Zeal & Ardor announce new self-titled record, out on February 11th via MVKA

We are beyond excited about this news drop – the Swiss firebrand alchemists Zeal & Ardor have announced a new self-titled record! Hissing and seeping justifiable rage from every pore – yet not an unrelenting musical battering – the 14-track opus was recorded by Marc Obrist and Manuel Gagneux at Hutch Sounds, and was mixed and mastered by Will Putney at Graphic Nature Audio. All songs were written and performed (except drums) by the softly spoken, multi-lingual frontman Gagneux, with some German lyrics intermixed with the English.

On this new record, Gagneux declares, “With the self-titled record, we have arrived at where I imagined this project should sound like. It’s the longest we’ve worked on a single record and I believe it shows. The most important thing for an album of ours to do, is transport you instantly into our mood, our world. Even though this might not be the one you might expect from us, this record certainly delivers on that front. We had time to hone in to what we think makes us interesting and what sounds we would like to explore through this we have found our home. Home is burning. Welcome home.”

Zeal & Ardor mark the record’s launch today by also revealing the scathing, unflinching track “Bow”, which you can listen to below. “‘Bow’ takes out established musical themes and places them into a completely different background,” opines Gagneux. “It’s an amalgam of things bestowing bad luck demanding you to join it.”

Zeal & Ardor’s new self-titled record will be released on February 11th via MVKA. Physical and digital pre-orders can be found here.

Photo credit: Georg Gatsas