Year: 2022
Total Time: 43:57
Label: MVKA
It is not that difficult for a relatively good band to blend different types of music or musical genres. However, it is really very, very difficult to combine them correctly in order to come with an interesting musical outcome, one that shows a coherent structure and strong personality. This ability, I believe, is what makes the difference between a group of musicians (albeit very good ones) and an authentic artistic entity.
Now, by listening to the third, self-titled album of ZEAL & ARDOR, it becomes clear that Manuel Gagneux (the band’s mastermind) is an authentic artist, a real “restless spirit”. You see, the album holds surprises even for those who knew the band from its previous works, a fact that proves that ZEAL & ARDOR do not stand still but continue to evolve their sound. They didn’t get stuck in their own (admittedly original) patent of the “heathen” combination of black metal with African-American spiritual/gospel/soul melodies (as they were basically introduced to us), but in this album they enrich this “dipole” with many elements from industrial & nü metal, some rhythm beatdowns, a few quieter/calming parts, and by adding very well worked-out lines (both melodic and extreme) in lead and backing vocals; features that make “Zeal & Ardor” their heaviest and most catchy work, at the same time. And this is due to the fact that all these, so different influences are being “tamed” by the strong musical filter and the imaginative orchestrations of the band, while the excellent production of the album (which, remarkably, flows effortlessly throughout its duration) contributes decisively to the overall result. Each song feels like it’s in the right place on the tracklist, from the classic ZEAL & ARDOR spirituals-meet-metal “Death to the Holy” and “Feed the Machine” to the could-be-a-SLIPKNOT-hit “I Caught You”, and from “Golden Liar” that brings back memories of golden-era DANZIG, to the post-black metal of “Emersion”, or “J-M-B” that combines industrial metal, piano and up-tempo jazzy passages.
In conclusion, I consider “Zeal & Ardor” to be not only the most “dense” and complete work of the band so far (one that confirms in the best way ZEAL & ARDOR’s upward course), but also one of the best albums of this year. This is an album that proves in practice that, fortunately for some of us, metal is a living organism that can interact and communicate with other musical genres, even today, instead of staying “locked in its cage” eating its own flesh.
Rating: 8/10
Editor: Yiannis Pousios
Related Link: ZEAL & ARDOR – Bandcamp Page
