Zeal & Ardor

About

This Swiss avant-garde metal band was started and led by Manuel Gagneux, a Swiss-American musician who previously created a chamber pop project called Birdmask. Formed in 2013, Zeal & Ardor is known for mixing sounds of African-American spirituals with black metal. Initially a solo project, the band signed with MVKA Records in 2016 and expanded to a full lineup featuring Gagneux on vocals and guitar, backing vocalists Denis Wagner and Marc Obrist, guitarist Tiziano Volante, bassist Mia Rafaela Dieu, and drummer Marco Von Allmen. Dieu was later replaced by Lukas Kurmann. The band has released the studio albums Devil Is Fine in 2016, Stranger Fruit in 2018, Zeal & Ardor in 2022, and Greif in 2024. They also released a demo album titled Zeal and Ardor in 2014 and their first EP, Wake of a Nation, in 2020.