ZEAL & ARDOR

first two albums, 2016’s and 2018’s , were genuine game-changers. Merging gospel, Southern blues and slave chants with raging black metal, mastermind Manuel Gagneux created a wholly unique and morbidly exhilarating alchemy. At the tail end of 2020, he and Z&A drummer Marc Obrist headed into their custom-built studio to create the band’s third, self-titled album and, as Manuel reveals, it’s their