Zeal & Ardor
GREIF
Has Zeal & Ardor’s novelty worn off now? Well, yeah, it objectively has—the black-metal / slave spirituals thing that Manuel Gagneux based the project on barely factors in anymore. But even up to their self-titled album in 2022, the air of evil mysticism continued to drift around, if not fully engulf. For an initial thesis that drew its boundaries rather clearly, Zeal & Ardor have found a lot of mileage in their specific creative lane without dipping too far back into their earliest basics. GREIF, however, just…lacks. A lot. Even the qualities that have become synonymous with Zeal & Ardor are gone, in what takes the form of a half-reworking filled with conspicuous holes. Perhaps that fits a release named after a mythical chimera from a tradition of Gagneux’s Swiss hometown, but not if you’re expecting one of modern metal’s most compelling names to continue on that front.
You’d be hard-pressed to even call this a ‘metal’ release, for the most part. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing on its own when a full half of Zeal & Ardor’s base DNA is blue and gospel music from literal centuries ago, but it’s also a case of mood. The music doesn’t need to be traditionally heavy when it’s yoked to tortured souls bellowing out for demonic salvation. GREIF, then, in its continued movement away from its creators being so fixed to their original theme, is almost weightless by comparison. The closest it comes is in shuddering tension that founds Kilonova or Clawing out; otherwise, it’s more flaccid and ineffectual than Zeal & Ardor have ever been, even on Devil Is Fine as the earliest attempts to hold its ideas together with elastic bands. There are emaciated Queens Of The Stone Age impersonations in Disease and Thrill, or songs like Fend Like Off and Sugarcoat that smack as more obvious concessions and undercuts. Even in an averaged-out blues-rock form when they can be more palatable, there are multiple steps taken on GREIF that are simply too far for what they’re worth.
It’s made all the worse in the context of how Zeal & Ardor’s alchemy has been so roaringly successful in the past. As an independent listen away from all that, GREIF already meanders a little too much, but direct comparison makes that so much more galling. There’s no longer the hellfire in its belly that was always the most pivotal part, making for a colder, less eruptive listen. Production-wise, it’s also the most sterile a Zeal & Ardor release has felt, tailored more for its bouts of atmosphere or an esoteric folk closer like to my ilk. Inject the same approach into something like Go home my friend, and it turns from haunted chain-hymn to something legitimately only an oblique synth passage above stomp-clap commercial-rock. There’s also the matter of Gagneux’s voice being much more forward now, and while he’s a tremendous singer when it comes to a fried blues howl, even he’s not fortunate enough to escape current Zeal & Ardor’s newfound affliction.
So, it goes without saying that, yes, the novelty has worn off. But GREIF is an almost damning way to actualise that, in how quickly it brings Zeal & Ardor crumbling down with little resistance faced. Its biggest crime is how underwhelming it is, a feature you’d never even think to attribute to this act, even at their most slapdash. Circling the drain is not a good look for Zeal & Ardor, and evidently, not something they can easily pull themselves back from. You’d almost assume that pure intrigue could save them from anything, but apparently not. A blind spot has been found, it seems, and GREIF can’t help but get swallowed into it. Not a lot of zeal or ardour with this one. • LN
For fans of: Queens Of The Stone Age, Me And That Man, Birdmask
‘GREIF’ by Zeal & Ardor is released on 23rd August on Redacted Records.
Dark Tranquillity
Endtime Signals
Over 30 years into their career, the Swedish outfit Dark Tranquillity are continuing to push forward both musically through Endtime Signals, and in themselves as an ensemble. While aspects draw from their compositional style back in the ‘90s, new musical directions and rejuvenated energy, drawing in part from a recent lineup shift, see their latest offering Endtime Signals indulge in new flavours without losing the key core of Dark Tranquillity.
The presence of technical instrumentation is immediately evident on a first listen of Endtime Signals. The track list is stylistically balanced alternating between energy levels and moods, as well as tones and textures, in a manner that flows naturally and succeeds in holding your attention. The album’s opener Shivers And Voids brings a striking, progressive led introduction before exploding into Dark Tranquillity’s melodic death driven sound. Intricate riffs, anguished-fuelled rhythms and fierce harsh vocals unleash an onslaught of in which enticing melodies are entwined. Descending into the depths, the unrelenting Unforgivable attacks from the shadows with its heavy sound.
The darker and harsher Drowned Out Voices is an oppositional shift from the previous track Not Nothing and its distinctive interplay between prog and melodic death. Drowned Out Voices is not void of clean vocals or compelling electronics, but the emphasis predominantly lies with the band’s heavier side before the two styles eventually merge for a final hurrah. One Of Us Is Gone, the band’s tribute to Fredrik Johansson,would not be out of place in a soundtrack. The cinematic opening carries a captivating quality with a haunting undertone as orchestral instruments, performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, manifest an otherworldly quality. Clean vocals provide a more human – a more intimate aspect to this epic backdrop.
Wayward Eyes, sees some slight parting of grey clouds. Following the dystopian Our Disconnect, that element, in part, remains, but the catchy hook of the chorus vocal melody and synths contrast the harsh vocals and distorted guitars with an uplifting feel. The penultimate track, A Bleaker Sun, returns into the shadows with a thundering introduction, intensity and a gloomy undertone. False Reflections sees Endtime Signals close with melancholy serenity, an ending ballad that’s intimate, personal, and powerful in its calm and mellow style. • HR
For fans of: Insomnium, The Halo Effect, At The Gates
‘Endtime Signals’ by Dark Tranquillity is out now on Century Media Records.
Frozemode
DEMODE 2
You can hear sonic booms coming from Frozemode with the speed they’re going. A year-and-a-half’s nonstop rise has positioned them as tribe-uniters-in-waiting, off an alt-rap-indie sound that’s taken them anywhere and everywhere. That’s quite literal, too; the past couple of festival seasons have proven than no booker is turning their nose up at Frozemode. Clearly there’s an inescapable impulse here that it’s only a matter of time before everyone gets in on, so why not expedite that process with a new batch of tracks? Having momentum to burn is a very real factor when you’re this far ahead.
And unlike their fellow multidisciplinary creatives who’ll pay lip service to ‘not being boxed in’ without the results, Frozemode are the real deal. Or they can appear it, at least, if five songs to skirt across and redraw their own boundaries on the fly is anything to go by. Clearly they aren’t starving for inspiration—ASBO BOYS is nimble, brawny punk-rap between older Jamie T and Soft Play; KURAMA is a piece of dark drill murk affixed with extra guitar muscle; MANDEM NAH stumbles around its loose, wonky horns and bolder flutters to accent. The whole thing is watermarked by the smaller, insular production style characterising this kind of work, only with the results in its favour to not have that as such an obvious crutch.
It certainly doesn’t hurt when Frozemode’s three frontmen basically carry this all by themselves. Each has a distinctive timbre, though the excitability they share is dished around equally. The vibe is very much that of a group of friends knocking out tracks with the express purpose of having fun. You might get the odd weighty bar here and there, but on the whole, Frozemode are the kind of snappy, forward-moving outfit that it’s rare you’ll get sick of. DEMODE 2 is not an overwhelming listen, by any means; it does skip on by exactly like its predecessor did. Sure, it’d be nice to follow the lines drawn a bit more—especially when every one of these songs is stylistically individual—but that’s evidently something to address further down the road. Right now, with a cache of ideas buoyed by an unending supply of enthusiasm, you couldn’t ask for more.
Frozemode, then, are very worthy recipients of the hype bestowed upon them. They’re cool and contemporary without trying to hard to prove either, and the path that’s carved out for them could be potentially unbeatable in time. At a time when your average genre-blurrers feel so pat and unexciting, a brisk shock from something like DEMODE 2 is a much-appreciated tonic. Laid out here is every bit of evidence why Frozemode are going further and further, and why it’s only getting faster and faster. • LN
For fans of: NOISY, Bob Vylan, SNAYX
‘DEMODE 2’ by Frozemode is out now on 8996 Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall (LN) and Holly Royle (HR)
