Listen to Zeal & Ardor’s Latest Track “Built on Ashes”

Zeal & Ardor’s mix of black metal, blues and traditional slave chant is quite something. While that combination on paper seems like it’d be a mess, in practice it works very, very well, at least when executed by Zeal & Ardor mastermind Manuel Gagneux.

Zeal & Ardor’s latest single “Built on Ashes” may be my favorite track from the band yet. The chorus is quite poppy, and if not for the black metal elements in the background in parts of this song it’d fit right in on mainstream radio. The lyrical content is darker than your typical pop track, too, according to Gagneux:

“Here’s our last single before Stranger Fruit comes out in its entirety. ‘Built on Ashes’ is the album’s closing track and stands out as a more sombre track, acting as a farewell of sorts. We hope you like it… there’s a storm out there.”

Check out “Built on Ashes” below. Zeal & Ardor’s new album Stranger Fruit comes out on June 8th; pre-order here.