Univers Zero - "Implosion" [2004]

Artist: Univers Zero

Title: Implosion
Label: Cuneiform Records
Genre: Avant-Prog
Country: Belgium
Release date: 2004

Track List:

1. Suintement (Oozing)
2. Falling Rain Dance
3. Partch's X-Ray
4. Rapt D'Abdallah
5. Miroirs (Mirrors)
6. La Mort de Sophocle (Sophocle's Death)
7. Ectoplasme
8. Temps Neufs
9. Mellotronic
10. Bacteria
11. Out of Space 4
12. First Short Dance
13. Second Short Dance
14. Variations on Mellotronic's Theme
15. A Rebours (In Revers)
16. Meandres (Meanderings)

Here's my favourite album by RIO classics Univers Zero. It's definitely nowhere near as "dark" or avant-garde as their classic releases like "Heresie" or "1313", but I like the mood and atmosphere of this album (as well as the cover art). Maybe I'm not a real fan of avant-prog, but I never pretended to be one :P Anyway, here's the kind of progressive rock I like the most - melancholic, "cosmic" (as opposed to UZ's early releases, which carry a "creepy", horror-movie atmosphere), melodic yet full of electronic noisy parts.

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Ahvak - s/t [2004]

Artist: Ahvak

Title: Ahvak
Genre: Avant-Prog
Country: Israel
Release date: 2004

Track List:

1. Vivisection
2. Bertha
3. Regaim
4. Dust
5. Cement
6. Yawners
7. Ironworks

"Most of AHVAK members met through an internet prog-rock forum in Israel. They started rehearsing but didn't work seriously until drummer and composer Dave Kerman (5UU'S, THINKING PLAGUE, U-TOTEM, PRESENT etc.) came to Israel and joined the band. Their debut album was released on Cuneiform Records in the USA and got some pretty flattering reviews" (progarchives.com)

Besides that, not much is known about Ahvak. Don't even know if they recorded their 2nd album, but their debut one is quite interesting. It's probably the one and only RIO-influenced avant-prog release from Israel (correct me if there are any others).

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Art Zoyd - "Le Mariage Du Ciel Et L'Enfer" [1984]

Artist: Art Zoyd

Title: Le Mariage Du Ciel Et L'Enfer
Genre: Avant-Prog
Country: France
Release date: 1984

Track List:

1. Sortie 134 - Part 1
2. Cryogenèse - Rêve Artificiel
3. IO 1
4. IO 2
5. IO 3
6. Mouvance 2
7. Mouvance 1
8. Cryogenèse - Les Portes du Futur
9. Sortie 134 - Part 2

Along with Univers Zero, Art Zoyd are probably one of the best known bands in the whole Rock In Opposition movement. Most of their albums aren't that hard to find, so I won't post their complete discography here. However, I'd like to post one of their lesser known, but nevertheless great albums - "Le Mariage Du Ciel Et L'Enfer". Recorded in 1984, this album isn't as "electronic" as their later releases, but no less "dark" and experimental. According to the release notes, "Le Mariage Du Ciel Et L'Enfer" is actually music for some ballet by Roland Petit. Unfortunately, my knowledge of ballet is very limited, so I won't comment on this...

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Nebelnest - "Zepto" [2006]

Artist: NeBeLNeST

Title: ZePTo
Label: Cuneiform Records
Genre: Avant-Prog
Country: France
Release date: 2006

Track List:

1. Pillars of Birth
2. Manjnuns
3. The Old Ones
4. The Thing in the Walls
5. Fabric of Reality
6. De Thriumpho Naturae
7. Do What Thou Wilt
8. Station 9

Another French avant-prog band, strongly influenced by Rock In Opposition movement (but significantly heavier than most RIO bands). Here's their third and most recent album, "ZePTo" (capitalization rule - all consonants are in capitals, unlike the vowels). Besides the obvious references to Crowley ("Do What Thou Wilt") and Lovecraft ("The Old Ones"), the album has a strong futuristic feel, and creates a "cosmic" atmosphere. Happy Cosmonautics Day, BTW!

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Magma - "Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh" [1973]

Artist: Magma

Title: Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh
Genre: Avant-Prog, Zeuhl
Country: France
Release date: 1973

Track List:

1. Hortz Fur Dëhn Stekëhn West
2. Ïma Süri Dondaï
3. Kobaïa Is de Hündïn
4. Da Zeuhl Wortz Mekanïk
5. Nebëhr Gudahtt
6. Mekanïk Kommandöh
7. Kreühn Köhrmahn Iss de Hündïn

...And speaking of Magma - here's their most well-known album, "Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh", released in 1973. MDK is considered to be a seminal work for the whole zeuhl genre, and a very original release even by nowadays standards. At first listening, my impression was like "WTF am I listening to??!!", but after ~10 re-listenings it became like: "Wait... but this is great!!!". Need I say more? Here you can read a detailed review of MDK and an explanation of it's sci-fi concept. I can only add that the only downside of this release, IMO, is that the Kobaïan language turned out not quite as exotic as I expected. Bands singing in made-up languages always fascinated me, but Kobaïan sounds quite like Dutch or some weird German dialect, not something that I would expect from an extraterrestrial language...

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Shub-Niggurath - "Les Morts Vont Vite" [1986]

Artist: Shub-Niggurath

Title: Les Morts Vont Vite
Genre: Avant-Prog
Country: France
Release date: 1986

Track List:

1. Incipit Tragedia
2. Cabine 67
3. Yog Sothoth
4. La Ballade De Lénore
5. Delear Prius
6. J'ai Vu Naguère En Peinture Les Harpies Ravissant Le Repas De Phynée

"SHUB-NIGGURATH was formed in 1983 and consisted of six musicians: Allan Ballaud on bass, percussionist Franck Coulaud, Frank Fromy on guitar and percussion, Jean-Luc Herve on harmonium, piano and organ, vocalist Ann Stewart, and a trombone/bass player Veronuque Verdier. The band released their first untitled demo on 1985 and got good feedback from critics. The promising debut album, "Les Morts Von Vite", was released on Musea label in 1987. The album received good reviews and is their finest moment: it caught the band at the peak of their creativity. Musea reissued this album on CD in 1997, including two rare bonus tracks. The debut sold well and later, in 87, SHUB NIGGURATH's song appeared on Musea's Zeuhl compilation "Enneade", a tribute to the legacy of Magma. [...] SHUB-NIGGURATH's best album is the debut, and it's also the best place to start exploring their music. However, their career has been fairly consistent and the other two albums are quality efforts. If you like dark, brooding mix of RIO and Zeuhl you will like SHUB-NIGGURATH. their avant-ish dark prog with a sharp edge is both unique and challenging"

While I can't say this album reminds me of Magma, it's definitely a classic and should be recommended to anyone who wants to hear some progressive rock that's really hard to get into. The atmosphere on "Les Morts Vont Vite" is quite dark, but what else to expect from a Lovecraftian band?..

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Komintern - "Le Bal Du Rat Mort" [1971]

Artist: Komintern

Title: Le Bal Du Rat Mort
Genre: Avant-Prog
Country: France
Release date: 1971

Track List:

1. Bal Pour Un Rat Vivant
2. Hommage Au Marie De Tours
3. Petite Musique Pour Un Blockhaus
4. Pongistes De Tous Les Pays
5. Fou, Roi, Pantin

One more album released in 1971 that was influenced by early hyper-progressive rock and radical politics of May 1968. Komintern, a French band formed in 1970 and disbanded in 1975, are often labeled as "the first Rock In Opposition band". While I can't fully agree with that (as the whole RIO thing started in 1978), Komintern definitely were one of the most important precursors to the whole RIO movement. Can't believe "Le Bal Du Rat Mort" was released in 1971!

P.S. Some members of Komintern were also active in an avant-garde act called Red Noise. While I couldn't find any of their recordings, their name sounds promising, and I wonder if they sounded at least remotely similar to the earliest 70s' industrial acts. The whole thing of mixing avant-garde (anti-music) and radical political imagery strongly reminds me of Throbbing Gristle, early Laibach and the early industrial scene in general. German Oak, Faust and Neu! were called "proto-industrial" on several occasions, but I think it can be applied to a much wider spectrum of 70s' avant-prog.

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Knutna Nävar - "Internationalen & Andra Revolutionära Arbetarsånger" [1971]

Artist: Knutna Nävar
Title: Internationalen & Andra Revolutionära Arbetarsånger
Label: Proletärkultur
Genre: Folk / Progg
Country: Sweden
Release date: 1971

Track List:

1. Internationalen
2. Arbetarmarseljäsen
3. Demonstrationssång (Roter Wedding)
4. Röda fanor
5. Visa att sjungas i fängelse
6. Om jag någonsin ska strida
7. Dialektikens lov
8. Arbetare och förtryckta
9. I ena handen hackan
10. Rorsmannen
11. Sång om Kina
12. Kampsång (Warschawjanka)
13. Lappen och rocken
14. Lär av historien
15. Proletären

Another early-70s progressive rock band, this time from Sweden, known for their heavy use of extreme political imagery. "Internationalen & Andra Revolutionära Arbetarsånger" is their debut album, and probably the best in their discography (they also have at least one more LP, "Svarta Listornas Folk", and a couple of singles). Some tracks on it are Knutna Nävar's original material (my favourite is "Visa att sjungas i fängelse"), some - cover versions of well-known revolutionary songs like The Internationale, Marsellaise, Roter Wedding, and Warschawjanka. As you might already know I always liked such songs covered by rock and punk bands (like Banda Bassotti or Leningrad 44), and it's definitely great to hear these songs sung in Swedish - although my favourite version of Roter Wedding is the original German version performed by Ernst Busch, and my favourite version of Warschawjanka is in Hungarian (by Magyar Néphadsereg Művészegyüttese). Don't know for the rest of numerous Swedish political progressive rock bands (known as the "progg" scene), but Knutna Nävar's music is hardly rock at all - in my opinion, it'd better be called "riot folk". Their tunes are relatively simplistic, yet very catchy; + I like the female vocals in some of them.

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