I listened to the entire available-on-streaming discography of Magma this week. For those uninitiated, Magma is a musical project by French self-taught classical drummer Christian Vander in 1969. The band centers itself around lore of the people of the fictional planet Kobaïa, who escaped from Earth to seek out a better life, and also features the lexicon of Kobaïan language (created by Vander), the language that is primarily used in most lyrics (a bit of a combo of French, German and other influences).
Wholly unique among progressive rock bands, with a discography filled with lengthy jams, hair raising screaming, beautiful choir passages, intense complexity, and stellar drumming, Magma ended up creating its own subgenre in the field entitled Zeuhl.
I would not recommend this band for the unadventurous, as it is quite out there and even difficult at points, but give it time and it will hook you.
All recommendations in Bold Text.
Magma [Kobaïa] (1970)
2 (1001° Centigrades) (1971)
Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh (1973)
Ẁurdah Ïtah (1974)
Köhntarkösz (1974)
Live/Hhaï (1975)
Üdü Ẁüdü (1976)
Inédits (1977)
Attahk (1978)
Rétrospective Vol. 1 & 2 (1981)
Rétrospective Vol. 3 (1981)
Merci (1984)
Mëkanïk Kommandöh (1989)
Les Voix De Magma (Live) (1992)
Théâtre Du Taur Concert 1975 Toulouse (Live) (1994)
Opéra De Reims, 1976 (Live) (1996)
Concert Bobino 1981 (Live) (1995)
Concert 1971 Bruxelles Théâtre 140 (Live) (1996)
Theusz Hamtaahk Trilogie (Live) (2001)
K.A (Köhntarkösz Anteria) (2004)
Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré (2009)
Bourges 1979 (Live) (2009)
Félicité Thösz (2012)
Rïah Sahïltaahk (2014)
Šlağ Tanƶ (2015)
Alhambra 2009 (Live) (2015)
Triton Zünd Zëlëkt, Vol. 1 (Live) (2015)
Triton Zünd Zëlëkt, Vol. 2 (Live) (2015)
Zëss : Le jour du néant (2019)
BBC 1974 Radio Londres (Live) (2020)
Eskähl 2020 Bordeaux – Toulouse – Perpignan (Live) (2021)
Retrospektïw 1-2-3 (Live) (2021)
Kãrtëhl (2022)
Beautiful Extremes, Etc. - b4bbl3.com 