See Zeal & Ardor's Disturbing New "Gravedigger's Chant" Video | Revolver

See Zeal & Ardor's Disturbing New "Gravedigger's Chant" Video

Black-metal-meets-gospel band's latest funeral march appears on forthcoming LP 'Stranger Fruit'

Manuel Gagneux, otherwise known as the black-metal firebrand Zeal & Ardor, has returned with a haunting new single, "Gravedigger's Chant." The morose, gospel-tinged funeral march marks the first single off Zeal & Ardor's sophomore effort Stranger Fruit, which hits shelves June 8th; the accompanying video, directed by Samuel Morris & Manuel Sieber, translates the song's morbid themes into a suspenseful, surreal horror short, riddled with gunfights, psychics, nooses, true to the title, grave-diggers.

"The gravedigger's chant is the song sung by the people who lay your body to rest," Gagneux says of the track. "These people don't care where you were, but they know what you did and who loved you. All they know is what lies before them. So they sing this song, since you can no longer breathe a note." He notes that the video is designed to familiarize as well as alienate: "People find themselves in situations untypical for their ilk, tools become weapons, weapons turn into tools, and fingers meant for sensing make themselves felt," the musician explains.

Stranger Fruit follows Zeal & Ardor's debut album Devil Is Fine, released last year, as well as January's one-off track "Baphomet". The 16-song effort was produced by Zebo Adam and mixed by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou. Pre-orders Stranger Fruit here, and read on for the artwork and track listing.

Read our interview with Zeal & Ardor's Manuel Gagneux.

Zeal & Ardor

Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit track listing:

01. "Intro"
02. "Gravedigger's Chant"
03. "Servants"
04. "Don't You Dare"
05. "Fire Of Motion"
06. "The Hermit"
07. "Row Row"
08. "Ship On Fire"
09. "Waste"
10. "You Ain't Coming Back"
11. "The Fool"
12. "We Can't Be Found"
13. "Stranger Fruit"
14. "Solve"
15. "Coagula"
16. "Built On Ashes"