Univers Zero
Biography
Formed in 1974, Belgium-based chamber rock band Univers Zero initially featured co-composers drummer Daniel Denis and guitarist Roger Trigaux joined by bassoonist Michel Berckmans, violinist Marcel Dufrane, bassist Christian Genet, violinist/violist Patrick Hanappier, and harmonium/spinet player Emmanuel Nicaise. The avant-prog group, one of the first Rock in Opposition bands along with Britain's Henry Cow, Sweden's Samla Mammas Manna, Italy's Stormy Six, and France's Etron Fou Leloublan, released its first album, 1313, in 1977. Univers Zero immediately began their history of personnel changes with the 1979 follow-up LP Heresie, a relentlessly dark effort recorded by the quintet formation of Denis, Trigaux, Berckmans, Hanappier, and bassist Guy Segers, who would (at least momentarily) replace Genet.
In 1980, Trigaux left to begin a new musical endeavor, Present. Undaunted, the group continued on, adding keyboardist/composer Andy Kirk and releasing the landmark Ceux du Dehors in 1981. Two years later, Univers Zero issued the Crawling Wind EP (which Cuneiform reissued with bonus tracks in 2001), having added clarinetist Dirk Descheemaeker and -- following the departure of Hanappier -- violinist Alan Ward to the fold.
Selected Discography
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