With the spring equinox upon us, the evenings getting lighter, and the sun making a rare appearance in the UK, things are pretty sweet at the moment, and the cherry on the top is getting to spend an evening in one of the Bristol's legendary venues with one of the most phenomenal bands I have had the pleasure of experiencing.
There was only a single support act on the bill tonight and that came in the form of Polish Crust/Post Black Metal outfit Dom Zly (which I believe roughly translates to Bad House), who were tasked with kicking the evening into gear.
Crowd interactions were at a minimum (possibly due to a language barrier), with vocalist Ania Tru professing that the band prefer to communicate through emotions rather than by voice; which turned out to absolutely fine with the music doing more than enough of the talking. the combination of Tru's harsh vocals mix well with the guitar tones and drum beats on stage transporting their sound to near atmospheric levels.
Alas, all too soon our time with Dom Zly was over and it was time for the main event.
Swiss-American Zeal & Ardor's sound is truly unique and hard to pin down to a particular genre: is it Gospel Prog? No. Emancipation Avant Garde? Probably not that, either. But what their particular blend of Neo-Soul/Black Metal fused with African-American Spiritual tones is, is utterly phenomenal; sonically transporting you as the listener to a different level altogether.
I had the absolute pleasure of catching them at the 2023's edition of Bloodstock festival and remember being completely transported by the layers of their sound and absolutely blown away by the vocals of Manuel, Denis, and Marc; as soon as I heard that they would be stopping by in my neck of the woods, I knew that I had to be in attendance.
But now onto tonight's performance, lights dim, fog fills the stage, and the atmosphere is suitably set as the sextet enters the stage, hooded and cloaked for this first section, as the opening notes of "The Bird, the Lion, and the Wildkin" from 2024's GRIEF begin to play. The intensity ramps up into the titular track from 2020's Wake of a Nation before fan favourite, and certified banger, "Götterdämmerung" from 2022's self-titled Zeal & Ardor sees the hoods disappear and the energy onstage, matched by the Bristol crowd, cranked up to 11.
There is no time to draw breath, however, as two more tracks quickly follow; "Ship On Fire" from 2018's Stranger Fruit and "Erase" before the first pause allowing Manuel to work the crowd "It's amazing coming here to another island from Switzerland and seeing any faces at all looking back at us"
The sonic assault then continues full tilt with "Gravedigger's Chant", "Kilonova", "Blood In The River" from 2017's Devil Is Fine, and "Tuskegee," all featured during this first half of the performance.
The last section signifies the end of the main part of the set, starting off with "Row Row," which sees a flurry of fans surfing their way over the security barrier. This part of the night draws to a close with heavy hitters "Death to the Holy" and "Devil is Fine", the lights that accompanied the latter, with the chants and chain gang sounds onstage lifting the whole evening so far to a palpable crescendo as the band leaves the stage.
The band returns with Manuel offering his thanks to the crowd "Thank you all for existing, for appearing, for thriving," and letting everyone know that they "fucked up" if they did not get here early to witness Dom Zly.
Five more songs follow (they are spoiling us with this setlist, 21 tracks from their past 5 Albums/EP's) culminating in what Manual describes as "an angry one", "Clawing out".
And thus, sadly, the night is over as we are turfed back out into the cool Bristol air. Although, lyrically, the antithesis of religion, it does feel like we have spent the last hour and a bit worshipping at the church of Zeal & Ardor, with those who were in attendance now almost spiritually connected by what we have all just shared.
UK fans will be able to catch Zeal & Ardor at a couple of festivals later in the year, Desert Fest in London on May 17th and Radar Festival in Manchester on July 4th.
