Kohntarkosz

Magma | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• ASIN: B00000JM4G
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #602,471 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The dark dervish vortex of ëmëntëht-re, May 11, 2000

By 

Mathias Jonsson (Enköping, Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kohntarkosz (Audio CD)

With this album, Christian Vander intiated another Kobaïa cycle (after the "theusz hamtaahk" cycle); the so-called ëmëntëht-rë cycle, which so far is only represented by this album, although "Live" and "üdü wüdü" also are somewhat related to it. It concerns a man who enters the ancient Egyptian tomb of the priest ëmëntëht-rë who was assassinated before achieving immortality, the man experiences the spiritual quest of this master and his contact with the Egyptian deities.

Vander continues his emphasis on trancelike minimalism, using repetitive themes creating an increasing mantralike intensity. Köhntarkösz is Magma's most dark, sombre and intense piece, the piece is better structured than the MDK. Which piece one prefers is of course a matter of taste, myself I find Köhntarkösz the better one and the best Magma track.

This version has a more instrumental emphasis than MDK, also this studio version's vocal parts are not fully developed if you compare it with the incredible live version on "Live". I recommend that you also try to find the "BBC Londres 1974" CD which provides a slightly different, yet equally impressive live version with the same line-up as on this studio album (but with Claude Olmos on electric guitar, instead of Brian Godding).

The sombre repetitive music, consists of, as a previous reviewer has mentioned, of rising and falling themes (darkly forbiding/beautifully calming). It gives the impression of a musical vortex going deeper and deeper, like digging itself down deeper and deeper into the dark abysses of lava. It also made me think of dervishes in their swirling circular dances, rotating faster and faster. The intense build-up culminates here in a great organ solo by Michel Graillier. Jannick Top's atypical growling bass style has probably never been better captured than here.

The other two tracks are weaker though I myself like them a lot, Jannick Top's "Ork Alarm" is quite dark and suggestive, with Top on vocals/bass and cello. Vander's "Coltrane Sündïa" is a simple yet very beautiful piano piece, a very fine tribute to Vander's musical mentor, the genius of modern jazz, John Coltrane.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful & Otherworldly, December 23, 2003

By 

Samhot (Star Land) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kohntarkosz (Audio CD)

Hypnotic, oceanic, intense, soul-shaking, transcendent...these terms can continue to eternity, yet I don't think I'll ever come anywhere close to describing the feeling I get when listening to this wonderful piece of art. Drummer and composer/conceptualist Christian Vander (& company) took quite a different turn with _Kohntarkosz_ (1974), as it's very different than the massive, operatic, choral voice-soaked _Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh_ (1973), yet, this album is in no way inferior -- I find it to be just as strong, and deserving.

How to even describe this? Is it jazz-fusion? Maybe, but not the kind of jazz-fusion you're normally accustomed to. It's more like fusion-trance: a progressive form of rock which embodies traces of 20th Century classical music, and even subtle elements of free jazz. To make a long story short, the music is just as mysterious as the cover art suggests.

The title track is 31 minutes, and is split into two halves. Of course, this is, without question, the centerpiece of the album. It opens up with a suspended instrumental section: oceanic synthesizer textures encircle the atmosphere, with Christian Vander playing some seemingly improvisational, technically demanding drum fills to exhibit tension, and to set a distinctly regal mood. Then, a little later, the synthesizer textures begin to increase in weight and dynamics, and then these Africanesque chants are lightly smothered underneath the oceanic surface. This opening section alone is one of the most powerful and original moments in rock -- or to say the least, is one of my favorites.

What follows for the rest of this first half are repetitive odd-timed rhythms, mysterious chants, moody and ominous synthesizer textures, and other things that are hard to describe. When I mention the term 'repetitive,' I'm not referring to the pejorative, derogatory sense of the word. This smorgasbord of repetitive motifs can produce a powerful trance if you allow yourself to surrender to it's majestic aura, or, you may find it a bit boring.

The second half opens up with some elegant piano notes, which are shortly followed by some hypnotic, seductive, soothing vocals. From there, tension begins to be exercised: first, in subtle ways -- which are partially exhibited in the ascending notes -- and later, more aggressively. Shortly after, this elongated R&B-infused heavy rock jam comes in. Vander is playing a steady, funky rhythm, and displays an explosive fill when necessary, guitarist Brian Godding is playing some feverishly burning solos which tear right through you in their sheer speed, volume and passion. In some places, they almost mimic a saxaphone -- particularly of an atonal flavor. And, on top of it all are these powerful, spiritual vocal chants. And, as the time progresses, these vocal chants begin to increase in volume and dynamics, more vocals come in, the cymbals become more pronounced, and finally, you're engulfed in an oceanic, exotic, gospel-flavored, Africanesque chant-fest which just raises the roof off of any building this is played under -- or rather, this gives me the goosebumps, and gets my soul (and body) shaking in ecstasy everytime I hear it. It's THAT powerful, elevating, penetrating and intense.

Bassist Jannick Top writes the creepy, majestic and atonal "Ork Alarm," while "Coltrane Sundia" is a beautiful tribute from Christian Vander to his jazz hero, John Coltrane. It's an ethereal number with encircling piano textures which create a pillow of soothing, entrancing ambience.

This is brilliant, powerful, and original music of the highest order. It was not the easiest thing to put into words, but there the attempt lies. Recommended for all that apply.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Visceral Brain Journey, February 4, 2001

By 

Rodrigo Guabiraba Brito (Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kohntarkosz (Audio CD)

An excelent album. Vander uses his minimalistic technics and drums/piano abilities to create intense and precise melodies. The first two songs are fantastic... Kontharkosz I and II are rare songs, to be listen carefully. Pay attention to the rithm variations and to the "duel" piano/drums. Beautiful vocals on Kontharkosz II, excelent keyboards effects, a classic. Vander's sensational drums. Ork Alarm is a visceral song, rustic and misterious, like a medieval ritual. Very creative jannick top's cello. Coltrane Sundia, the last song, is soft an a little bit "jazzy". Excelent piano harmony, but too calm in comparision to the rest of the album. You can't compare Kontharkosz with MDK or 1001 degrees centigrades, but it's a perfect album. Another composition direction, but the same ideal.