CEUX DU DEHORS

If I was new to Univers Zero and picked this up from a shelf in a music shop I'd be squinting my eyes like a Japanese sniper for five minutes trying to decipher what on earth it says on the cover. Fancy fonts are good, but they can backfire - you have to be able to read it... Hey, wait a minute, mine's got a different sleeve from this, what's going on?

As you'd expect, after 'Heresie', this is pretty dark fare, sounding similar to the soundtrack of a Peter Cushing Hammer film as he fills beakers with poisons. The wide and varied array of instruments at hand do help enormously. Like previous releases, it's all a bit on the tuneless side, but Univers Zero are all about atmosphere of which there's plenty and I'm not about to try and topple such a lovingly crafted house of cards.

Despite it's many shortcomings, I can't find it in myself to slate 'Ceux Du Dehors'. It might not get anywhere, but at least it tries, despite the over the top theatrics. There's a fine balance between sounding sinister and sounding cheesy. Thankfully Univers Zero remain on the side of 'cool' - but it's touch and go at certain points.

The best comparison would be: King Crimson play Gothic, Chamber music. You'll do well to leave the light on if listening to this in bed - just in case shadows start flitting across the walls.