Zeal & Ardor

Zeal & Ardor in June 2018.

Gagneux was born in Basel, Switzerland in 1989, to an African American mother and Swiss father.[12][13] Both of Gagneux's parents were musicians, and he learned piano at an early age.[14] Growing up, he frequently listened to grindcore and technical and melodic death metal artists.[15] As a teenager, he was in a black metal band named Hellelujah.[15] After moving to New York City in 2012, Gagneux started Birdmask, a chamber pop project.[12]

Gagneux posted his Birdmask music to 4chan, as he said “to get feedback because they’re brutally honest and don’t give a shit about you,”.[16] He would ask users for two musical genres to combine and create a song in half an hour, as an experiment to expand his creativity.[17] One of these users suggested that he fuse "black metal", while another suggested "nigger music"; in response, he started Zeal & Ardor, which features elements of both black metal and Negro spirituals.[18][5] Other genres suggested included "Afro Djent, Nashville Power Electronics and Industrial Grunge".[19] Gagneux later stated the band came from the question of "what if American slaves had embraced Satan instead of Jesus?".[20][21]

The project's very first release was a work in progress of a song called "A Spiritual", released on SoundCloud on December 13, 2013.[22]

Gagneux self-released the demo album Zeal and Ardor to Bandcamp in June 2014.[23]

The project's official debut album, Devil Is Fine, was first released on Bandcamp on April 15, 2016 [24] Gagneux wrote and recorded the album himself.[25]

In November 2016, the band was featured on an article written by Bandcamp about black experimental metal.[26] In June 2016, Rolling Stone featured Devil Is Fine as one of the "Best Metal Records of 2016 So Far".[27]

Vocalist and guitarist Manuel Gagneux

On November 11, 2016, Gagneux announced his signing with the UK based record company MVKA.[28] The lead single "Devil Is Fine" had a music video released on December 15, 2016.[29] A second single, "Come On Down", was released on January 16, 2017.[30]

MKVA re-released Devil Is Fine on February 24, 2017.[31] It charted at 17 on the Swiss Hitparade charts.

In 2017, the project became a full-fledged band with the addition of backing vocalists Denis Wagner and Marc Obrist, guitarist Tiziano Volante, bassist Mia Rafaela Dieu, and drummer Marco Von Allmen.[32][33] Gagneux formed the full band after promoter Walter Hoeijmakers asked him to play Roadburn Festival.[34] They opened for Prophets of Rage for two shows in London and Germany in 2017.[35]

Guitarist Tiziano Volante.

Zeal & Ardor offered a unique merchandise deal during their 2018 shows, fans could get free merchandise if they branded the band's logo onto their skin. Eight people took up the offer, with Gagneux saying "The intent was that no one would ever do it. Because that’s the whole thing: you don’t want this brand. If you do, you’re just an idiot who is following, not thinking for yourself. If they want to underline my statement, that’s fine with me. But eight people is enough. If they don’t get the symbolism, let’s not encourage them.”[36][37]

The next album, Stranger Fruit, was released on June 8, 2018.[38] It was preceded by the singles "Gravedigger's Chant",[39] "Waste",[40] and "Built On Ashes".[41]

In June 2018, the band's song "Devil Is Fine" from Devil Is Fine was featured in a trailer for the upcoming video game The Division 2.[42] In February 2019 the band announced "Live in London", a live album released on March 22.[43]

Cover art for 2020 EP, Wake of a Nation. It shows two police batons in the shape of an inverted cross.

In September and October 2020, the band released five of the six songs from their first EP, Wake of a Nation, which was announced alongside the first two singles for release on October 23 of the same year. Gagneux wrote the songs in direct response to the murder of George Floyd earlier in 2020.[44] Gagneux explained the EP in the announcement:

‘Wake Of A Nation‘’s intent and context should be obvious. I like to revel in ambiguity and in room for interpretation. This is not the case here. These 6 songs are a knee jerk reaction to what has happened to my fellow people in the last months. Originally I was set to record an album scheduled to come out next year. As these songs were written due to the horrendous events that instilled them I decided to release them as soon as possible. Using the rich heritage and culture as a part of my musical identity it felt like cowardice to sit by and continue with my routine as if nothing happened. This record is for Michael Brown, Eric Garner, George Floyd and the countless untold and nameless killed. It is for the brave souls willing to take a stand and ready to risk their own wellbeing so that others may have theirs intact.[45]

In June 2018, the band announced a North American tour with support from Astronoid, as well as a solo European tour.[46][47] In 2019, they toured in support of Baroness and Deafheaven.[48]

They performed at the 2018 Montreux Jazz Festival.[49] In addition, they performed at several other festivals, including, Download Festival,[50] Lowlands,[51] by:Larm,[52] Musilac Music Festival,[53] Primavera Sound,[54] Wacken Open Air,[55] Hellfest,[56] Graspop Metal Meeting,[57] Le Guess Who?,[58] Copenhell,[59] Eurosonic Noorderslag,[60] Devilstone Open Air,[61] and Reading and Leeds Festivals,[62] among others.

• "Devil Is Fine" (2016)
• "Come On Down" (2017)
• "Baphomet" (2017)
• "Gravedigger's Chant (2018)
• "Waste" (2018)
• "Built On Ashes" (2018)
• "You Ain't Coming Back" (2018)
• "I Can't Breathe" (2020)
• "Vigil" (2020)
• "Tuskegee" (2020)
• "Trust No One" (2020)
• "Wake of a Nation" (2020)