Zeal & Ardor: Jazz Metal Baby

The sun has barely set on 2021, yet 2022 carries its scars. Pandemics continue to imprison us whilst political systems push our buttons, shut our borders, and build barriers between us. Now, more than ever before, we need music that either empowers us to rise up and take the power back or enhances our ability to escape the world around us. If any form of art is capable of achieving both, it’s the enchantingly bewitching alchemy of ZEAL & ARDOR.

Their third, self-titled album continues to explore an alternate history where slaves turned to Satan to rebel. It’s 14 tracks share the same sessions as 2020’s politically-overt, knee-jerk reaction to the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. With the world still reeling and still educating itself, is it more of the same?

“Wake Of A Nation was far more on the nose than prior endeavours, and I’d like to keep that as an isolated little packet,” asserts Manuel Gagneux, the brainchild behind ZEAL & ARDOR. “You don’t want to be the guy who wants to make money off of horrible things that happen in the world because even if you don’t intend to do it that quickly can happen.”

And it’s true. Self-titled takes a sharp turn left from Wake Of A Nation’s directness in favour for a vagueness that lets the listener immerse themselves and make up their own mind. Considering just how disparate our world has become and how strong the divide is growing, did Manuel not feel the need to write more politically charged music? “I think it’s a two-edged sword. I think it would be, but I also think a political message in any piece of art is only as good as the medium that carries it. If you make a shit song with a great message, people are just gonna take a shit on it,” he laughs, a habit he often fills his more serious reflections with, before adding, “there’s this looming fear of quality control, which belittles the actual cause with your own art, and that’s a very weird dynamic.”

It’s this weird dynamic that’s plagued Manuel’s thoughts, as he’s slowly realised that unless someone’s willing to sit up and take action, Wake Of A Nation was an emotional palette-cleanser: “Retrospectively, I think it was more of a navel gazing endeavour, because let’s be honest, I don’t think someone listens to a song and suddenly changes their mind. So, I guess it was just for my own peace of mind.”

In many ways, ZEAL & ARDOR has always been a peace of mind project. Born out of a joke where Manuel made songs in thirty minutes based on random genre combos chosen by forum readers, it’s morphed into an eternal sandbox of his thoughts and feelings, influences and inspirations. But it’s something he shies away from accrediting too much to. “I was reading a lot of Octavia Butler and Philip K. Dick books and it’s always easy to say ‘oh, I was reading this smart, intellectual thing, blah blah blah’ when most of the time, like a year later, it’s really obvious to me what it was about – I was just hungry or heartbroken or something,” he smirks, before dropping the punchline. “I can’t say what really influenced the album lyrically, I can just make some snide remarks and name drop some authors.”

Whether it’s about an alternate history of slavery or the hunger in his stomach, there’s an air of black comedy about the project that elevates it above it’s predecessors, 2017’s Devil Is Fine and 2018’s Stranger Fruit. Just look towards J-M-B, a frenetic black-metal blizzard of jazz-cafes, blues bars, and Norwegian churches that is as serious as it is silly. “J-M-B is such a silly dumb song, but it still sounds so serious, I love it!” He chuckles, composing himself before carrying on. “It stands for Jazz Metal Baby which is so dumb, and I know for a fact that people are going to think it’s about Jesus Christ and reincarnation and it’s great. It’s that tango I have of ‘I thought way too long about this’ with ‘oh, this might be funny’.”

In many ways, self-titled is the sound of ZEAL & ARODR waltzing their way through as many genres as possible rather than just a tango of ideas. It truly is a living, breathing world that blurs lines and breaks boundaries. From SYSTEM OF A DOWN to FUCK BUTTONS, the influences fly in and out thick and fast. But it’s not planned. None of this weird and wonderful world is meticulously pre-meditated.

“As hard as I might try, I never get to the point that I’m going to sit down and say I’m going to write this type of song. It’s more of a stream of consciousness, it’s what I’ve been listening to or subconsciously feeding on that is my creative forefront. There’s more blackgaze, and more inappropriate jazz elements, but it’s not a forced effort. I’d say it’s organic, just not to say that it’s accidental.”

Just because it’s not planned though doesn’t mean breaking the rules isn’t a worry for Manuel. ZEAL & ARDOR might sound like it’s all fun and games for the Swiss army knife, but it’s far deeper than that. It’s a mental maze he’s often getting caught up in. “It began as a stupid joke and now I can actually support my life situation from it, so I guess I’m more tentative and more cautious with some things, but I also know that caution is not exactly why this project is interesting. So, I have to force myself back into the ‘what if I just did this, it might be cool’ mindset. It’s a weird circus act in my head at the moment.”

In many ways, this weird circus act is the reason why every ZEAL & ARDOR album is interlinked. Much like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s an underlying layer of intertextuality to the world Manuel creates. We might think it’s there to immerse us, but in fact it’s a tool to keep the whole thing from falling apart. “It’s kind of vital because I tend to just stray into different directions and throw caution to the wind and if there’s a fence around it, or if there’s borders, it serves to get more cohesion out of me.”

It’s this cohesion that creates the possibilities ZEAL & ARDOR has not only given us as listeners, but Manuel as a musician. This year, they’ve toured with progressive gods MASTODON and OPETH whilst next year they’re opening up for indie-folk star PHOEBE BRIDGERS and it’s this life that he longs for more than anything else. It’s the spark that keeps this project’s flame alive, and what will keep it going past self-titled.

“I’ve talked to a lot of musicians, you know, all grizzled and worn, who’ve been on the road for a long time, and they all have this disenchantment with it, and they can’t wait to get home,” he bemoans, as if anyone could ever feel homesick when playing to giant crowds. “And for me, it’s the polar opposite. I’m back in Switzerland and it’s not snowing, so it’s just cold and sad and just a week ago I was in Hollywood playing to far too large crowds than we should – it’s always a pinch me moment.”

Whether you worship at the altar of black metal, blues rock, or free jazz, ZEAL & ARDOR are both the escape and the empowerment we need in a world designed to contain our spirits and suck our souls. Long may Manuel Gagneux’s creative spirit roam free.

Zeal & Ardor is out now via MVKA. 

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