White Stage

Zeal & Ardor is a Swiss avant-garde metal band formed in 2013 by Manuel Gagneux, a Swiss-American musician previously involved in a chamber pop project called Birdmask. The band combines elements of African-American spirituals with black metal. Initially a solo project, Zeal & Ardor signed with MVKA Records in 2016 and expanded to include additional members: Gagneux on vocals and guitar, backing vocalists Denis Wagner and Marc Obrist, guitarist Tiziano Volante, bassist Mia Rafaela Dieu (later replaced by Lukas Kurmann), and drummer Marco Von Allmen. The band has released four studio albums: Devil Is Fine (2016), Stranger Fruit (2018), Zeal & Ardor (2022), and Greif (2024), along with a demo album, Zeal and Ardor (2014), and an EP, Wake of a Nation (2020).