10 Amazing Metal Bands That Totally Defy Genre
2. Zeal & Ardor
We at WhatCulture do enjoy a good bit of Zeal & Ardor, to the point where their debut, Devil Is Fine, made it into the top three of our “50 Best Metal Albums of 2017” list. And that’s because Zeal & Ardor are, simply, one of the most unique heavy bands going today.
After he was dared to do so by two users of the website 4chan, eclectic mastermind Manuel Gagneux started the one-man project in an attempt to fuse extreme metal with black spiritual slave tunes. The end result was one of the most subversive rock records in a long while, which comprised itself of unhallowed hymns that praised Satan through iconic African-American melodies and dissonant guitars.
From the second your ears are graced with Zeal & Ardor, you’re instantly intrigued. And, then, after you’ve become addicted to its weirdness, you soon find yourself enjoying it, humming along to the quietly blasphemous title track and “Blood in the River” and headbanging like a maniac to “Children’s Summons” and “Come on Down”. Devil Is Fine may not be a long album, clocking in at less than half an hour, but it hooks you to the point where it demands repeat after repeat after repeat.
Before you know it, you’ve spent two hours listening to a 25-minute record.