Zeal & Ardor – GREIF
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Rejection of metal orthodoxy is baked into the concept of Zeal & Ardor, the onetime solo project of Swiss-born musician Manuel Gagneux, who now oversees a full six-piece lineup. While 2016’s Devil Is Fine lit up the underground with its provocative clash of black-metal and African-American spirituals, Gagneux’s palette soon expanded to include soul, funk, trip-hop, djent, nü metal, electronica, and the kind of syrupy, lo-fi instrumentals that tend to get playlisted as “chill hip-hop beats to study to.” His maximalist approach found its apotheosis on 2022’s bracing Zeal & Ardor, which somehow committed to each of its errant sonic threads with equal intensity.
Given Gagneux’s track record, it isn’t inherently problematic that Zeal & Ardor’s latest album, GREIF, isn’t black-metal for more than a few fleeting seconds at a time. The issue is that, for the first time, metal seems to be holding Gagneux back. GREIF’s nods to the genre frequently come in the form of chugging, repeated-note riffs, or raw screams that act as accents for Gagneux’s much-improved clean vocals. Both are bland, obvious signifiers that do little to elevate the tracks they’re inserted into. Other attempts at heaviness, like the squeaky nü riffs that anchor “Clawing Out” and “Sugarcoat,” tilt a little too close to Powerman 5000 for comfort.
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GREIF does have its transcendent moments. “Kilonova” manages to split the difference between ass-shaking funk-rock and Tool polyrhythms, while the epic-in-miniature “Are You the Only One Now?” does more than enough to earn its whirring black-metal crescendo. “Solace” is a pained, piano-driven ballad that gives Gagneux his biggest vocal showcase on the album. The electric guitar and pounding drums that arrive near the song’s end amplify its force without overpowering its emotional core.
Perhaps that can serve as a blueprint for a future Zeal & Ardor album, one where black-metal is an even more distant afterthought. – GRADE: C+
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