Rock On! Wednesday, 17 September 2025 – Magma, Zao, Gong, Laurent Thibault, Weidorje & Archaia

Psychedelic, heavy, prog and more innovating sounds spanning the late 60s and the early 70s – Dan’s pick of the week: Magma (Mëkanïk Dëstruktïw Kömmandöh), Zao (Z=7l), Gong (Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 3 – You), Laurent Thibault (Mais on Ne Peut Pas Rêver Tout Le Temps), Weidorje (Weidorje) & Archaia (Archaia).

Magma is een Franse progressieve-rockband die in 1969 opgericht werd door Christian Vander, drummer en zanger van de groep. De band werd twee jaar na de dood van jazz-saxofonist John Coltrane, voor wie Vander een grote bewondering had, gesticht. Diens invloed is dan ook goed te merken in de muziek van Magma.

JazzMusic Archives (JMA) review: Mëkanïk Dëstruktïw Kömmandöh apparently tells the tale of a Kobaian prophet named Nebehr Gudahtt, who warms the human race that they are destroying their planet and have to change their naughty ways. When all is said and down the people rise against him and through throughout the album’s ups and downs and twists and turns the people finally begin to adopt the ways of the Kobaians in order to redeem themselves. I’ll have to accept that since i no speako Kobaian but it sounds like a logical story that is a mere segment of a much larger tale drawn out in the many album that Magma put out in the 70s.

The music is melodic and bombastic. To the max. This must have been some of the most ambitious music of the time even topping all the other progressive goodies that were coming out. Although the music is based on simple bass line cycles that incorporate two competing choirs that often sound like orgasmic ghosts, it is the sprinkling of jazzy parts, rock attitude and Carl Off a la “Carmina Burana” rhythmic phrasing that really puts a percussive punch in the whole thing. Musically this is akin to organic chemistry where long repetitive carbon chains create an extremely strong yet flexible backbone to support the smaller elements that cling onto it.

Upon first listen I thought this was too repetitious and I do like this a tad less than the first more chaotic albums with far more influences than this but this was a grower and has blossomed into an outstanding album in its own right. If you want one of the most over-the-top rock operas ever to grace not only planet Earth but apparently the entire Universe than you simply must experience Mëkanïk Dëstruktïw Kömmandöh for there is nothing else even remotely like it not even within their own alien and eclectic discography.”

Wednesday, 17 September 2025 12:00 noon CET Brussels – 11 a.m. GMT London. Repeated: 16:00 & 20:00 hrs CET Brussels, 3 p.m. & 7 p.m. GMT London
Ends: 12 midnight CET Brussels, 11 p.m. GMT London.