01	Dense						12:26
	02	La Corne Du Bois Des Pendus						08:42
	03	Bonjour Chez Vous						03:52
	04	Combat						12:53
	05	La Musique D'erich Zann						03:29
	06	La Tete Du Corbeau						03:11
	07	Triomphe Des Mouches						05:34

Cuneiform (rune 39)
Belgium 1981

1- DENSE (12:23)
Daniel DENIS
Recorded at Sunrise Studio - Kirchberg, Switzerland - June 1980 by Etienne CONOD and Rцbel VOGEL

2- LA CORNE DU BOIS DES PENDUS (8:38)
Daniel DENIS
Recorded at Sunrise Studio - Kirchberg, Switzerland - June 1980 by Etienne CONOD and Rцbel VOGEL
Organ recorded by Eric FAES at Saint-Jacques Chuch in Brussels - Belgium
Children's Voices recorded by Robel VOGEL

3- BONJOUR CHEZ VOUS (3:48)
Daniel DENIS
Recorded at Arquennes - Belgium - March 1980 by Eric FAES

4- COMBAT (12:50)
Andy KIRK
Recorded at Sunrise Studio - Kirchberg, Switzerland - June 1980 by Etienne CONOD and Rцbel VOGEL

5- LA MUSIQUE D'ERICH ZANN (3:25)
D. DENIS, M. BERCKMANS, J. DEBFEVE, P. HANAPPIER, A. KIRK, G. SEGERS
Recorded at Sunrise Studio - Kirchberg, Switzerland - June 1980 by Etienne CONOD and Rцbel VOGEL

6- LA TETE DU CORBEAU (3:08)
Guy SEGERS
Recorded at Hennuyeres - Belgium - January 1981 by Eric FAES

7- LES TRIOMPHE DES MOUCHES (5:34)
Daniel DENIS, Andy KIRK
Recorded at Hennuyeres - Belgium - January 1981 by Eric FAES

Mixed by Etienne CONOD, Rцbel VOGEL & UNIVERS ZERO except 3,6,7 by Eric FAES & UNIVERS ZERO
Cover Photo by Chantal SMETS

LINE-UP

Michel Berckmans - Bassoon, Oboe, English Horn
Daniel Denis - Drums, Percussion, Voice, Harmonium
Patrick Hanappier - Viola, Violin
Andy Kirk - Harmonium, Organ, Voice, Piano, Yamaha CP70
Guy Segers - Bass, Clarinet, Voice
with
Jean Debfeve - Hurdy-Gurdy
Ilona Chale - Voice
Thierry Zaboitzeff - Cello
Jean-Luc Aime - Violin



Bob Eichler:
This is a dark album, but not quite as dark as other reviews had led me to believe. The twelve and a half minute opening track, "Dense", alternates high-speed orchestral sounding music with quiet, brooding patches that sound like they're lying in wait, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting listener and subject them to more orchestral frenzy. A friend played that track for me while we were driving to ProgDay last year, and I knew I had to pick the CD up before the weekend was over.
The second track lives up to the band's dark image - it sounds like a dirge played by an orchestra of the undead. Not that that's a bad thing at all. "Bonjour Chez Vous" is more "upbeat", and works a lot of musical ideas into its short four minute length.
"Combat" is perfectly named, evoking the sounds of an army marching to war. Structurally, it reminds me of the title track to Pink Floyd's Saucerful of Secrets, with an opening section that builds tension (the army on the march), a second part that depicts the battle, and a third "post-battle" section. Whereas the Floyd end their song there with peaceful music that seems to imply that some resolution has been reached, the third section of the Univers Zero song is much more somber, as if the participants are realizing the horror they've created. And it doesn't end there, as a return of the battle theme indicates that no lesson has been learned, and the army once again goes to war. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. ;-)
"La Musique d'Erich Zann" is probably the oddest track on the album. It consists mostly of scraping and grinding noises that build up to a fever pitch, and then suddenly snap and return to their original quiet tone. "La Tete du Corbeau" is another quiet, brooding piece, but not nearly as "weird" as the previous track. The closing "Triomphe des Mouches" sounds like someone running down dark streets, trying to escape from some pursuing monster. OK, so maybe this album is as dark as everyone says it is...
This will probably make me lose any credibility I might have had with the more knowledgeable prog fans, but parts of this CD remind me a little bit of the first ELO album, with its unusual instrumentation and strange orchestrations. Not that ELO ever got anywhere near as complex or dark as Univers Zero. But a couple tracks ("Bonjour Chez Vous" in particular) really remind me of No Answer.
All in all, this is probably one of the albums that make music critics say prog-rock is "pretentious", but what do they know. It's my first purchase from Univers Zero, and based on this album I'm sure I'll be buying more.

Sean McFee:
This is perhaps the greatest work by one of the original RIO bands, Univers Zero from Belgium. At this point Roger Trigaux had left the group to form Present, and this album features Daniel Denis working with a diverse cast of musicians over the course of the album.
This album is a fusion of the earlier thick and dark chamber sound influenced by Bartok and the later jazzier and keyboard-tinged sound. Tracks range from the urgency of "Dense" to the dark majesty of "La Corne du Bois des Pendus" to the death march of "Triomphe des Mouches". Thierry Zaboitzeff of Art Zoyd lends a helping hand (and cello) to one of the tracks.
Those unfamiliar with the "neo-classical" sub-genre inspired by Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, Present, Shub-Niggurath and others could do no better than to start here. While the negative energy and foreboding here are still formidable, there is some movement to the pieces that was sometimes lacking in their earlier work. Ceux du Dehors deserves to be in the collection of any RIO fan, and is a good starting place for any RIO newbie.

Joe McGlinchey:
Univers Zero was a Belgian band whose musical niche in prog lay somewhere between Art Zoyd and Magma, though more rock-oriented than the former and less "heavy"-sounding (due to utilizing primarily acoustic instruments) than the latter. Unsurprisingly, group leader Daniel Denis has connections with both bands. Ceux du Dehors, recorded in 1980-1, is a challenging, dark album and will probably require many intense listens to fully grasp. I like UZ at their most frenzied; the ten minute-plus pieces "Dense" and "Combat" are bleak musical whirlwinds. "Triomphe des Mouches," is some intricately macabre music, sounding about as cheerful as being stalked in an abandoned carnival past midnight. Denis' exacting drumwork and Andy Kirk's disorienting harmonium, ghostly organ and mellotron workouts give the band a very distinctive sound on this nightmarish release.

Eric Porter:
Very original indeed! Univers Zero use instruments of a chamber orchestra (violins, oboe, bassoon, English horn, etc...), and create dark, soundtrack-like music. The music is complex, often dissonant and yet oddly melodic. At times it can sound like noise, but I am always intrigued by it. This is unlike anything I have heard, so points do go for originality. "Combat" is my favorite track, as I enjoy how it transitions to the softer passages contained within it but maintains the tension. "Bonjour Chez Vous" just sounds like your worst nightmare come to life. If your taste swings to classical you at least owe it to yourself to give them a listen. I offer no comparisons, as I have none to give, but be warned, the music could lead you to a psychotic episode if your not careful! P.S. - please leave a light on when listening.

Brandon Wu:
This UZ release has a much fuller, band-effort sound than the other discs I have by them. Less overtly sinister than Heresie but just as portentous and foreboding, this is a masterpiece of mood and composition. The opening track, "Dense", is a frenetic and constantly changing piece of classic Univers Zero. The improvisation "La Musique d'Erich Zann" is appropriately dark, given that it's inspired by an H.P. Lovecraft story, and really makes the listener wish there were more UZ improvs available on record! Overall the minor-key, creeping instrumentals create a sense of slowly moving gloom. The pulsating, low-range woodwinds and the sinister whine of the harmonium give the album its edgy ambience, and thundering bass and drum movements lend it a feel of imminent doom. The squeal of the violin and the extremely dissonant piano playing round out the ensemble. As usual, I'm at a loss to describe this music. I'll leave it at this: if you in the least interested in Univers Zero's style of dark, complex, woodwind-heavy chamber-rock, this is definitely the place to start. If you're not familiar with the band's work but enjoy such contemporary classical composers as Bartok, Stravinsky, and so on, you should definitely give this one a spin.






AMG EXPERT REVIEW: The third full-length release from Univers Zero (disregarding the limited-release, out-of-print Crawling Wind), 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 motoric 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






Univers Zero [Belgium]
Updated 11/7/00
Discography
1313 (77, aka Univers Zero)
Heresie (79)
Ceux De Dehors (80)
UZED (84)
Heatwave (86)
The Hard Quest (99)

Univers Zero stands unique among bands. From Belgium, Their sound combines elements of progressive rock along the lines of Magma/King Crimson with a dark and gothic chamber music style, plus some evident Bartok influences. In recent years, Cuneiform reissued all of their five regular LPs originally released between 1978 and 1986, leaving only the 1983 EP Crawling Wind yet unspoken for. Their first album 1313 is the most acoustic and obviously chamber influenced of all, using violin, viola, cello, bassoon, harmonium, spinet, bass, guitar, and percussion. Their second album Heresie uses pretty much the same instrumentation, but is infinitely darker - Wayside's '87 catalog said it best: "This may be the most sinister rock LP ever recorded." I couldn't agree more. On their third outing Ceux Du Dehors ("Those of the outside") they turned up the electricity a bit more and in general it could be said that this was the turn of a new page for the band, with greater use of dynamic intensity and more prominent role for guitar and drums. UZED continues onward in the same direction, this time using saxes and some synthesizers to further develop their unique vision. The final album Heatwave features an extra keyboardist, and hence a very prominent role for synthesizers, although the general mood of the music remains essentially unchanged. For those not yet tuned into them, I'd recommend getting started with UZED or Ceux Du Dehors. The percussionist and bandleader Daniel Denis has since released two solo albums, and original guitarist Roger Trigaux formed the band Present, all of which are available on ">Cuneiform as well. Other UZ band members have appeared on some of these albums.

Ceux Du Dehors is a mix of dark chamber music and Magma-esque rock. Mellotrons, Hammond organ, bass, drums and guitar play alongside viola, harmonium and woodwinds. Complex and symphonic, yet with a chilling nightmare atmosphere permeating every minute, quite outstanding. UZED adds synthesizers and cello to the mix and is more "modern" sounding. Full of changes, unpredictable twists and turns that make for very exciting listening. This may be their best. Heatwave delves ever deeper into the gothic horror atmosphere, thanks to an even stronger use of creepy synthesizer sounds. The sidelong "Funeral Plain" is a high point. -- Mike Ohman
One of the very most innovative Belgians around, this band defined Bartokian and moody chamber rock, and Heresie may be one of the most DOOMIEST SINISTER albums ever. Love 'em to death!
Post minimalist dark chamber ensemble featuring Daniel Denis. A good choice for those interested in exploring more complex music. Intense and scary music -- recommended!
UZED is one of my favorite albums of all time. They play mostly classical instruments. UZED is very rythmically interesting. I have Heresie also, and it's pretty dark. 1313 has a pretty strong Stravinsky feel to it. I can't reccomend this band enough. If you like contemporary classical, you must buy at least one of their albums.

http://www.totalzoo.com/universzero/


Univers Zero were founding member of the original "Rock In Opposition" [R.I.O.] movement, and considered to be one of the greatest avant-garde bands of the 70's & 80's, Univers Zero were originally founded in 1974. For the first five years, they were co-led by Daniel Denis & Roger Trigaux. After 2 albums, 1313 (1977) & Heresie (1979), Trigaux left to found Present. Univers Zero continued on with Denis at the helm to release Ceux De Duhors (1981), Crawling Wind (1983), UZED (1984) and Heatwave (1986) until their original breakup in 1987. They play fascinating, modern, chamber music-influenced rock. Simultaneously gothic and futuristic, they are somewhat like the very best of Magma or Crimson, but infinitely darker, with a touch of Eastern European folk melodies added. 1313 is a unique disc of dark, mostly acoustic chamber rock. Heresie is absolutely one of the darkest recordings ever made. Ceux De Duhors and UZED are more overtly electric, and use reeds, strings, keyboards, bass, and drums. Crawling Wind, originally released as a limited edition, Japanese only 12" EP & long unavailable, has been remastered and expanded, with the addition of rare and never before released studio and live material, to a full length album. It additionally includes a short history of the group written by noted writer Dean Suzuki, a long time fan of the band. The band reformed in the late 1990's, & Cuneiform released The Hard Quest in 1999 to univers(al) acclaim. It is every bit as good as you would hope it would be. Univers Zero's distinctive sound is a combination of their unique instrumentation (piano and keyboards, violin, clarinets, oboe/bassoon, bass, and drums) blended with Gothic imagery and an intensely strong, classically influenced writing style. In the hands of some of the best musicians of Europe, these factors lead to a group on the cutting edge of creating a new, vital and different approach to rock music.

"...a must for lovers of adventurous music".- Keyboard.

"A remarkably subtle weaving of rock, classical, and avant garde tactics..." - Alternative Press.

"If Stravinsky had a rock band, it would sound like this. Blazing, white hot, medieval"-Advocate Newspapers.

"Univers Zero reaches back to the sound of their very 1st album & hits pay dirt. The Hard Quest combines the spidery sound of 1313 with the compositional gestures of mature U.Z. Brilliant."-Dean Suzuki.

"The fall of Rome? The parting of the Red Sea? What else can compare with the monumental occurence of a new slab of Univers Zero...the world's finest musical ensemble!-Mike Ezzo/Expose #18.

"Univers Zero's vision [is] pretty much unique & for those touched by it, nothing else will quite do...a sound that really couldn't be any other band in the world."-The Rough Guide To Rock.

Phil Kime's history of the band

Dean Suzuki's notes from CRAWLING WIND

Univers Zero created a new music, a hybrid of progressive rock, informed by the mighty Magma and King Crimson, and twentieth century neo-classical and modernist music, especially that of Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky, with links to other unorthodox and experimental musics including fusion jazz, free improvisation, and the likes of unique artists such as Captain Beefheart and the Third Ear Band. Other influences cited by group members include Soft Machine, Henry Cow, Van der Graaf Generator, Anthony Braxton, Carla Bley, Iannis Xenakis, Charles Ives, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alban Berg, Frank Zappa, Medieval music, and the little known Belgian composer Albert Huybrechts. Univers Zero's sound is idiomatically swarthy, grim, nightmarish, yet, at the same time, exhilarating, explosive, and cathartic.
The story of Univers Zero begins in Brussels around 1970 when members of Arkham-drummer Daniel Denis, keyboardist Jean-Luc Manderlier, and bassist Patrick Cogneaux-shared a rehearsal space with Lyze, a group whose members included guitarist Roger Trigaux and bassist Guy Segers. The members of Lyze had, in fact, been great admirers of and influenced by Arkham which had been working in the arenas of free improvisation and progressive rock, and was moving towards a style of a music similar to that of Captain Beefheart and, according to all reports, was very much inspired by and quite similar to Soft Machine. As a result of the close quarters, Denis, along with trumpet player Claude Deron, a latter day member of Arkham, met Trigaux and Segers and the seeds for the foundation of Univers Zero were sown.
After the initial encounters with Trigaux and Segers, Arkham opened up for concerts by Magma and eventually both Denis and Manderlier were invited to join the French group. Ultimately, the presence of two exceptional, if not extraordinary drummers, one of whom was the driving and creative force behind Magma, proved untenable, and after about two months with the group, Denis departed. Manderlier continued with Magma and is featured on the recording of the classic Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh. Denis was tremendously influenced by his involvement with Magma as his compositions and drumming attest. Not only were his own compositional and musical aesthetic shaped by the music of Magma, the influence spread to the other musicians who would later form Univers Zero.
After leaving Magma in the middle of 1972, Denis joined and toured with Supersister, one of the most successful and inventive Dutch progressive rock groups, though, as with Magma, he did not record with them.
Around 1973, Denis left Supersister and contacted Trigaux and Segers, who, along with Deron, keyboardist Vincent Motoulle, percussionist Guy Denis (no relation to Daniel) and synthesist and saxophonist John Van Rymenant (who was only with them for rehearsals and never performed with on stage with them) formed a group which took the name Necronomicon (not to be confused with the German psychedelic/progressive group of the same name), and it was this ensemble which later evolved into Univers Zero. Necronomicon was originally very much influenced by the jazz tendencies of Deron who had previously worked with the Globe Unity Orchestra. They played a type of fusion jazz informed by the ground breaking work of Miles Davis in the era of In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, as well as the Tony Williams Lifetime, John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, Herbie Hancock, and other jazz-rock fusion pioneers.
In 1973, Necronomicon moved from Brussels to the small town of Nivelles and took to living communally. The members devoted all of their time and effort to rehearsing and developing their music. Life was difficult for all of the band members, most receiving some financial support or assistance from their parents and wives. Segers recalls: "In fact, we couldn't have another job and create this music. . . . We had to struggle, struggle, struggle. We worked years, day after day, wondering, 'Today will I eat?' It was really terrible. I heard stories from other bands like Henry Cow and Magma, and everybody struggled, but never did I hear anyone going through the difficulties that we lived though."
Necronomicon dropped Deron, moved in the direction of progressive rock, and changed its name to Univers Zero around 1973-74, performing its first concert under that name in May of 1974. By this time, Van Rymenant had left and Patrick Hanappier, a violinist from the south of France who was studying art in Tournai, had joined the group. While they continued to play fusion for about a year, they were increasingly influenced by Magma, Soft Machine, King Crimson and other radical progressive rock groups.
Univers Zero abandoned jazz around 1974 when they came to the realization that it was an indigenous American idiom through which they could not express their musical ideas and conceptions accurately and authentically. As a result of their desire to create a music which reflected their own musical heritage and tradition they began to look to European models. They perceived their European roots to include instruments, unorthodox in the rock lexicon, such as the oboe, bassoon, clarinet, bass clarinet, harmonium, harpsichord, violin, and cello. An oboist, Michel Berckmans, was invited to join Univers Zero, but at the group's insistence he took up the bassoon. They next added a second violinist, Marcel Dufrane, and a harmonium and harpsichord player, Emmanuel Nicaise, who was also an operatic singer. Initially, Univers Zero hoped to incorporate Nicaise's vocals, but the difficulties they encountered were so great that the idea was abandoned. Their exploration into sound yielded up even more unconventional, though still mostly European instruments, such as the pocket cello, bowed guitar, balafon, nailshake, radio, music box, and even the Medieval hurdy gurdy, a bowed keyboard/string instrument featured on Ceux du Dehors. Segers asserts: "Nobody in rock used such instruments and that makes a new sound and a new power. On the one hand, Univers Zero was very electric, on the other, it was very acoustic. It was a matter of musicality. These instruments: bassoon, harmonium, cello, and things like that, these were instruments that we really liked."
The quest to find their identity also led them to contemporary, sometimes obscure Belgian and European music. Hence, Huybrechts became an important source of inspiration. Univers Zero also became aware of Art Zoyd, which was headquartered and working nearby in Northern France, and viewed them as kindred sprits. Indeed, the two groups eventually performed joint concerts and even played some pieces as a large, collaborative ensemble. However, it was the unusual, if not unique music of Magma that pointed the way to musical independence for Univers Zero. In essence, Magma's music, aesthetic and philosophy liberated the members of Univers Zero, permitting them to follow their own muse, just as John Cage has emancipated generations of composers who felt bound, if not trapped by the post-Webern tradition of ultra-rationalism.
Though most of the members of Univers Zero were not classically trained, their background in rock was equally unorthodox. According to Segers, they could not even play the blues. They truly spanned the gap between styles and genres. Daniel Schell, founding member of Cos, another Belgian progressive rock band, and currently the leader of Daniel Schell and Karo, an ensemble which operates at the nexus between progressive rock, minimal music, and new music, asserts that "there's no difference between the rock that Univers Zero does and classical music. . . It's a kind of new classical music. There is no difference for me, absolutely not."
The music of Univers Zero was inspired not only by twentieth century classical music and innovative progressive rock bands, but also by the surrounding European culture. Members of the ensemble were very enamored with the ancient architecture found in their home city, Brussels. Andy Kirk recalls: "We were . . . very, very fond of churches, we love gothic art because it is very grand. The cathedrals are magnificent. I suppose we found [in them] some kind of greatness in sounds," and Segers asserts: "We are in a very privileged country [with] gothic [art]."
While Univers Zero never had a fixed line-up-each of the group's recordings features a different lineup (as does their forthcoming recording project), with a total of twenty-one different musicians contributing to their recordings-there was a relatively stable core which included drummer and composer Daniel Denis, who ultimately emerged as the group's leader and the only musician to perform on all Univers Zero recordings; bassist Guy Segers, at times replaced by Christian Genet; violinist Patrick Hanappier; double reed player Michel Berckmans, later replaced by single reed player Dirk Descheemaeker; and keyboardist Andy Kirk, later replaced by Jean-Luc Plouvier. Additionally, guitarist Roger Trigaux was an essential component in the group's early days and their first two albums.
Crawling Wind is Univers Zero's rare 12-inch EP released only in Japan in 1983 by Eastern Works, the Japanese arm of Recommended Records. Comprised of only three, but quite spectacular tracks, it is the last major crown jewel in the Univers Zero oeuvre to be committed to CD. The line-up at the time consisted of Segers, Kirk, Descheemaeker, Alan Ward, violin, and of course, leader Daniel Denis. Two tracks, "Toujours plus a l'est" and "Before the Heat" are studio tracks recorded in 1983. The second side of the EP was occupied by "Central Belgium in the Dark" (the title parodies Charles Ives' masterwork, "Central Park in the Dark") recorded live in Belgium in 1982, offering a rare glimpse into the nature and sound of a Univers Zero concert. Also appearing for the first time on CD is "Influences" (1982), a track originally found on Recommended Records Sampler, the classic Rock-In-Opposition two-record set. Appearing for the first time in any format are two live tracks. "Triomphe Des Mouches," originally heard as a studio recording on a limited edition 7-inch single on Recommended Records, presented here features Denis, Descheemaeker, Genet, keyboardist Jean-Luc Plouvier, and cellist Andre Mergenthaler, recorded at a concert in Hanover from 1984. "Complainte," which originally appeared on the group's first album, 1313, is offered here with a pared down and curious line-up of Denis (on harmonium), Berckmans, Hanappier, Segers (on percussion), and Trigaux.





Univers Zero - Ceux Du Dehors

Released: 1981
Label: Cuneiform
Cat. No.: Rune39
Total Time: 50:12


Reviewed by: Clayton Walnum, May 2001
Univers Zero's album Ceux Du Dehors is an example of the so-called RIO (Rock In Opposition) movement, which essentially is a form of avant-garde music. Still, when I first listened to this CD's opening piece, I wondered why everyone said how challenging and far out it is. Sure, the first track, "Dense," is amazingly complex, a challenging 12 minutes in length (short attention spans not allowed), and nothing short of a masterpiece, but it's not that far in style from much other symphonic rock, such as, say, Happy the Man (well, Happy the Man on steroids). In fact, "symphonic" is the perfect descriptor for all of Ceux Du Dehors, which is, from the start, as much classical as it is rock. Part of this has to do with the instrumentation, which includes -- along with drums, bass, and keyboards -- bassoon, oboe, English horn, viola, violin, and clarinet.

But, although the second track, "La Corne Du Bois Des Pendus" also starts off on the safe side of avant-garde (that is, the melodies, though dark and unusual, are not overly chaotic), the further you get into the track and the rest of the album, the more avant-garde it gets. The listener begins to see what this RIO stuff is all about. Pulsing bass layered with atonal strings and horns, over which bleak melodic themes take the listener on frightening musical journeys. This stuff makes King Crimson's grimmest moments seem like theme songs for a children's show!

The rest of the album follows suit. Tracks 3 and 4, "Bonjour Chez Vous" (in case you haven't noticed, Univers Zero is French) and "Combat" (almost 13 minutes) are energetic pieces whose melodies and rhythms chase each other about in a swirl of abandon, although both have their gentler moments (at one point near the end, "Combat" sounds downright jolly, at least comparatively), as well as their share of chaos. The track "La Musique D'erich Zann" takes you to the farthest reaches of this album's avant-garde nature, boasting droning instrumentation that builds into a wall of cacophony, whereas "La Tete Du CorBeau" actually sounds a bit King Crimsonish, as if Robert Fripp were writing for a rock orchestra. Finally, the closing piece, "Triomphe Des Mouches," should be marked with a warning for those with nervous dispositions: Not for the weak hearted!

In summary, Ceux Du Dehors fits as neatly in the modern classical bin as it does in the prog or experimental bin. This is challenging stuff that offers new surprises every time you hear it, the kind of album that will sound as fresh in 20 years as it does now (and that's considering that it was recorded 20 years ago, in 1981). For those of you into RIO, this album is essential. For those who have worked up the courage to try out something on the avant-garde side, Ceux Du Dehors offers enough melody to lead you, kicking and screaming, into the nightmares that await.

More about Ceux Du Dehors:

Track Listing: Dense (12:26) / La Corne du Bois des Pendus (8:42) / Bonjour Chez Vous (3:52) / Combat (12:53) / La Musique d'Erich Zann (3:29) / La Tete du Corbeau (3:11) / Triomphe des Mouches (5:36)

Musicians:
Michel Berckmans - bassoon, oboe, English horn, voice
Daniel Denis - drums, percussion, harmonium, voice
Patrick Hanappier - viola, violin, voice
Andy Kirk - keyboards, voice
Guy Segers - bass, clarinet, voice

Contact:

Website: www.cuneiformrecords.com
Note: will open new browser window

Discography

1313 (1977)
Univers Zero(1978)
Heresie (1979)
Ceux Du Dehors (1981)
Uzed (1984)
Heatwave (1986)
The Hard Quest (1999)
Crawling Wind (2001)