ALBUM REVIEW: Stranger Fruit – Zeal & Ardor
When ZEAL & ARDOR‘s first album Devil Is Fine saw the light of day last year it crashed into the metal world so hard it left a sizeable crater in its wake. Combining soul, blues and gospel with extreme metal was an inspired move by mastermind Manuel Gagneux and it opened up a previously unseen door as to how heavy music could sound. By his own admission, Gagneux was taken aback at the success of the self-produced record and was looking forward to releasing the next album with proper production and a much more rounded tone. The proof will be in the pudding on Friday, however, when sophomore album Stranger Fruit drops via MVKA Records.
To fully appreciate Stranger Fruit, one must abandon all premonitions and judgement and approach the album with a completely open mind; this is not a straight up heavy album. With sixteen tracks it’s a long record in this day and age, but patience is a virtue as the adage goes and, if given the time it deserves, this is an experience like no other. Gagneux’s ability to layer black metal with blues-y overtones as shown on Don’t You Dare or with catchy, gospel chantings on Row Row is extraordinary, especially as neither element outdoes the other and leaves the music feeling as if one is merely a novelty to make the album more interesting than it actually is. The foreboding nature of the intro track into Gravedigger’s Chant sets up the album beautifully, immediately exuding a tone that, whilst being easy on the ear, is incredibly dark and threatens to descend into chaos at any given moment. Even the instrumental tracks like The Fool and Solve, whilst exhibiting playful moments retain a degree of creepiness about them that ensure no-one is left comfortable with what’s being heard.
Being left in a state of unease is the perfect position for the album though, for a huge strength is the lyrical content: slavery is a huge theme across Stranger Fruit, even down to the album’s title that references the BILLIE HOLIDAY song Strange Fruit, itself a protest against the lynching of African Americans. The likes of Servants, Ship on Fire and the sinister You Ain’t Coming Back paint vivid and powerful images of the struggles of those that were discriminated whilst the rage in Gagneux’s delivery, whether it’s through his harsh, IMMORTAL-esque screaming or his more controlled, melodious singing (such as on the stunning title track) is relentless and hard-hitting. It also reflects back the state of the world today on the listener, the sad realisation that past events are seemingly being revisited, even if not in quite the same manner.
To add a big cherry on the top of the Stranger Fruit cake, the mixing job by CONVERGE guitarist and all-round genius Kurt Ballou is world class and allows ZEAL & ARDOR‘s message to hit home with unrivalled and absolute aplomb. There isn’t a band like quite like ZEAL & ARDOR in 2018 and whilst they will inevitably find their style copied, nobody will ever match it. Brace yourselves; whatever album you had down to be album of the year just got a serious new contender.
Rating: 9/10
Stranger Fruit is set for release on June 8th via Radicalis / MVKA.
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