“My technique is terrible – I don’t even use my pinky. I’m worried that if I learn to play in a technically correct way, my creativity will disappear”: Manuel Gagneux on why you shouldn’t sweat the technique – and expanding Zeal & Ardor’s radical sound

Manuel Gagneux of Zeal & Ardor pictured onstage, arms outstretched with his Aristides electric guitar, on a stage light in red.

Born 11 years ago out of an experiment to combine Norwegian black metal and American slave songs, Zeal & Ardor has developed its inchoate, one-man demos into a cohesive, multi-dimensional band that integrates alt-rock, industrial, pop, math-metal, classical and indie-rock.

Greif, the group’s fourth full-length, is an offbeat, schizophrenic and sometimes unnerving collection of occult-themed songs united by a desire to expand, evolve and consume like a virus.