HEATWAVE

Well here's my favourite UNIVERS ZERO record. They have continued on with their more "electric" sound that began on the "Uzed" album.They have increased their lineup from 5 on the "Uzed" record to 7 on this one. They added a guitarist and a second keyboard / synth player. The returning Andy Kirk who would also compose the two longest tracks on this one. Not that this matters, but I feel sort of justified in my high regard for this album when I read one of the "Gnosis" reviewers saying that "Heatwave" was "far and away their high point". It would be 13 years before they would record another album.

I really like all 4 of these tracks a lot. The album opens with the title track "Heatwave" a Kirk composition. Percussion and sax create a great sound.There is more of a melody after 3 minutes as the drums lead the way. Sax returns and some beautiful guitar 5 1/2 minutes in. It ends dramatically. "Chinavox" and the next song are Daniel Denis compositions."Chinavox" features just an amazing collage of sounds. Lots of percussion and clarinet on this dark and intense track. "Bruit Dans Les Murs" is quite intense with electric piano and drums leading the way. This is dark with some incredible drumming on it. Sax arrives before 2 minutes.The song builds 5 minutes in as things get frenzied. Nice. The drumming is outstanding !

"The Funeral Plain" is the epic at over 20 minutes and the album's highlight. It opens with electronic sounds with no real melody. It builds in strength with electric piano and clarinet standing out. The violin joins the piano 4 minutes in, and a couple of minutes later the drums join the clarinet and piano. It's like a release before 9 minutes as the tension is broken. Dark sounds follow with lots of atmosphere. Percussion sounds replace the dark vibe but only briefly as it returns. Drums and violin create a full sound. The tension returns before 17 minutes as the guitar is just screaming. This is truly an amazing piece of music as I got goosebumps 19 minutes in.

You know Daniel Denis and Andy Kirk shine on this album. Electric piano and drums lead the way on this one, with the horns and violin more in the background. This is a masterpiece.