01	Kohntarkosz (Part 1)						15:23
	02	Kohntarkosz (Part 2)						16:04
	03	Ork Alarm						05:29
	04	Coltrane Sundia						04:14

Kohntarkosz

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Release Notes
Vertigo AML S 68260 (LP) 1974 [France]
Vertigo 6325750 (LP) 1974 [Euro]
A & M AMLH 68260 (LP) 1974 [UK]
A & M SP 3650 (LP) 1974 [USA]
Celluloid LTM 1006 (LP) 1974 [UK]
Seventh REX VIII (CD) 1988 [France]
A & M PCCY-10180 (CD) 1991 [Japan]
Seventh ???? (CD) 1993 [France]

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Songs
1. Kohntarkosz (Part I) C.Vander 15:22
2. Ork Alarm J.Top 5:28
3. Kohntarkosz (Part II) C.Vander 15:55
4. Coltrane Sundia C.Vander 4:11
5. Kohntarkosz - Ver.2 (First Seventh CD issue only) 29:50

Note: Seventh REX VIII track order is: 1,3,5,2,4


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Members
Christian Vander Drums,Vocals,Piano,Percussion
Jannick Top Bass,Cello,Vocals,Piano
Klaus Blasquiz Vocals,Percussion
Gerard Bikialo Pianos,Yamaha Organ
Michel Graillier Pianos,Clavinet
Stella Vander Vocals
Brian Godding Guitar

"Loulou" Sarkissian "Mekanik" Stage Manager
Fabio Nicoli Design & Art Direction
Giorgio Gomelsky Producer
Malcolm Robertson Photography
Simon Heyworth Engineer






Christian Vander, drums, vocals, piano, percussions;
Jannick Top, bass, cello, vocals, piano;
Klaus Blasquiz, vocals, percussions;
Gerard Bikialo, pianos, Yamaha organ;
Michel Graillier, pianos, clavinet;
Stella Vander, vocals;
Brian Godding, guitar

Bob Eichler:
This album is taken up mostly by the half hour long title track, which is split into two halves (due to the limitations of the original vinyl). To be honest, this track is a little too repetitive and slow-developing even for me. It does build up some serious intensity and energy during its final third or so, but by then it has usually lost my attention. When I first got this CD, I made the mistake of playing it in the car while my wife was along. After the first five minutes, she asked "Are they going somewhere with this, or are they just gonna repeat the same three chords for the entire album?". I hate to say it, but she has a point. If you have the attention span for it though, they do eventually do interesting things with those three chords, and build them up into a fairly exciting climax. Still, when I want to hear one of Magma's main sequence of studio albums, I'm much more likely to reach for MDK or Wurdah Itah (or even the first album) than Kohntarkosz.
Of the other two tracks, "Ork Alarm" doesn't really grab me - it suffers from the same problem that the oft-praised "De Futura" does, in that it sounds like someone just strung together a bunch of repetitive bass riffs (not surprising, since both tracks were written by the bassist). The real gem of this album for me is "Coltrane Sundia". A short piece tacked on at the end of the disc, it almost seems like an afterthought. But those who disparagingly describe Magma as "Klingon Opera" need to hear this song. A beautiful instrumental with twinkling piano, distant guitar and a slow, flowing melody that reminds me of the chiming bass coda at the very end of Chris Squire's Fish Out of Water album. Good stuff.

Heather MacKenzie:
Kohntarkosz is a repetitive jazz-rock trance album much like Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh, but where MDK is powerful, brassy, choral, tension building, and sometimes violent, Kohntarkosz is mysterious, dark, cool, and hypnotic.
The centerpiece is "Kohntarkosz" Parts One and Two, composed by Christian Vander, which really seems like a single piece lasting about 30 minutes. The simple piano, bass and drum patterns repeat over and over and over in trance-inducing cycles, snaking up and down; the sustained blanket of Doors-sounding keys cast a sinister and psychedelic mood; the occasional intense guitar wails away like a buzz saw. The vocals are usually whispery chants that move with the flow of music; they are not aggressive like MDK. The repetitive patterns in the music are like cartoon spider webs or kaleidoscope images. This aspect seems very related to John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" (the full length version of the song).
"Ork Alarm" is slashing horror-movie zeuhl composedby Jannik Top, and "Coltrane Sundia" is incredible with the shimmering, ethereal piano, stops and restarts, and lovely melodies.

Joe McGlinchey:
This album is mostly given to the studio version of what is, in my opinion, Magma's greatest composition, "Kohntarkosz." The studio "Kohntarkosz" may be best described as an early, blueprint version of the work. There is a clearer tonality to this version compared to the live versions available from the following years, especially with keyboard parts played on an acoustic piano and organ rather than the shimmering reverb of the Fender Rhodes. The tempo and Vander's drumming are more even-keeled and much more restrained. The explosive ending of the live versions is not yet in place, with the piece's conclusion rather anti-climactic by comparison. The closest analogy for listening to this that I can think of is like viewing a Christmas tree set in its place, but before its ornaments and lights are put on. Though still with its own beauty, it's quite a different experience.
There are two other, small-scale pieces on the album. The oppressive "Ork Alarm," composed by bassist Jannick Top, sounds a little too silly for me. The stunning "Coltrane Sundia," however, is complete serenity and captures the hypnotic, 'wave' sound of the classic Coltrane quartet. Ooh, wish that one were longer. In summary, if you've heard Hhai/Live already, I'd defer getting this album for now as mostly overlapping and instead would explore other entries in Magma's catalog. If you've never heard Magma, this album makes a fine starter, if you keep in mind that it gets even better.

Gary Niederhoff:
As would seem to be the norm, I was turned on to Magma after hearing Hhai, their double live LP from 1975. The version of "Kohntarkosz" on that LP is re-named "Kohntark" for legal reasons, and is as spellbinding a version of the tune as I've ever heard. But the one here deserves special analysis, which you'll find below. The last 2 songs on this CD (or the last song on each side of the vinyl) are, in my Magmopinion, forgettable. With all due respect to Monsieur Top, "Ork Alarm" fails to focus on the aspects of Magma that endear them to me, especially Christian's drumming, of which it is entirely devoid, and seems to somehow drone out with Top's cello and various vocal surges (but none from Stella - another drawback to this song) before ending with a comparatively pounding bass that sounds like it should have been the centerpiece of the whole song. It's good, yet lacking. The last track is a very mellow piano, cello & vocal tribute to John Coltrane, which is also devoid of drums. I'm probably being an overcritical bastard about that, but it just isn't the Magma style that throws me into involuntary ecstatic conniptions the way most of their discography does. Why get this album then? First, a word from Christian Vander about the title track (from here):
"It's perhaps the more misunderstood of all the Magma's tunes, and the more complex one. It's based on a very syncopated rhythm where Time seems to be Counter time, and where Counter times emerge from Counter time ... leading to a very original spatial position. It provokes a physical and psychic feeling that is totally new, even by now. Still nowadays, many people - and many musicians - do think that this tune is based only on Counter time, and that's why they can't listen to or play it rightly."
What the listener gets as a reward for owning this album is the original version of "Kohntarkosz", with a slightly slower tempo than the live version on Hhai, and thus a more daunting tone altogether. The song's second half presents a tempo and texture change which I have found is most dramatic on this original studio version. I'll always be completely blown away by Didier Lockwood's violin solo over this part on Hhai, but its absence here and the overall subdued tempo make the intentions described by Vander above far more clear to the listener. I wish they could have made their live approach to the song this deliberate, with or without Lockwood. For those just exploring Magma, leave this release for later, but to those who've long bathed in Kobaian streams, it is as essential a piece of their discography as any of their early works.





Kohntarkosz
Date of Release 1974

AMG REVIEW: Magma's famed "Kobaian" saga took a detour with this 1974 release. Drummer Christian Vander's band had heretofore specialized in a brand of progressive rock that had more in common with the Teutonic grandeur of Richard Wagner than the Baroque ornamentation of Yes or Gentle Giant. Kohntarkosz witnessed a change in sound to something altogether stranger, yet by many accounts, more conventionally beautiful. Vander is on record as saying he was worried that other artists had been "stealing" his ideas (most notably, Mike Oldfield, who had been a studio visitor during the sessions for Mekanik Destruktiw Kommanoh), and that may have been the impetus for the new direction. This album emphasized smoother, more textural arrangements than previous Magma efforts. The cyclical themes in the two-part title suite, along with the trance-inducing repetition of the group vocals, were a far cry from the controlled martial fury of earlier records. However, the lengthy solo jam in "Kohntarkosz, Pt. 2" demonstrates that Magma was hardly married to convoluted themes and languages; the band could work up an improvisational fire with the best fusion bands. Jannick Top's "Ork Alarm" is a short piece featuring aggressive cello and guttural vocals that is perhaps out of place on this album; Vander's gorgeous "Coltrane Sundia," an homage to the late jazz legend, ends Kohntarkosz on a solemn, peaceful note. Although the definitive version of the title suite is found on 1975's Magma Live, this record stands alongside the best Magma studio releases. - Dominique Leone

1. Kohntarkosz, Pt. 1 (Vander) - 15:22
2. Kohntarkosz, Pt. 2 (Vander) - 15:55
3. Ork Alarm (Top) - 5:28
4. Kohntarkosz (Vander) - 29:50
5. Coltrane Sundia (Vander) - 4:11


Gerlad Bikailo - Keyboards
Klaus Blasquiz - Percussion, Vocals
Alain Charlery - Trumpet
Brian Godding - Guitar
Giorgio Gomelsky - Percussion
Michel Graillier - Keyboards
Louis Sarkissian - Saxophone
Jannick Top - Bass
Stella Vander - Vocals

1974 LP A&M 3650
1988 CD Seventh REX VIII