UNIVERS ZERO – Ceux du Dehors (1981-1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The third full-length release from Univers Zero (disregarding the limited-release Crawling Wind EP, which Cuneiform re-released with bonus tracks in 2001), finds the group continuing to evolve. Group members may have realized that their previous release, the perversely brilliant Heresie, was a dead end of sorts, because on this new recording they ease up on the unremitting gloom and return to the more general and varied chamber music sound of their first release, 1313, except with more precision and skill. The tricky charts of percussionist Daniel Denis and new keyboardist Andy Kirk are executed with great panache. The labyrinthine compositions are typically filled with unexpected twists and turns, and angular repetitions of jagged riffs that accelerate, decelerate and mutate in passages of acute tension or quiet but ominous dread. Instrumentally, Michel Berckmans' bassoon and oboe, Andy Kirk's harmonium, and Patrick Hanappier's viola and violin can sometimes give the music a decidedly medieval quality, and pieces like Kirk's "Combat" are dark but also rhythmically vibrant. Too serious for rock and too tightly orchestrated for jazz, Ceux du Dehors sometimes suggests a darker and more complex version of the motorik minimalism of classical music contemporaries Philip Glass and Steve Reich, although it is doubtful that they were a conscious influence on the Univers Zero sound at the time of this recording. William Tilland   
Tracklist :
1 Dense 12:23
Bass – Guy Segers
Bassoon, Oboe, English Horn – Michel Berckmans
Drums, Percussion – Daniel Denis
Harmonium, Organ, Piano, Mellotron – Andy Kirk 
Viola, Violin – Patrick Hanappier
Written-By – Daniel Denis
2 La Corne Du Bois Des Pendus 8:38
Bass, Voice – Guy Segers
Bassoon, Oboe, Voice – Michel Berckmans
Drums, Percussion, Voice – Daniel Denis
Guest [With], Hurdy Gurdy [Hurdy-Gurdy] – Jean Debefve
Harmonium, Organ, Voice – Andy Kirk 
Recorded By [Children's Voices] – Röbel Vogel
Recorded By [Organ] – Eric Faes
Viola, Violin, Voice – Patrick Hanappier
Written-By – Daniel Denis
3 Bonjour Chez Vous 3:48
Bass – Guy Segers
Bassoon, Oboe – Michel Berckmans
Drums, Percussion – Daniel Denis
Guest [With], Violin – Jean-Luc Aimé
Organ, Piano – Andy Kirk 
Viola – Patrick Hanappier
Written-By – Daniel Denis
4 Combat 12:50
Bass – Guy Segers
Bassoon, Oboe – Michel Berckmans
Drums, Percussion – Daniel Denis
Guest [With], Vocals – Ilona Chale
Harmonium, Mellotron, Organ, Piano – Andy Kirk
Viola, Violin – Patrick Hanappier
Written-By – Andy Kirk 
5 La Musique D'Erich Zann 3:25
Composed By – A. Kirk, D. Denis, G. Segers, J. Debfeve, M. Berckmans, P. Hanappier
6 La Tête Du Corbeau 3:08
Bass – Guy Segers
Cymbal [Cymbals] – Daniel Denis
Guest [With], Cello – Thierry Zaboitzeff
Harmonium, Electric Piano [Yamaha CP 70 Piano], Glockenspiel – Andy Kirk
Violin – Patrick Hanappier
Written-By – Guy Segers
7 Triomphe Des Mouches 5:34
Bass, Clarinet, Voice – Guy Segers
Harmonium, Drums, Percussion, Voice, Violin – Daniel Denis
Harmonium, Piano, Organ, Voice – Andy Kirk 
Written-By – Andy Kirk, Daniel Denis 

UNIVERS ZERO – Heresie (1979-2010) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Univers Zero's debut recording, 1313, may be somber, but it's a walk in the park compared to their second release, which features more or less the same lineup as the first (oboe, bassoon, viola, violin, bass, guitar, keyboards, drums), except for an additional and prominent contribution of cathedral organ from guitarist/keyboardist Roger Trigaux. Studio overdubbing sometimes gives the five-man group the sound of a much larger chamber ensemble. Extremely dissonant and emotionally bleak, Heresie is sometimes quite close to the industrial and gothic genres -- which didn't really even exist for another five years or more. A Magma influence is readily discernible on the long opening track "La Faulx," which includes the guttural chanting favored by Magma's Christian Vander. (In the early '70s, Univers Zero drummer Daniel Denis was employed as a second drummer in Vander's group.) "Jack the Ripper," the second long piece, maintains the oppressive atmosphere, and after a long, brooding introduction, introduces the nervous, jabbing ostinato patterns which were to become a Univers Zero trademark. This music on this CD might have little to do with rock, and might also be a massive downer, but the quality of the writing and playing is extremely high. Michel Berckmans' solo work on oboe and bassoon work is magnificent, and Patrick Hanappier's string playing (violin and viola) also demonstrates the precision of a trained classical musician, along with demonic avant-garde scraping and howling on "Jack the Ripper." Best of all, Univers Zero never cheapens the effect of the music with any of the stock cartoon licks which are associated with the gothic genre today. Group members sound deadly serious about what they're doing, which might call their sanity into question, but which makes for an incredibly powerful listening experience. In fact, Heresie is a stunning one-of-a-kind item that has never been duplicated by anyone -- including Univers Zero. [The Cuneiform label's 2010 remastered edition includes the nearly 12-minute previously unreleased bonus track "Chaos Hermétique."] William Tilland  
Trackslist :
1. La Faulx (25:18)
2. Jack the Ripper (13:29)
3. Vous le Saurez en Temps Voulu (12:56)
Total Time: 51:43
- BONUS TRACKS - on 2010 Remaster:
4. Chaos Hermétique (11:51) *
* Previously unreleased, recorded in 1975 and recovered from MC
Line-up / Musicians
- Roger Trigaux / guitar, piano, organ, harmonium
- Vincent Motoulle / keyboards (4)
- Patrick Hanappier / viola, violin
- Michel Berckmans / bassoon & oboe (1-3)
- Guy Segers / bass, vocals
- Daniel Denis / percussions

UNIVERS ZERO – Uzed (1984-1988) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Regarded by some as the least successful recording of Univers Zero's early years, Uzed is still well worth hearing. The CD starts quite impressively with "Présage," which has one of those haunting Univers Zero themes, equal parts lyrical and dramatic, and is certainly the equal of anything else in the Univers Zero oeuvre. Subsequent tracks, though, are rather nondescript. One problem is that the band, with only drummer Daniel Denis and bassist Christian Genet left from the original lineup, is beginning to move away from the acoustic chamber music of prior releases (especially those immediately preceding Ceux du Dehors) and toward a more contemporary progressive rock sound, with electric guitars and prominent synthesizers. All compositions are penned by Denis, and the usual Univers Zero precision is evident in the execution of the scores, but the instrumental voicings seem a little tentative and the mix is somewhat muddy, even on the excellent first track. The last long track, "Emmanations," also has its moments, but on the whole, Uzed lacks a full measure of the high drama and musical tension that are so much a part of the Univers Zero sound. William Tilland   
Tracklist  :
1 Présage 9:48
2 L'Etrange Mixture Du Docteur Schwartz 3:52
3 Célesta (For Chantal) 6:55
Guitar – Michel Delory
Violin – Marc Verbist
4 Parade 6:37
5 Emanations 15:43
Credits :
Bass, Balafon, Guitar [Bowed Guitar], Tape [Tapes], Whistle – Christian Genet
Cello, Alto Saxophone [Alto Sax], Voice – Andre Mergen
Drums, Percussion, Synthesizer, Composed By [All Compositions By] – Daniel Denis
Electric Piano, Piano [Acoustic Piano], Synthesizer, Performer [Piano Strings], Percussion – Jean-Luc Plouvier
Soprano Saxophone [Soprano Sax], Clarinet, Bass Clarinet – Dirk Descheemaeker

UNIVERS ZERO – Univers Zero (1977-2008) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Some very peculiar rock music hybrids emerged in the 1970s, but none was any more peculiar than Univers Zero, a classically influenced group of primarily Belgian musicians. Sometimes compared to the slightly earlier and enormously influential King Crimson, Univers Zero was actually much more extreme. While Crimson used Robert Fripp's lead guitar and Ian McDonald's Mellotron to approximate a symphonic rock sound rooted in the 19th century romantic tradition of Richard Strauss, Mahler and Wagner, the earliest versions of Univers Zero were not only more purely classical in their instrumentation (bassoon, violin, viola, cello, harmonium, spinet piano), but much more contemporary in their musical appropriation of the dissonant, jagged 20th century classical styles of Stravinsky, Bartók, Ligeti, and Penderecki, among others. The other constant and distinguishing quality of Univers Zero was the longtime preoccupation of drummer/leader Daniel Denis with the early 20th century fantasy/horror writer H.P. Lovecraft -- as indicated by the names of his two predecessor bands, Arkham (the mythical town where most of Lovecraft's stories were set) and Necronomicon (a mythical Lovecraft book of forbidden secrets). Some critics regard Univers Zero's music as pretentious and gloomy, but it's never pretentious in the easy, predictable manner of most progressive rock, and as for the gloom, there's actually a kind of jaunty gallows humor in many of the pieces on this debut -- particularly in the two by guitarist Roger Trigaux, which feature march rhythms somewhat suggestive of Shostakovich or Prokofiev. The rhythmic energy and dissonant riffs, the distinctive sound of the bassoon and strings, and the tricky, fragmented time signatures make for a challenging and highly distinctive listening experience. William Tilland 
Tracklist  :
1 Ronde 14:45
Written-By – Daniel Denis
2 Carabosse 3:40
Written-By – Daniel Denis
3 Docteur Petiot 7:25
Written-By – Roger Trigaux
4 Malaise 7:42
Written-By – Roger Trigaux
5 Complainte 3:18
Written-By – Daniel Denis
Credits :
Bass – Christian Genet
Bassoon – Michel Berckmans
Guitar – Roger Trigaux
Harmonium, Spinet – Emmanuel Nicaise
Mixed By – Christian Genet, Daniel Denis, Roland Herrero
Percussion – Daniel Denis
Violin – Marcel Dufrane
Violin, Viola, Cello – Patrick Hanappier