• Home
  • Biography
  • Discography
  • Tour
    • Past concerts
  • Media
  • Booking
  • Shop
  • Français

ZËSS, le jour du néant

Release Date: 2019-06-28
Available now on:
  • https://www.seventhrecords.com/en/magma-19/zess-1284.html
Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.
Loading tracks...
/

“Zëss”—the name itself is sharp as a blade, slender as a cut, sudden like a darting meteor, fast as it is acute. While the inspiration that permeates Zëss comes from time immemorial, a first draft emerged in 1977. After being gradually completed, the piece debuted in concert in the spring of 1979. It became a staple of Magma’s repertoire until it was set aside in 1983.

The music itself seems born out of the night in order to transfigure it. The first chords ring out in the dim dawn, then rise and cast their great shadows against the day. Already their orb suggests the oval shape of an ancient stadium set in the cosmic darkness. It is an immense celestial arena, an agora where all the voices of the universe resonate. Everyone has assembled for a last celebration, a gathering of the innumerable into a single point where everything comes together for the Day of Oblivion.

Zëss had long been plagued by its incompleteness and its recording was deferred for years. Four decades after its first draft, the work has finally been recorded in an orchestral version that gives it both its true dreamlike dimension and its transcending power. For Zëss is above all the visionary reflection of an immemorial dream haunting the most obscure part of our souls.

Zëss treads a line between a vital overflowing and the edges of the unlivable. It is an incandescent and heady oratorio where consciousness questions its other side in a measureless journey. Zëss indicates the ultimate reversal out of which bursts a beyond of music that only music can reach. Magma’s whole story condensed…

Album Review

Zëss. Hardcore Magma fans will be familiar with it through two previous official releases: First, there is the Bobino Concert 1981 CD (released in 1995) where we get a 30-minute excerpt of it as it was at that point in time, then again on the release “Les Voix” Concert 1992 Douarnenez for a 17-minute mostly vocal version (as part of a suite with “Ëmëntëht-Ré” and “C’est pour Nous”) featuring nine singers, piano, and drums. Apparently the first draft of the piece is from 1977, hatched during the sessions for Attahk, but not to be heard on any releases from that time (even unofficial live recordings.) So finally here we have in 2019 the definitive studio version of Zëss, being somewhere in between what we have heard on those two previous versions. Interestingly, Christian Vander chose not play his drums on this one, instead concentrating on the lead vocals along with eight additional singers in the chorus (including Stella, who also sings some lead vocal parts), while turning the drum kit over to the very capable Morgan Ågren. Other players include Simon GouZëss. Hardcore Magma fans will be familiar with it through two previous official releases: First, there is the Bobino Concert 1981 CD (released in 1995) where we get a 30-minute excerpt of it as it was at that point in time, then again on the release “Les Voix” Concert 1992 Douarnenez for a 17-minute mostly vocal version (as part of a suite with “Ëmëntëht-Ré” and “C’est pour Nous”) featuring nine singers, piano, and drums. Apparently the first draft of the piece is from 1977, hatched during the sessions for Attahk, but not to be heard on any releases from that time (even unofficial live recordings.) So finally here we have in 2019 the definitive studio version of Zëss, being somewhere in between what we have heard on those two previous versions. Interestingly, Christian Vander chose not play his drums on this one, instead concentrating on the lead vocals along with eight additional singers in the chorus (including Stella, who also sings some lead vocal parts), while turning the drum kit over to the very capable Morgan Ågren. Other players include Simon Goubert on piano, Philippe Bussonnet on bass, and Rudy Blas on guitars, while all of the additional orchestrations (arranged by Rémi Dumoutin) are provided by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Adam Klemens. The orchestra provides a powerful presence behind the band and the choir, just what the two previous recordings could have used; here the whole dynamic is enlarged by the orchestra’s presence, with complex arrangements that suit the piece perfectly, as it alternates between choral lead and solo voice, the players in the band pretty much holding down the paced rhythms while strings and horns take care of the melodic aspects. Listening to this new version is akin to revisiting those original versions with a more superlative and passionate realization. The earlier versions were fine, but this absolutely feels like the definitive version, now clocking in at 38 minutes. The piece is divided into seven parts, but there are no stops for the duration. Add to this some excellent and thoughtful liner notes regarding the piece, its evolution and meaning by Bruno Heuze (in both French and English) plus photos, lyrics, and translated lyrics (Kobaïan, French, and English) all housed in a 42-page CD sized hardbound book. This definitive version of Zëss has certainly been worth the wait.bert on piano, Philippe Bussonnet on bass, and Rudy Blas on guitars, while all of the additional orchestrations (arranged by Rémi Dumoutin) are provided by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Adam Klemens. The orchestra provides a powerful presence behind the band and the choir, just what the two previous recordings could have used; here the whole dynamic is enlarged by the orchestra’s presence, with complex arrangements that suit the piece perfectly, as it alternates between choral lead and solo voice, the players in the band pretty much holding down the paced rhythms while strings and horns take care of the melodic aspects. Listening to this new version is akin to revisiting those original versions with a more superlative and passionate realization. The earlier versions were fine, but this absolutely feels like the definitive version, now clocking in at 38 minutes. The piece is divided into seven parts, but there are no stops for the duration. Add to this some excellent and thoughtful liner notes regarding the piece, its evolution and meaning by Bruno Heuze (in both French and English) plus photos, lyrics, and translated lyrics (Kobaïan, French, and English) all housed in a 42-page CD sized hardbound book. This definitive version of Zëss has certainly been worth the wait.
- Peter Thelen, Exposé magazine
Back
2019 ® ALL RIGHTS RESERVED