Univers Zero

Arkham to Univers Zero

Daniel Denis, aged 17, formed the trio Arkham with the keyboardist Jean-Luc Manderlier in 1970, according to the fan site Univers Zero Tribute, and both played with Magma. Necronomicon followed (1973 per Wikipedia, 1974 per the fan site), founded with the trumpeter Claude Deron and including Roger Trigaux on guitar, Guy Segers on bass, Patrick Hanappier on violin and John Van Rymenant on saxophone. It was renamed Univers Zero in 1974; Wikipedia says after a book by the Belgian novelist Jacques Sternberg, while Denis said in 2021 that Segers suggested Zero Universe. Michel Berckmans on oboe and bassoon arrived in the mid-1970s, and the self-produced debut, later retitled 1313, appeared in 1977.

They played the first Rock in Opposition festival at the New London Theatre on March 12, 1978, organized by Henry Cow with Stormy Six, Samla Mammas Manna and Etron Fou Leloublanc; the five groups met in Switzerland in December 1978 to form RIO as a collective. Heresie followed in 1979, when Trigaux left to form Present and Andy Kirk joined on keyboards. They toured France, Yugoslavia, Switzerland and the Netherlands in 1980. Ceux du dehors came out in 1981 on Recommended Records, followed by Crawling Wind (1983), Uzed (1984) and Heatwave (1986 or 1987). Denis left in late 1986 after financial problems and internal tension and later spent seven years with Art Zoyd.

The Hard Quest (1999), Rhythmix (2002) and Implosion (2004) came with a reformed septet; they headlined the first night of NEARfest near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in June 2004. Live (Cuneiform, 2006), Clivages (2010) and Phosphorescent Dreams (2014) followed, with 35th-anniversary shows at Le Triton near Paris in 2009. The last concert listed is the Zappanale in Bad Doberan in July 2015; Denis said in 2024 the group stopped progressively and naturally, and that management, booking, money and tinnitus make a return unlikely. Lueur (Sub Rosa) came out in 2023, and Live at the Triton 2009 in 2025. Denis names Bartok, Stravinsky and the Belgian composer Albert Huybrechts as influences, and the band appears in the 2012 documentary Romantic Warriors II.