Despite the strengths of Univers Zeros two previous albums, 2006s Live and 2010s Clivages, bandleader/drummer Daniel Denis decided that some retooling was in order as the 40th anniversary of the groups founding loomed. Asserting that the old form was stagnant, Denis significantly changed UZs lineup and opened yet another chapter in the Belgian avant-prog outfits history book. The result can be heard on the bands 13th album, Phosphorescent Dreams, released by the Japanese Arcangelo label (rather than Cuneiform) in early 2014. The core group is now a streamlined, electrified quintet of Denis, reedman Kurt Bude, bassist Dimitri Evers, and two newcomers, guitarist Nicolas Dechene and keyboardist Antoine Guenet. Notably, bassoonist/oboist Michel Berckmans has departed. An important historical presence in the group, Berckmans is missed, but his absence has precedent; UZ carried on forcefully without him during the 1980s, shifting the focus from Berckmans bassoon to Dirk Descheemaekers clarinet on Crawling Wind (1983), Uzed (1984), and Heatwave (1986), and now Budes clarinet is elevated in similar fashion on Phosphorescent Dreams. Denis was wise to retain Bude from the Live/Clivages lineups, not only because of Budes stellar clarinet and sax playing, but also his role as a composer, now nearly equal to the drummer himself (Denis wrote four of the seven tracks here; Bude the remaining three). Phosphorescent Dreams charts paths both new and familiar. UZs expected rhythmic drive, recurring themes and variations, tinges of the medieval, and foreboding mood are all present on the Denis-penned opener Shaking Hats, which could soundtrack the lead-in to a battle -- or a wedding -- on Game of Thrones. However, as the album progresses, ominous and heavy interludes segue into something mysterious and magical rather than nightmarish. There is deep drama in the rumbling bass, guitar sustain, emphatic keys, and low reed vibrations of Denis Tres Affables (with Nicolas Denis on drums), but these elements are juxtaposed against ringing guitars and a Guenet solo that truly sparkles (before becoming relatively unhinged). Budes Reve Mecanique likewise lays the instruments on thick, but call-and-response keyboard motifs with a dreamlike quality over a subtly cruising rhythm strongly suggest the sound of Miriodor, the longstanding Montreal avant-prog band whose layered sounds and innovative voicings invite immersive listening. Like Miriodor guitarist Bernard Falaise, Dechenes powerful prog-fusion crunch and burn are fully integrated into the bands compositional fabric on a track like Denis Les Voleurs dOmbre (which also features some truly wild clarinet skronk from Bude), while he harks back to Michel Delory or Roger Trigaux elsewhere. The classicist brass and wind ensemble requiem of Budes LEspoir Perdu is an elegiac diversion, and the slowly building tension of Denis Phosphorescent Dream recalls Heatwaves The Funeral Plain; these concluding tracks find Denis refraining from an immediate entry and then calibrating his percussion as the compositions require. Denis might assert his leadership by significantly reshaping Univers Zeros membership, but musically he remains willing to cede the spotlight in service to the ensembles evolving vision. ~ Dave Lynch

Rovi