Album: Stranger Fruit
Artist: Zeal & Ardor
Release Date: June 7, 2018
Favorite Tracks:
- Gravedigger’s Chant
- Row, Row
- Stranger Fruit
- Built on Ashes
Thoughts:
Swiss-born Manuel Gagneux is part African-American on his mother’s side and his black metal band incorporates blues and spirituals into their metal sound. It has the raging guitars and propulsive percussion that I like of metal, without the “I’m singing like a demon, aren’t I scary” vocals that I deeply dislike. This album is a good companion to Algiers’ The Underside of Power, one of my favorite albums of last year.
Rating: ****
Panorama of the Mountains 