Individual thought patterns V.024: ITP V021 REVIEW: ZEAL & ARDOR: "WAKE OF A NATION" (EP)

Saturday, January 16, 2021

ITP V021 REVIEW: ZEAL & ARDOR: "WAKE OF A NATION" (EP)

BAND::ZEAL & ARDOR (NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, U.S.A.)

GENRE:BLACKENED METAL, EXTREME METAL, AVANT GARDE METAL

LABEL: MVKA and RADICALIS.

RELEASE DATE: 10/23/2020

TITLE: "WAKE OF A NATION" (EP)

PREVIOUS RELEASES (CATALOG):

"STRANGER FRUIT", 6/7/2018 via MVKA.

"DEVIL IS FINE", 4/15/2016 and 8/26/2016 via REFLECTION RECORDS. .

" ZEAL & ARDOR", 6/19/2014 (DIGITAL, SELF RELEASED):

LIVE RELEASES:

"LIVE IN LONDON", 3/22/2019 (DIGITAL, SELF RELEASED).

"LIVE IN MONTREUX", 12/1/2018 via MVKA and RADICALIS.

BEST RELEASE(S): "WAKE OF A NATION" (EP)

TRACKLISTING:

1 VIGIL 3:10
2 TUSKEGEE 3:48
3 AT THE SEAMS 3:09
4 I CAN'T BREATHE 1:17
5 TRUST NO ONE 3:07
6 WAKE OF A NATION 2:31

ITP RATING:****
PRODUCTION:****
SONGWRITING: ****
PERFORMANCE: *****

Swiss born musician MANUEL GAGNEUX formed ZEAL & ARDOR as a solo project in 2013. In 2016, ZEAL & ARDOR signed with MVKA and the project expanded into a full band.

ZEAL & ARDOR have two full length releases under the bands belt, "DEVIL IS FINE" (2016) and "STRANGER FRUIT" (2018).

ZEAL & ARDOR combine African/spiritual music with, black metal and avant garde elements.

ZEAL & ARDOR''S "WAKE OF A NATION" kicks off with the touching and beautiful "VIGIL", a piano laden, cinematic, gospel infused track featuring the lyrical pleas of someone accosted by a police officer: "I can't breathe, it's a cellphone. Please don't shoot, I need to get home, I'm on my knees begging please.."

"VIGIL'S" protagonist continues to plead with the police officer, "So you're just following orders, They just keep falling on us, why not just take all of us. "

The second track from ZEAL & ARDOR''S "WAKE OF A NATION" is "TUSKEGEE", a track about the 1932-1972 U.S. syphilis experiment on black men whom were promised free health care. Evidently, the TUSKEGEE experiment was meant to see of the effects of untreated syphilis.

"TUSKEGEE" is a blistering, angry black metal track featuring excellent screaming and clean vocals from MANUEL GAGNEUX.

. "TUSKEGEE'S protagonist screams "Pure evil, doctor hides a vicious smile, upheaval one day we shall retaliate.".

ZEAL & ARDOR''S "AT THE SEAMS" consolidates melancholy piano tones with boisterous atmospheric black metal. Lyrically, ZEAL & ARDOR''S "AT THE SEAMS" features a mother protagonist fore telling an unhappy ending for her son "I know how you're going to die, We've seen this before you were born, we've seen this all before.".

ZEAL & ARDOR''S " I CAN'T BREATHE", is a one minute soulful hymn of GEORGE FLOYD'S pleas as a police officer stood on his neck for 8 minutes eventually killing FLOYD. " I CAN'T BREATHE" is consolidated with the soundtrack of of BLACK LIVES MATTER protests "Hands up, don't shoot."

ZEAL & ARDOR''S "TRUST NO ONE", kicks off as black metal rager, featuring clean and black metal vocals and elements of sludgy doom.

ZEAL & ARDOR''S "WAKE OF A NATION" closes with the title track, a chanted, rhythmic epiphany of the U.SA.: "The American carcass beckons, don't fall asleep at the wake of a nation."

ZEAL & ARDOR have successfully melded black metal, Gospel, spiritual music with avant garde elements.

. ZEAL & ARDOR'S "WAKE OF A NATION" is a musical masterpiece inspired by the 2020 BLACK LIVES MATTER movement protesting police brutality.

ZEAL & ARDOR's genre bending, boundary breaking musical style is sure to turn heads.

Lyrically, ZEAL & ARDOR'S "WAKE OF A NATION" is rooted in intimate portraits of social and political black history, past and present.

Perhaps the intimate insight of the desperate protagonist is relatable to people who have not experienced police brutality.

For those who have experienced police brutality ZEAL & ARDOR'S "WAKE OF A NATION" is the ultimate rally cry, the soundtrack to your protest, inspiring hope to a desperate human condition.

Are you WOKE?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_George_Floyd

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd_protests

https://spak-individualthoughtpatterns.blogspot.com/2020/12/zeal-ardor-streaming-wake-of-nation-ep.html

ITP RATING:****
PRODUCTION:****
SONGWRITING: ****
PERFORMANCE: *****

Individual Thought Patterns V.021 by SPAK (THERESA GETELES) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

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Individual thought patterns V.024

Saturday, January 16, 2021

ITP V021 REVIEW: ZEAL & ARDOR: "WAKE OF A NATION" (EP)

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