Born 11 years ago out of an experiment to combine Norwegian black metal and American slave songs, Zeal & Ardor has developed its inchoate, one-man demos into a cohesive, multi-dimensional band that integrates alt-rock, industrial, pop, math-metal, classical and indie-rock.
Greif, the group’s fourth full-length, is an offbeat, schizophrenic and sometimes unnerving collection of occult-themed songs united by a desire to expand, evolve and consume like a virus.
“The tendrils have grown in every which direction,” agrees Swiss-American founder Manuel Gagneux. “What can I say? I’m easily bored. I always want to elbow my way out to have more room to explore.”
To that end, Gagneux invited his bandmates (lead guitarist Tiziano Volante, bassist Lukas Kurmann and drummer Marco Von Allmen) to contribute original ideas to the finished tracks (for the first time), which adds to the eclecticism and depth of the album.
Conversely, the frontman retained a fist-tight grip over the primary compositions despite his self-described “limited skillset” – especially on guitar.
“I’m self-taught and my technique is terrible,” he says. “I don’t even use my pinky. But I’m worried that if I learn to play in a technically correct way, some of my creativity will disappear because my limitations make me search for unique things that don’t sound like anything else.”
One of Gagneux’s favorite approaches to writing involves setting up a chain of at least six effects – many not meant for guitar – in Logic Pro and tweaking the settings to create wildly unorthodox tones.
“Nine times out of 10 it sounds horrible, but that one time I come up with something cool, I loop it and find ways to use it,” he says.
While Gagneux enjoys playing high-quality instruments, he sometimes thinks of his guitar as an adversarial entity.
“I swear it can be my greatest antagonist, and I sometimes have to put it down before I smash it to pieces,” he says. “Other times, it bends to my will and helps me create things I hadn’t even thought of before I picked it up. It’s kind of magical in that way.”
- Greif is out now via Redacted.
