HEATWAVE

The Middle Eastern influences that Univers Zero had flirted with on Uzed are more fully and satisfyingly integrated into the band's sound on Heatwave, which also includes a greater use of synthesisers than the band had ever contemplated. In fact, it's the incorporation of synthesisers into their music which makes the album such a success, Andy Kirk and Jean-Luc Plouvier's synth soundscapes working perfectly in the horrific soundscapes UZ specialise in.

This embellishment of the group's sound results in an album which is, at points, sparser and more minimalistic than any UZ album since Heresie, with frantic bursts of full-band activity interspersed with dark ambient mood segments; on no track is this approach more perfectly realised than on The Funeral Plain, an incredible side-long piece which, if the band hadn't reformed after their post-Heatwave hiatus, would have been one hell of a high note to go out on.