The umpteenth Univers Zero release on Cuneiform, 2010's Clivages is bookended by two of the disc's four Daniel Denis compositions, the opening "Les Kobolds" and the closing "Les Cercles d'Horus," pieces that should gladden the hearts of aficionados who have followed UZ along their well over 30-year history.
"Les Kobolds" will push all the right buttons for those enamored of the band's sound, with chamber instrumentation and electric bass and keys driven by Denis' inventive percussion, all in service to melodies and countermelodies with a somewhat Renaissance or Baroque feel, but with harmonic and textural shifts in ominous directions, as expected.
UZ listeners have definitely heard this type of thing before, and in its construction and performance it recalls any number of prime Denis pieces: "Dense," "Toujours Plus à l'Est," "Presage." Likewise, the closing "Les Cercles d'Horus," with its funeral dirge drums and underlying doom-laden keyboards and bass, tips its hat to the similarly dark "Bruit dans les Murs" from 1986's Heatwave -- speaking of which, Clivages signals the return of keyboardist/guitarist Andy Kirk to the UZ fold for the first time since Heatwave; Kirk is featured as guitarist on two pieces here, most notably his own "Warrior," a 12-plus-minute composition with relentless escalating tension wholly in keeping with Kirk's Heatwave title track or "Funeral Plain" opus (with Kirk's guitar akin to that of Heatwave's fiery axeman, Michel Delory).
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Les KoboldsDaniel Denis | Univers Zero | Play | 04:17 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 2 | WarriorAndy Kirk | Univers Zero | Play | 12:12 | 27 MB | 77 MB |
| 3 | VacillementsMichel Berckmans | Univers Zero | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 17 MB |
| 4 | Earth ScreamDaniel Denis | Univers Zero | Play | 03:12 | 7 MB | 14 MB |
| 5 | SoubresautsDaniel Denis | Univers Zero | Play | 08:00 | 18 MB | 49 MB |
| 6 | ApesanteurMichel Berckmans | Univers Zero | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 7 | Three DaysKurt Budé | Univers Zero | Play | 05:55 | 13 MB | 29 MB |
| 8 | Straight EdgeKurt Budé | Univers Zero | Play | 13:59 | 32 MB | 86 MB |
| 9 | Retour de FoireMichel Berckmans | Univers Zero | Play | 07:44 | 17 MB | 38 MB |
| 10 | Les Cercles d'Horus | Univers Zero | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 18 MB |
| 66 mins | 152 MB | |||||
| 66 mins | 384 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michel Berckmans | Bassoon, Composer, Engineer, Horn (English), Melodica, Oboe |
| 2 | Aurelia Boven | Cello |
| 3 | Kurt Budé | Clarinet, Clarinet (Bass), Composer, Sax (Alto) |
| 4 | Pierre Chevalier | Glockenspiel, Keyboards |
| 5 | Daniel Denis | Bass Samples, Composer, Drums, Percussion |
| 6 | Nicolas Denis | Drums |
| 7 | Dimitri Evers | Bass (Electric), Fretless Bass |
| 8 | Jaak Geebelen | Photography |
| 9 | Andy Kirk | Composer, Guitar, Percussion |
| 10 | Martin Lauwers | Violin |
| 11 | Thierry Moreau | Design |
| 12 | Didier de Roos | Mastering, Mixing |
| 13 | Alain Steenhoudt | Mixing |
| 14 | Philippe Thuriot | Accordion |
| 15 | Univers Zero | Primary Artist |
| 16 | Pierre Michel Zaleski | Photography |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |