| Zeal & ardor is the one-man brainchild of manuel gagneux, a swiss-american formerly based in new york city. His approach draws on an alternate history and stems from two thoughts: christianity was imposed upon american slaves, just as it was imposed in norway, and black metal in the ‘90s grew as a rebellion to monotheism. Mixing blues, gospel, and soul with harsher music has opened up a world of possibilities for gagneux. Previously creating as a one man solo effort, the immense interest and critical acclaim zeal & ardor attracted upon release of debut album devil is fine, has led to the project becoming a fully-fledged, internationally-touring band. After months hidden away, crafting the new songs for stranger fruit, gagneux entered the studio with producer zebo adam and mixer kurt ballou (converge, kvelertak, nails). While the finished sound is larger and heavier, it is still unmistakably zeal & ardor. The diverse yet cohesive nature of the sixteen tracks on stranger fruit is desig |
