10 Heavy Metal Bands Genuinely Progressing The Genre
4. Zeal & Ardor
The brainchild of Swiss-American multi instrumentalist Manuel Gagneux, Zeal and Ardor started life as a question of what two genres can you push together that absolutely would not work. The answer: Black Metal and Roots Americana from the time of slavery.
Combining smooth hymns of oppression with the frostbitten brutality of a genre known as much for its violence as its steadfastly insular (and problematically nationalist) nature is enough of a cognitive disconnect to inspire curiosity and fury in equal measure.
Gagneux, to his credit, started small with the short and experimental ‘Devil Is Fine’ before refining his craft to combine the best of both worlds with follow up album proper ‘Stranger Fruits’ and putting his platform to good use by raising money for Black Lives Matter with the 2020 EP ‘Wake of A Nation’.
While there are hints from the mastermind that this experiment may one day fulfil its purpose and go out on a high, music this savage has never had so much groove.