Early years (1967–1972) In early 1967, drummer
Christian Vander played in the Wurdalaks and Cruciferius Lobonz, two
rhythm and blues bands. With these groups, he wrote his first compositions, "Nogma" and "Atumba". The death of
John Coltrane saddened Vander, who left the groups and traveled to
Italy. He returned to
France in 1969 and met saxophonist René Garber and bassist and conductor Laurent Thibault. Together with singer Lucien Zabuski and organist
Francis Moze, they created the group Univeria Zekt Magma Composedra Arguezdra, shortened to Magma. After their first tour, Magma experienced significant lineup turnover. Vocalist Lucien Zabuski was replaced with Klaus Blasquiz, and pianist Eddie Rabin, double bassist Jacky Vidal, and guitarist Claude Engel also joined the group. The group worked on material for three months in a house in the
Chevreuse Valley. Eddie Rabin was replaced by François Cahen on keyboards, and Laurent Thibault abandoned bass to devote himself to production.
Francis Moze became the new bassist. The band also expanded with a brass section, consisting of Teddy Lasry on saxophone and clarinet, Richard Raux on saxophone and flute, and Paco Charlery on trumpet. The group's first album,
Kobaïa, was released in the spring of 1970 by
Philips Records. The group caused a sensation but audience reactions were mixed. Many musicians would leave the band towards the end of the year, including François Cahen, Louis Toesca, Jeff Seffer, and
Francis Moze. In 1974, after learning of Lagrange's film, Vander would approach him with an ultimatum to finance a re-recording or face legal action, to which Lagrange agreed, and under Vander's name, the band begrudgingly released
Ẁurdah Ïtah under the name of
Tristan et Iseult; the album has been re-released in its intended format as Magma's fourth studio album since 1989. Magma were already in the midst of preparation for their next album,
Köhntarkösz, which was recorded less than a month later and released in September of that year. It was successful among fans, but not received as well among the public as
Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh. In 1976, Top would be sought by Vander to rejoin the band as a co-leader; he would accept and split recording duties for
Üdü Ẁüdü. He would continue with the band until the end of the year, due to wanting to move on from the band. Most musicians who had worked with Vander from 1972 left the band throughout the same time - the band would briefly disband before reforming in spring 1977. Jean DeAntoni would replace Gabriel Federow on guitar, Guy Delacroix replacing Bernard Paganotti on bass, and Clement Bailly was hired as a second drummer.
Attahk, Merci, and changing sound (1978–1984) In 1978, Magma released the album
Attahk. Vying for more commercial success, the album included elements of
soul,
rhythm & blues, and
funk music. Celebrating 10 years as a band, in 1980, Magma performed three nights at
L'Olympia in Paris, with guest appearances from many of the group's past musicians. These were recorded and released as
Retrospektïẁ (Parts I+II) and
Retrospektïẁ (Part III). In early 1980, the band had attempted to record a new studio album, but failed. In 1981, Magma would play a number of shows around France, including a three-week residency at Paris's
Bobino in 1981, which was recorded and filmed, and later released as
Concert Bobino 1981; this concert would feature some discarded material, including "Retrovision", which Vander has gone at length to say he will never record again. In 1982, Vander started work on a passion project to celebrate jazz and John Coltrane's life. This would result in
Merci. Essentially a Vander solo album, it would take two years of continuous recording sessions before a provisional unmixed version was released in late 1984, with a finalised version released in May 1985.
Transition into Offering (1983–1996) By 1983, Magma had metamorphosised into a more improvised and unstructured style. This new incarnation of the band would become known as
Offering, the "improvised side of Magma"; the band did not breakup and the current lineup was kept the same through projects. Offering would continue to perform both new material and old, and when performing live, often the band was still referred to as Magma. An example of this was in 1988, when professional snooker champion
Steve Davis would convince Vander to perform three shows at the
Bloomsbury Theatre in London as Magma; most material performed was from Offering. Offering would release three albums,
Offering I-II (1986),
Offering III-IV (1990), and
A Fiïèh (1993). The first and third albums were positively received, while the second received mixed reception. The piece
Les cygnes et les corbeaux, regularly played live by the band, was teased as a fourth studio album. This would later be released as a Christian Vander solo album in 2002.
Reformation (1996–present) In 1995, Offering would stop regularly performing. Vander decided to revive some sections of tracks he had written back in 1972-1973 while working on
Köhntarkösz on this new tour. Eventually, these merged into one big composition
K.A (Köhntarkösz Anteria), which released in 2004 to acclaim and surprise at their comeback.
K.A is conceptually the prequel to
Köhntarkösz, which was then followed up by a sequel
Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré in 2009, ending a narrative trilogy between the three albums. On 30 September 2022 Magma released their fifteenth album
Kartëhl. The album is a collective work of the band members. The copyright proceeds of the track
Dëhndë will be donated to a charity for people with
autism. By end of 2025 Jimmy Top left the band, followed by Charles Lucas as bassist. ==Kobaïan==