Finding Comfort In Grief With MANUEL GAGNEUX From ZEAL & ARDOR

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.


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