Since their inception in 2013, Swiss black metal band Zeal & Ardor have taken many different forms in their career. A constantly evolving enigma which over time has embraced classic black metal themes, fought back against racial biases, flipped the script by retelling historical events, and now taken shape in the form of a mythical creature: part snake, part lion, and part bird.
Sharpening its fangs, claws, and talons, Zeal & Ardor go in for the kill with their newest album Greif, delivering a fourteen track album that has it all: black metal screams, gang vocals, spoken word latin, and a surprising introduction of electronic beats. Of course, lending itself to become an album that beckons fans to join their parade, starting with the sound of the album’s first track, “the Bird, The Lion, and the Wildkin”.
One of the biggest changes on this album is the vocals. You won’t just find founder and lead singer Manuel Gagneux carrying the album, but he now shoulders the weight with vocalists Marc Obrist and Denis Wagner. Gagneux stated that “(Obrist and Wanger) basically gave this project seven years of their lives on tour, so it felt odd to be the only one on the albums” and in-turn welcomed them into his creative process. The third track on the album, “Kilanova” is the beautiful byproduct of this. A kilanova is when two supernovas collide, and that is exactly what happens with Gagneux and Obrist in this track. It’s explosive, and their collision creates a perfect fusion of their voices, leaving you to listen in awe.
While evolution has always played a part in Zeal & Ardor, the band still pays homage to where they came from in this album. “369”, a fifty-five second interlude, takes you back to the Stranger Fruit album with Gagneux’s signature soulful callouts, now combined with an electronic twist. Tracks like “Hide in Shade” and “Clawing Out” take you back to their self-titled album from 2022. The black metal screams, driving guitar riffs, and spoken word that everyone fell in love with in “Gotterdammerung”, making an appearance along with repeated choruses and drum beats that call for you to move and clap along.
Whether it is vulnerability in theming or the lyrics themselves, Zeal & Ardor commits wholly to capturing emotion. Songs such as “Solace” and “To my ilk” explore this. “Solace” welcomes you with piano and a solo Obrist carrying you through the song, the later introduction of guitars and drums darkening the mood. Closing out the album, “To my ilk” leaves you like a parting letter, offering advice, reassurance, and of course love as Gagneaux states to “my child, my dear, my love”.
Through the album, piece by piece, the theme all falls into place. Calling out the gap between the working class and elite, and the power struggles faced on both sides. This new release from Zeal & Ardor starts the parade for this album through the charts, and hopefully to the top of them. With the new trio of Gagneux, Obrist, and Wagner on display, the Bird, the Lion, and the Wildkin are now coming together to symbolize a new season of life for the band.
Rating: 9.5/10.0
