{"id":77581,"date":"2019-03-25T12:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T12:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=77581"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:24:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:24:09","slug":"review-zeal-ardor-live-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-zeal-ardor-live-in-london\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Zeal &#038; Ardor &#8211; Live In London"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-77582\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1CE1B52B-CE4E-4FB0-853D-6A338B895A55-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1CE1B52B-CE4E-4FB0-853D-6A338B895A55-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1CE1B52B-CE4E-4FB0-853D-6A338B895A55-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1CE1B52B-CE4E-4FB0-853D-6A338B895A55-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1CE1B52B-CE4E-4FB0-853D-6A338B895A55-30x30.jpeg 30w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1CE1B52B-CE4E-4FB0-853D-6A338B895A55-465x465.jpeg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1CE1B52B-CE4E-4FB0-853D-6A338B895A55-500x500.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1CE1B52B-CE4E-4FB0-853D-6A338B895A55-600x600.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1CE1B52B-CE4E-4FB0-853D-6A338B895A55-100x100.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1CE1B52B-CE4E-4FB0-853D-6A338B895A55.jpeg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>The problem with most live albums is that they can feel like largely perfunctory additions to a band\u2019s catalogue. For <strong>Zeal &amp; Ardor<\/strong> though, it\u2019s much different; <i>\u2019Stranger Fruit\u2019<\/i> was such a phenomenal improvement, that building on it only seemed natural. Their fusion of classic blues and black-metal is unique and showing it off in the live environment is the next natural step.<\/p>\n<p>More than most, <i>\u2019Live In London\u2019<\/i> feels like a true extension of <b>Zeal &amp; Ardor<\/b>. There\u2019s a lot more life and depth given the sweltering, percussive grooves of <i>\u2019Blood In The River\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2019Gravedigger\u2019s Chant\u2019<\/i> have more fire here, particularly with Manuel Gagneux\u2019s robust howl. The uniqueness is kept more or less intact with the live environment, not withholding such crucial elements from their sound. If anything, it adds a sense of scope that makes it all come across as more fully-formed.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Zeal &amp; Ardor - We Never Fall (Live in London at Electric Ballroom 2018)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jYQSWEzRrmM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>One of the problems of any live album &#8211; the inability to substitute the atmosphere of the show &#8211; continues to prevail, yet there\u2019s such conciseness and malleability shown here, that it\u2019s not a hindrance. Sure, the burning riffs of <i>\u2019We Never Fall\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2019Ship On Fire\u2019<\/i> would have a lot more impact in the flesh, but there\u2019s something so immersive about what <b>Z&amp;A<\/b> have done here, not only in their imposing sound, but in the clarity presented. There\u2019s still the roughness the material demands, but this feels like a true big-budget performance instead of a band who were once skulking around the Bandcamp scene.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s what makes <b>Zeal &amp; Ardor<\/b> so exciting; they\u2019ve grown impeccably over the years, and even if there\u2019s still more to do, the fact that an album like this even exists is a testament to where they\u2019re at now. As is often the case, <i>\u2019Live In London\u2019<\/i> serves as more of an expansion than a substitute, but it shows a band moving forward with confidence and ambition that\u2019s unparalleled, and that certainly bodes well for what their future holds.<\/p>\n<p>4\/5<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8216;Live In London&#8217;<\/i> by <b>Zeal &amp; Ardor<\/b> is out now on <b>MVKA Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Zeal &amp; Ardor<\/b> links: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zealandardor.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/zealandardor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/zealandardor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/zealandardor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/zealandardor.bandcamp.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Luke Nuttall (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nuttall_luke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@nuttall_luke<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;\u2019Live In London\u2019 serves as more of an expansion than a substitute\u2026 it shows a band moving forward with confidence and ambition&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":77582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,16766,15029,15466,2199],"class_list":["post-77581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-live-in-london","tag-luke-nuttall","tag-mvka-records","tag-zeal-ardor"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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