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 ...