Artist: Univers Zero
Label: Cuneiform
Released: 1999
Rating: 4.4/5
After a break of more than a decade and two solo releases from Daniel Denis, Univers Zero are back from the dead, this time under the total command of Daniel Denis. The last album, Heatwave (1987), was so gorgeous that it was a minor tragedy the band’s development ground to a halt back then. Still, anyone who knows Daniel Denis’s solo work could guess what to expect from Univers Zero at the turn of the millennium. After leaving Present in 1998, where Dave Kerman replaced him, Daniel Denis revived Univers Zero, and The Hard Quest marked the band’s full-on comeback.
Denis had a clear vision for Univers Zero’s new era, and that’s reportedly what drove him out of Present. He wanted to throw himself completely into his first love and bring it back to life. So what was Denis’s vision for this practically brand-new project, which still features two familiar faces – Michel Berckmans on bassoon and oboe (mostly) and Dirk Deschemaeker on clarinets? Interestingly, Berckmans and Descheemaeker hadn’t played on a single Univers Zero album before this one.
Denis’s vision is quite different from the one we got used to in the seventies and eighties. The specific darkness that Denis, Roger Trigaux and Andy Kirk were mostly responsible for (with Denis himself leading the charge) is largely gone. The music is far more accessible than before, with more “typical” melodies. It’s still chamber rock, and in that sense Denis has actually gone back to the band’s roots. There are still a few darker moments, but nowhere near as many as before. Sonically, the music is closer to classical than to rock, much more so than on Heatwave and Uzed, the last two releases. But while the sound leans classical, the melodies themselves are a completely different story. They’re much more rock-oriented, dynamic and accessible. So Univers Zero have once again cooked up a wonderful blend of classical and rock, just in totally different proportions than in the past. You’ll also notice a bit more jazz and some Oriental influences (Xenantaya).
Besides drums and percussion, Denis plays most of the keyboards and the melodica too, and for the first time in the band’s history we even hear his voice, reciting the lyrics for “News from Outside”. As I mentioned, two former bandmates keep him company, Michel Berckmans and Dirk Descheemaeker. Berckmans even wrote two of the tracks (8 and 9). I think it’s really important that Igor Smenoff is on the album too. The violin parts have always been some of my favorite bits of Univers Zero, and this time is no exception. The last member of the lineup is Roger Trigaux’s son Reginald, who plays bass, sings on the composition Xenantaya and also plays acoustic guitar on that same track.
At first I was a bit disappointed by this more “optimistic” lineup, but it feels like every time I spin The Hard Quest, it grows on me more. The gloomy, suffocating, nightmarish atmosphere that could lift your spirits so much is gone. You could even say that this new Univers Zero are practically party animals compared to the old one. Either way, you have to give Denis credit: he’s a great musician who took a risk again. He lost quite a few listeners by changing the style so drastically. He rolled the dice, and I think it paid off. Once again we got a record that shows the band moving and progressing. It’s a different band, but you still know it’s Univers Zero. These newer albums are probably a much better fit for those who find the old Univers Zero too bleak. I enjoy both eras of the band, and The Hard Quest is without a doubt an album that opens a new chapter and proves that change is always welcome.
Lineup
Michel Berckmans – bassoon, oboe, English horn, melodica, piano (8 and 9)
Daniel Denis – drums, keyboards, percussion, melodica, vocals
Dirk Descheemaeker – clarinet, bass clarinet
Igor Semenoff – violin
Reginald Trigaux – electric bass, vocals (10), acoustic guitar (10)
Production
Univers Zero, Art Zoyd
Track list
1. Vieux-Manants 2:50
2. Civic Circus 4:38
3. Affinité 5:52
4. Rouages 5:50
5. News From Outside 3:24
6. Rébus 2:46
7. Kermesse Atomique 5:33
8. Succès Damné 4:18
9. L’Impasse du Choléra 1:48
10. Xenantaya 10:34
11. L’Oubli 1:46
Album length: 50:04
