Interview by Kris Peters
To steal a line from their bio, "ZEAL & ARDOR isn’t just a band; it’s a living and breathing entity."
Since announcing their arrival with 2017's album Devil Is Fine, Zeal & Ardor have transgressed almost every musical parameter known to man, exploring sonic realms through their music that have no right being disturbed, yet somehow always combine through a submissive force of nature that is both compelling and irresistible.
Founding member and main man Manuel Gagneux has long been the heart, soul and public face of this musical enigma, writing and recording everything himself in pursuit of total creative freedom and balance. It is a process which has worked beautifully over three previous albums, but for the band's fourth, Grief, which was released last Friday, Gagneux elected to change things up considerably by inviting his band - for seven years only used as touring musicians - into the studio to help start and complete the project.
It was a brave move, but one which has yielded impressive dividends, with added vocal layers and differing thought patterns contributing to yet another musical evolution within Zeal & Ardor.
HEAVY sat down with Gagneux earlier today to talk about Grief. We start by asking how the early reception has been for album number four.
"It's been pretty much what I expected," he smiled, "because it's not as… I wanna say heavy as the other records. So some people are butt hurt and other people are really into it (laughs). It's a good mix."
With so much going on from so many different levels on Grief, we ask Gagneux how he would describe the album musically.
"Oh damn," he pondered. "I think it's just a collection of songs that I was really into. It's kind of like tapas where you have different small dishes; you can have a little bit of that and a little bit of this. It's the opposite of a concept album, I guess. There's a concept to it, but you're not gonna get Tool hours of nerding over it because there's a meaning between every single song. They're just songs, and I like them (laughs)."
In the full interview Manuel discusses the musical side of Grief in more detail, how he has expanded on previous music, the continual musical evolution of Zeal & Ardor and how much growth is left in the band, the track Clawing Out and the story behind it, having his band in the studio with him and why now is the right time, relinquishing total creative control and if that was an issue, his creative side and where it comes from, having three different vocal layers on the album, self-producing your music and more.
In a new interview segment, we also show Manuel some photos we dug up and asked him to explain them.