, and The Doors and Santana. The guitarist, Gabriel Federow primarily leading the quest. As in times past and always, one must state the obvious: this recording, released from some Vanderienne dungeon, is indispensable. Very different to the recordings at the Taverne de l'Olympia, less "classical", less "perfect", but hot and free, (already well run in no doubt) and more uplifting for the soul than ever!
Unadulterated Magnificence! This double CD is indisputably the best Zeuhl album since 'Üdü Wüdü'! Emmanuel was so overwhelmed by this treasure that he forgot to send in a review of disc two, so I could not let this one pass without telling those of you who have not yet discovered what else lurks inside the box:
'Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh' (Third movement of Theusz Hamtaahk, version 24-09-75). A stereo soundboard recording with no overdubs. Forget those dodgy old 10th generation cassette recordings that wore out years ago, this is the real thing. The bass storm blows you off your feet, then Klaus and Stella whip up a choral frenzy, while Christian is simply surreal. It takes a few minutes before Didier's scorching violin and Federow's searing guitar make themselves felt in the line-up that was just about to visit the UK for the last time. What first struck me about this recording is how sad it is that so little has been heard of the Paganotti maelstrom before this release. Please God let there be many more AKT's to come... Strap me down, I can't believe how mind boggling this release is compared to everything else that has been issued in the last 19 years!
In short it's stunning. Tu veux Kobaïa?
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