| Zeuhl | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Progressive rock – Rock in Opposition – Jazz fusion – Experimental rock – Art rock – Opera |
| Typical instruments | Guitar – Bass – Keyboards – Piano – Drums – optionally vocals, and other acoustic and electronic instruments |
Zeuhl (pronounced [d͡zøːl]) means celestial in Kobaïan,[1] the constructed language created by Christian Vander.[2] Originally solely applied to the music of Vander's band, Magma, the term zeuhl was eventually used to describe the similar music produced by French bands,[3] beginning in the mid-1970s. Although primarily a French phenomenon, zeuhl has influenced recent avant-garde Japanese bands.[4]
Zeuhl typically blends progressive rock, symphonic rock, fusion, neoclassicism, avant-rock, and vocal elements of African-American spirituals and Western military call and response. Common aspects include dissonance, marching themes, throbbing bass, keyboards including piano, Rhodes piano, or organ, and brass instruments. Zeuhl shares much in common with the Rock in Opposition movement, and many bands have participated in RIO festivals.
| “ | [Z]euhl sounds like, well, about what you'd expect an alien rock opera to sound like: massed, chanted choral motifs, martial, repetitive percussion, sudden bursts of explosive improv and just as unexpected lapses into eerie, minimalist trance-rock. | ” |
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—Dominique Leone, Review[5] of Magma's 2004 album K.A on Pitchfork Media |
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