Zeal & Ardor Call for Action

“Wake of a Nation” is the title of a new EP from the Gospel/Metal outfit Zeal & Ardor. It was rush-released on 23 October 2020 as a comment on the disturbing rise in racist attacks and related incidents in the United States and Europe.

“If I were to berate you and say you’re wrong for a half an hour, that would hardly make you consider changing sides, would it?” wrote Manuel Gagneux, Zeal & Ardor’s black Swiss/American founder after the death of George Floyd in an essay for hard rock magazine Kerrang! “We need to agree”, he continued, “on something for a healthy discourse to occur; even if that thing is simply that we aren’t happy. This, in the end, is a group effort – we all need to take a look at ourselves and reconsider our values and actions. It kinda sucks. We need to boringly homogenise rather than spectacularly separate.”

“Wake of a Nation” contains six tracks, ranging from the quietly accusatory “Vigil” to the ragingly angry “Tuskegee”, a song that deals with a notorious study, only stopped in the 1970s, in which black patients were denied medical help in order to facilitate the study of the effects of syphilis.

This is what Gagneux has to say about the background of the EP: ‚Wake of a Nation’s intent and context should be obvious. I like to revel in ambiguity and in room for interpretation. This is not the case here. These 6 songs are a knee jerk reaction to what has happened to my fellow people in the last months. Originally I was set to record an album scheduled to come out next year. As these songs were written due to the horrendous events that instilled them I decided to release them as soon as possible. Using the rich heritage and culture as a part of my musical identity it felt like cowardice to sit by and continue with my routine as if nothing happened. This record is for Michael Brown, Eric Garner, George Floyd and the countless untold and nameless killed. It is for the brave souls willing to take a stand and ready to risk their own wellbeing so that others may have theirs intact. All revenues from sales and streaming of ‚I Can’t Breathe‘ will be donated. Stay vigilant; stay loud.

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