Album review: Zeal & Ardor – GREIF

The title is inspired by Manuel Gagneux’s memories of Der Vogel Greif, a hybrid carnival creature that would symbolically turn its back to the gentry in Basel, Switzerland, where the frontman grew up. The gesture is one of defiance – something that the music of Zeal & Ardor has never lacked. These new songs, however, also reflect the griffin-like monster’s weird mutation of different animal parts.

Though it rarely goes harder, GREIF goes further and deeper than anything Zeal & Ardor have done before – which is saying something, given the inherent uniqueness of everything Manuel touches. “I’m seeking that feeling of pleasant whiplash,” he told us recently, also rather modestly likening his output to “pineapple-on-pizza metal”.

The band’s previous confluence of metal with traditional African-American music is now only episodic. Instead, there’s the addictive tension of Kilinova, where guitars and vocals stalk rather than slay. Then, in Are You The Only One Now, Manuel sings like Neil Young over Dum Dum Girls-style dream pop before, of all things, very metal blastbeats miraculously contribute to, rather than eat away at, the song’s dark heart. Elsewhere, there are desert rock vibes in Disease and Sugarcoat, interestingly restrained but with funky backbones. Thrill is similarly intoxicating, but with an upbeat and instantly catchy hook.

Best of all, perhaps, are Clawing Out and closer To My Ilk. The former presents tightly bracketed, Tool-like metal riffing, thrilling tempo changes and oddly exciting vocal incantations. It’s nearly as tribal as Heilung and is perhaps what the Scando-Germanic collective would sound like if they traded ancient for modern. Utterly different again, To My Ilk could almost be the Chili Peppers at their most introspective; fireside balladry climaxing in hand claps and ruminating, gospel-tinged voices, a reminder of the traditional music rooted in Zeal & Ardor’s DNA.

GREIF is a total eclipse for convention, another insight into the history-grounded but flyaway machinations of its creator’s brilliant mind.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Tool, Gojira, Queens Of The Stone Age

GREIF is released on August 23 via Redacted