Univers Zero

Univers Zéro (also written Univers Zero and sometimes Univers-Zero; official sources have not been consistent on this) is a Belgian instrumental progressive band known for playing dark music heavily influenced by 20th century chamber music. The band was formed in 1973 by drummer Daniel Denis and trumpeter Claude Deron under the name Necronomicon (after a fictitious book first referenced in H. P. Lovecraft's horror stories) before being renamed to Univers Zero in 1974. For a time they were part of a musical movement called Rock in Opposition which strove to create dense challenging music, a direct contrast to the disco and punk music being produced in the late 1970s. Obvious early influences were Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky; however, the band also cited less well-known composers such as Albert Huybrechts, who was also Belgian.

Their early albums were almost entirely acoustic, but with later releases, their sound became more electric. In 1977, they released their first album 1313, on which the members played with a heavy rock and roll approach despite the fact that the instrumentation was largely acoustic. This is mostly due to the use of drums. Two years later, the album Heresie proved to be even darker. It has been called some of the scariest music ever committed to record.

Subsequent albums lightened the sound only slightly, but became ever more electric. Whereas early albums featured oboes, spinets, harmoniums, and mellotrons, their 1980s albums tended to rely more on synthesizer and electric guitar. Despite these changes, their overall sound remained fairly consistent.

A related project is Present, formed by erstwhile Univers Zero guitarist Roger Trigaux in 1979. The two bands have comparable styles and occasional overlap in personnel. Members of UZ, Present, and Aranis also collaborated on a seventeen-member project entitled Once Upon a Time in Belgium, which performed at the 2011 Rock in Opposition festival.

Discography:

1977 - Univers Zero (also known as 1313) 1979 - Heresie (also known as Hérésie) 1981 - Ceux du dehors 1983 - Crawling Wind (EP) 1984 - Uzed 1986 - Heatwave 1999 - The Hard Quest 2002 - Rhythmix 2004 - Implosion 2006 - Live 2009 - Relaps (Archives 1984-1986) (live) 2010 - Clivages 2014 - Phosphorescent Dreams