Meet the Devil with Zeal & Ardor

Zeal & Ardor’s much discussed and praised “Devil Is Fine” album receives an official physical release, at last, on 24 February via the Brighton-based MVKA label. It will be distributed in Germany by Good to Go, in France by Caroline, and worldwide by ADA/Warner.

”Arguably, nothing released this year is as strange, inscrutable or wonderful as Zeal & Ardor’s “Devil Is Fine”,” wrote Rolling Stone US when the album was self-released last year via Bandcamp where it finished in the year-end sales top 10. Noisey/Vice US listed “Devil Is Fine” at number six in its “albums of the year” run-down.

“Devil Is Fine” is based on an intriguing concept dreamed up by Basel-based Swiss-American multi-instrumentalist and singer Manuel Gagneux who had previously released his music under the name Birdmask. Challenged in an exchange on talk forum 4chan to come up with a fusion of death metal and gospel, “Devil Is Fine” does exactly that. Arguing that Christianity was imposed on the native population of Norway in a similar fashion as it had been imposed on African slaves in the United States, he came to see Norwegian black metal as part of a rebellion against monotheism. Taking a similar approach to African-American spirituals as well as chain-gang songs, “Devil Is Fine” imagines a gospel tradition where the devil, not Jesus, is seen as the saviour.

To support the release, Zeal & Ardor are starting a tour of Europe in April, taking in France, UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Greece, and Switzerland. They are also part of the official programme at the Great Escape festival in Brighton.

Zeal & Ardor
Zeal & Ardor in Rolling Stone US
Noisey/Vice’s „The 100 best Albums of 2016“
MVKA
Caroline
ADA/Warner