Zeal & Ardor

Zeal & Ardor isn’t just a band; it’s a living and breathing entity. Like any other sentient being, it consumes, evolves, and transforms from one season to the next. Its shape may change though its spirit remains the same. Founded and fronted by Manuel Gagneux, it has only sharpened its claws, lengthened its teeth, and steeled its nerves over the years, growing more undeniable and unpredictable in the process.   After gathering tens of millions of streams and earning widespread critical acclaim, this beast proves as dynamic and dangerous as ever on its fourth full-length album, GREIF.   “Zeal & Ardor is very much a thing in transit,” Manuel observes. “It’s definitely a restless organism that I have the privilege of raising.”   He’s done a hell of a job raising it so far… In 2017, Zeal & Ardor embedded itself deep inside of popular culture with the seminal full-length debut, Devil Is Fine. In between touring worldwide, the band progressed across Stranger Fruit [2018] and Zeal & Ardor [2022]. The latter incited unanimous tastemaker praise. Beyond applause from NPR, Paste, Brooklyn Vegan, Alternative Press, and many others, Metal Hammer highlighted its “near perfection” in a “4.5-out-of-5 star” review, while The Line of Best of Fit hailed, “Zeal & Ardor continue to assert their versatility.” The band graced the cover of KERRANG!, while the record landed high in the charts in multiple countries globally. However, Manuel decided to switch up the process for GREIF. Rather than creatively fly solo, he welcomed his bandmates into the studio. As such, the musicians—Tiziano Volante [guitar], Marc Obrist [vocals], Denis Wagner [vocals], Lukas Kurmann [bass], and Marco Von Allmen [drums]—spread their wings alongside him. “The guys basically gave this project seven years of their lives on tour, so it felt odd to be the only one on the albums,” he says. “The sound is more of an analog to what we do on stage. You get the same idiots, just on vinyl,” he laughs. “We've really evolved into a tight-knit unit,” adds Marc. “Before Zeal & Ardor, we were basically strangers, but we're like a little family now. Each member brings his own unique flavor to the mix, and we all try to make Manuel’s songs better in our own way. The most interesting part for me was the new approach of how we work together in the studio.” Decamping to Marc’s studio Hutch Sounds in Switzerland, the record came to life in just five months. The frontman excitedly leveraged the talents of his cohorts, featuring three voices for the first time and emboldening the sound from every angle. “I wanted to expand upon what we had and introduce new colors,” he goes on. “There are angry and accusatory moments, but there’s also some solace and happiness. I’m widening the palette of colors we have to paint with. These are avenues we haven’t tried.” Tiziano concurs, “This album feels like a warm homecoming into a place of uncertainty. What could be described as the start of another era artistically is probably more of a coming to life of a bigger beast in the form of a more communicative and better organized collective.” Ethereal glockenspiel sets the tone for the lead single “Fend You Off.” This dreamy melody belies a seething intensity, which boils over on a crescendo uplifted by a trio of voices in arresting harmony. As the riff kicks into high gear, Manuel repeats, “There’s a thorn in my side.”

Gaerea

Behind black shrouds of obscurity and desolation, the performers of GAEREA deliver their odes in cascading maelstroms of aggression and beauty. Emerging from the age of pandemic to whatever awaits humanity next, the dark horde remains on the frontlines of the next generation of extreme metal. With an EP and three albums to their name, GAEREA has rapidly distinguished themselves from the thousands of bands toiling away in the underground. Brewing their cauldron of sound from a recipe of pounding black-metal blast mixed with a touch of harrowed, reflective longing, many devotees of the darkened arts have flocked to their banner. With the emergence of third full-length album Mirage, those numbers certainly grew.

Zetra

Spectres have been stirring in the shadows for years now. Dark eyes watching from pallid faces. Siren songs calling to lost souls. In the blackest corners of the UK underground, a name whispered relentlessly amongst the faithful, first with curiosity, then soul-shuddering awe: Zetra. “Zetra is another place, on another plane,” reads the scrawl on a tattered document, illuminated by both candlelight and the crackling static of ancient CRT screens, deep in the shadowy inner sanctum of Britain’s most mysterious band. “It was built on truth. Fatalistic truth. Bad things happen, but they happen for a reason. Catastrophically, however, Zetra has been infected by the poison of falsehood, eroded – as with acid – at its very foundations. Now, a journey into the grey between truth and lies. A search for salvation from the deceptions that might strangle us all...” Two figures lead the way. These are The Wanderers. Those who have crossed their path have already called them by many names: The Flighty and The Heavy; The Dagger and The Staff; Vocals and Synthesiser; Beauty and The Beast. Individually and collectively, though, they too are Zetra. “And as long as there is a shard of Zetra somewhere in the universe, Zetra can be wholly rebuilt…”