Univers Zero (also written as Univers Zéro or Univers-Zero) is a Belgian Progressive Rock band formed in 1973 under the name Necronomicon, after a fictitious book that first appeared in the writings of H. P. Lovecraft; they changed their name the following year. The band's original name gives a good indication of what their sound is like, however; their music tends to be much Darker and Edgier than the works of an average Progressive Rock band, even though most of their early work features exclusively acoustic instruments. Along with Henry Cow and Slapp Happy, they were one of the founders of the "Rock in Opposition" movement, which was explicitly formed as a reaction to the commercialisation of the music industry at the time; their music tends to be heavily influenced by 20th century classical composers such as Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, and Albert Huybrechts and has also been referred to as "chamber rock".
The band started adding electric instrumentation in the '80s, but strangely, this resulted in their music becoming moderately Lighter and Softer (though still significantly darker than most other progressive rock). This may have been in part due to the departure of original guitarist Roger Trigaux, who left in 1979 to form his own band, Present. The two bands have shared personnel throughout their careers and are stylistically similar; they also collaborated with members of a third Belgian group, Aranis, on a project called Once Upon a Time in Belgium, which contained a whopping seventeen-person lineup and performed at a 2011 Rock in Opposition festival. Despite these changes, Univers Zero itself has also had a fairly consistent sound throughout its career.
Univers Zero disbanded in 1987, but reconstituted itself in 1999. Drummer and composer Daniel Denis spent time in the similar French ensemble Art Zoyd in the interim. In total, Univers Zero has released ten studio albums and a handful of live releases and EPs. Although they are unlikely ever to be more than a Cult Classic band, Univers Zero are a particularly acclaimed example of dark Progressive Rock.
There is a Bandcamp site
with the band's first two albums available to stream and purchase (for unknown reasons, the band's remaining material is not there, however). The record label Cuneiform Records has five of Present's albums up on its Bandcamp (again, several are missing). Erstwhile bassist Guy Segers also has a Bandcamp that features a colossal number of live performances by Univers Zero and Present from when he was in the band.
Discography
- 1977 - Univers Zero (also known as 1313)
- 1979 - Heresie (or Hérésie; official sources have not been consistent on this)
- 1981 - Ceux du dehors (French for The Outsiders, or more literally Those Outside)
- 1983 - Crawling Wind (EP)
- 1984 - Uzed
- 1986 - Heatwave
- 1999 - The Hard Quest
- 2002 - Rhythmix
- 2004 - Implosion
- 2006 - Live
- 2008 - Relaps (Archives 1984-86)
- 2010 - Clivages (French for Cleavages)
- 2014 - Phosphorescent Dreams
Tropes
- Antiquated Linguistics:
- "La Faulx" appears to be a French example, translating as "The Scythe", but using a spelling from Middle French. The modern spelling would be "La Faux".note
- Heresie may also be an example; the modern spelling is Hérésie, but it's not clear whether the omission of accents was intended to be an example of this trope or a mere typographical consideration.note Official sources have not been consistent about the spelling of the album.
- Bilingual Bonus: Probably at least half the band's song titles are in their native French, as are a few of their album titles.
- Black Speech/Ominous Latin Chanting: The vocals to "La Faulx" sound like an example of this (though they probably aren't literally in Latin or Mordor's Black Speech), but it's not clear what the vocalist is saying. The lyrics have apparently never been released.
- Boléro Effect: "La Faulx" is a particularly terrifying usage of this trope.
- Brown Note: Something just seems off about the band's music, to an extent listeners may suspect to be an intentional attempt to create a Real Life example of this trope. The band's original name of Necronomicon may also be a tell here.
- Darker and Edgier: Not merely than most progressive rock bands but many, if not most, metal bands as well. This despite relegating electric instrumentation to a supporting role. However, of all the band's work, Heresie is the darkest and edgiest. It has been repeatedly likened to a horror film soundtrack.
- Drone of Dread: Freaking everywhere, with "La Faulx" (again) probably being the most terrifying example of all.
- Epic Rocking: Frequently. The longest is probably "La Faulx" from Heresie, which runs for 25:19 on the studio version. A live version on a re-release of the band's self-titled album is twenty-eight minutes long. Another particularly noteworthy example is "The Funeral Plain" from Heatwave, which goes for 20:22. Probably more of the band's songs are examples of this trope than not, which is par for the course with Progressive Rock.
- Fun with Acronyms: Uzed is a pun on how a Commonwealth English speaker would abbreviate the band's name ("UZ" would be pronounced "You Zed"). This is likely lost to American English speakers, or at least a case of fridge logic.
- Harsh Vocals: The vocals of "La Faulx" build from an eerie chant to this, bordering on Careful with That Axe territory.
- Indecipherable Lyrics: The lyrics to "La Faulx" seem to be a complete mystery, if there even are any. It's not even clear what language they are.
- Instrumental: Most of the band's music.
- Lead Drummer: Daniel Denis is one of the main composers and the only constant member. This is not quite to an I Am the Band extent as, apart from Uzed and Implosion, most of the albums feature works by multiple band members.
- Lighter and Softer: The band's work after Heresie lightened up slightly, demonstrating a playful side that is not particularly apparent on the band's first two albums; however, it remains quite dark by progressive rock standards. Univers Zero are also a rare case of a band introducing electric instruments into the mix while reducing the overall heaviness of their sound at the same time.
- Literary Allusion Title: In addition to the band's original name (Necronomicon), they also have a song titled "La musique d'Erich Zann" after H. P. Lovecraft's short story "The Music of Erich Zann". Ceux du dehors may be another example; it translates as "The Outsiders", where Lovecraft had a short story entitled "The Outsider".
- Live Album: As seen above, they have two.
- Music Is Politics: The Rock in Opposition movement was a textbook case of this trope.
- Nightmare Fetishist: The band themselves, given their references to serial killers and Lovecraft stories, not to mention their music, would seem to qualify.
- Pun-Based Title: Uzed, as explained under Fun with Acronyms.
- Revolving Door Band: A rather colossal number of people have been members over the years. Denis is the only founding member left.
- Self-Titled Album: Their debut plays it straight, at least in some releases. Uzed is a Zig-Zagged example, as explained under Fun with Acronyms.
- Serial Killer: They have at least two songs titled after serial killers. "Jack the Ripper" needs no introduction, of course. "Docteur Petiot" is named for Marcel Petiot, a French doctor who was convicted of some twenty-six murders, though his actual body count is suspected to have been around 60.
- Spell My Name With An S: Official sources have been inconsistent about the spelling of the band and their second album. Both would be more correctly written in modern French with acute accents (e.g., Univers Zéro and Hérésie), but some official sources (including most of the album covers) leave them off. However, others include them; the Crawling Wind cover includes the accent on the band name, and the official Bandcamp includes the accents on Hérésie (but not the band name).
- Start My Own: Guitarist Roger Trigaux left in 1979 to form his band Present. Perhaps a rather atypical example, as the boundary between the two bands is rather nebulous: they retain similar styles, have had significant membership overlap over the years (Daniel Denis, for instance, has performed on several of Present's albums), and have often performed each other's songs in concert.
- Title by Number: 1313 was the catalogue number of the band's debut album. In some releases of the album, this has been adopted as the official title, while in others, it's a Self-Titled Album. Most fans know both titles, and they both seem to be regarded as official. As a Mythology Gag, spin-off band Present titled its first album Triskaidékaphobie (meaning triskaidekaphobia, or fear of the number thirteennote ).
- Tome of Eldritch Lore: Their original name was a reference to the Trope Namer, the Necronomicon. Their music often feels like a musical example of this trope as well.
- Uncommon Time: As expected for a Progressive Rock band, this is all over the place.
- Ur-Example: In several respects, they qualify as one for Post-Rock. They incorporated many of the orchestral instruments that are commonplace to the genre as core elements of their sound, and they performed lengthy compositions that made copious use of commonplace Post-Rock techniques such as the Boléro Effect. To some extent, the boundary between Post-Rock and chamber rock is quite nebulous to begin with.
