Zeal & Ardor
Devil Is Fine
Album · Metal · 2017 · MVKA
When Swiss American musician Manuel Gagneux dropped Zeal & Ardor’s debut in 2016, many folks didn’t know what to make of it. In combining Scandinavian-style black metal with Black spiritual music from the era of American slavery, he created something unprecedented. Alternately chaotic and beautiful, Devil Is Fine juxtaposes tremolo riffs and blast beats with slave chants and clanging chains while Gagneux’s lyrics imagine a revisionist American history in which slaves adopt Satanism instead of Christianity.
Ironically, Zeal & Ardor was born out of a dare by a racist on a message board. In taking up the challenge to combine black metal with music the challenger described using a racial slur, Gagneux seized power from a would-be oppressor and created his own genre. This 10th anniversary deluxe edition of Devil Is Fine includes five bonus tracks.
Devil Is Fine
Zeal & Ardor
When Swiss American musician Manuel Gagneux dropped Zeal & Ardor’s debut in 2016, many folks didn’t know what to make of it. In combining Scandinavian-style black metal with Black spiritual music from the era of American slavery, he created something unprecedented. Alternately chaotic and beautiful, Devil Is Fine juxtaposes tremolo riffs and blast beats with slave chants and clanging chains while Gagneux’s lyrics imagine a revisionist American history in which slaves adopt Satanism instead of Christianity.
Ironically, Zeal & Ardor was born out of a dare by a racist on a message board. In taking up the challenge to combine black metal with music the challenger described using a racial slur, Gagneux seized power from a would-be oppressor and created his own genre. This 10th anniversary deluxe edition of Devil Is Fine includes five bonus tracks.
