Univers Zero

p>Uzed (1984) is the fourth album by Belgian band Univers Zero, and it marked a real turning point. After a change of line-up and a fresh body of material (the Crawling Wind EP had appeared in between), the group moved toward more electric colours and a heavier, almost rock-leaning attack. The new arrivals shaped the shift: Jean-Luc Plouvier brought the synthesizer, guitarist Michel Delory delivered a now-celebrated solo on "Celesta (For Chantal)", and Andre Mergen added electric cello and alto saxophone, thickening the orchestral weave, alongside Dirk Descheemaeker on clarinet and soprano and the returning Christian Genet on bass. The whole record is composed and arranged by drummer and founder Daniel Denis.

Recorded and mixed at Daylight Studio in Brussels in 1984, the album has been given greater dynamic range and depth in a 2024 remastering at ICP Studios for this edition. One of the longest-running bands in Belgium, founded by Denis in 1974, Univers Zero built their name on a dark, instrumental chamber-rock that draws as much on twentieth-century chamber music as on progressive forms. LP version.