Univers Zéro is a variable-geometry collective formed in Belgium in 1973 around Daniel Denis on percussion and Claude Déron on trumpet. The group was part of the atmospheric rock movement of the 1970s, led by Magma. Instruments include harmonium, violin, cello, oboe, etc. Their first albums, 1313(1977) and Hérésie (1979), are predominantly acoustic, with a dark, Bartók-influenced universe. The latter features three tracks, "Le Faulx" , which lasts twenty-five minutes, and "Jack L'éventreur" and "Vous le saurez en temps voulu", both thirteen minutes long. Four albums followed until 1987, including Ceux du Dehors (1980) and Heatwave (1986), before the band split up at the end of the tour. In 1999, Daniel Denis relaunched Univers Zéro with new musicians and released the album The Hard Quest. The band continues to perform live, with a strong following of rock fans and musical explorers. Musicians change, allowing the band to continually renew its style. In the 2000s, the band's old records were reissued, and in 2008, an album featuring archive material from 1984-1986 was released. An album of previously unreleased material, Clivages, was released in 2010. The band performs regularly at Rock in Opposition France festivals, and plays in Europe and Japan. Phosphorecent dream will be released in Japan in 2014, and in France in 2019. In 2022, the band released 74 copies of a signed and numbered collector's edition of their album 1313, and announced a new LP for 2023.
