{"id":47286,"date":"2016-04-27T15:00:56","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T20:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toiletovhell.com\/?p=47286"},"modified":"2016-04-27T14:44:35","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T19:44:35","slug":"let-zeal-and-ardor-hit-you-with-some-blackened-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/let-zeal-and-ardor-hit-you-with-some-blackened-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Let Zeal And Ardor Hit You With Some Blackened Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As music listeners, we consume and digest so much that we’ll often think we’ve heard it all, but then something inconceivable makes its way to our\u00a0ear drums and reminds us that we have not, in fact, heard it all. When it comes to music, the possibilities are endless. Such is the case with the latest album from Zeal And Ardor<\/strong>, Devil Is Fine<\/i>. <\/i>Taking blues and combining it with black metal? Is that even possible? It is possible, and the results are very impressive.<\/p>\n

The first run through Devil Is Fine <\/i>greets you with the title track of the same name. Innocently enough, it has the feel of an older blues song. The raspy vocal lines and recording bring to mind the older recordings of such blues greats as Bobby \u201cBlue\u201d Bland<\/b>, Buddy Guy <\/b>or Howlin\u2019 Wolf<\/b>. The crackle of the microphone that can be heard has you wondering if this was sampled or performed. After many spins of this album, I\u2019m going to operate on the premise that the vocals were sampled from older songs whose origin I was unable to pin down (h\/t Son Ov Wolf for raising that observation). From what I can gather, the vocals were sampled from recorded versions of Negro Spirituals. According to Wikipedia<\/a>, Negro Spirituals are described as:<\/p>\n

Generally <\/i>Christian<\/i><\/a> songs that were created by <\/i>African slaves<\/i><\/a> in the United States. Spirituals were originally an oral tradition that imparted Christian values while also describing the hardships of slavery.<\/i> <\/i>Although spirituals were originally unaccompanied monophonic (unison) songs, they are best known today in harmonized choral arrangements. This historic group of uniquely American songs is now recognized as a distinct genre of music.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since most slaves were not allowed to have any property of their own, having a musical instrument was unlikely and singing songs was really their only musical outlet. The early songs were composed usually on the spot and utilized clapping to keep a beat. I made the connection\u00a0because the vocal stylings used on Devil Is Fine to<\/i>\u00a0the same kind of sound that some songs from the Coen Brothers comedy, The Ladykillers<\/i><\/a>. To give you an idea of where some of the sounds being used on Devil Is Fine<\/em> come from, you can listen to “Come let us go back to god”<\/a> from the soundtrack.\u00a0When \u201cDevil Is Fine\u201d kicks in, you\u2019ll hear blues, black metal and Negro Spirituals work in concert with each other to bring you a combustion of something unlike anything you\u2019ve ever heard. At first, the track conjures the image of African American slaves who are on their way back from a day\u2019s worth of hard\u00a0labor all chained together walking back and forth. The track makes use of chains clanking in place of the clapping that would typically serve as the backup to the vocals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Ashes\u201d is where things really start to get interesting as the song starts off with some tremolo picking guitar accompanied by the soothing vocal sounds of “Burn the young boy, burn him good. Wash the crimson stains from the field.” This repeats as new instrumentation is added with repetition of the vocal line. The first time is with what sounds like a fiddle to go along with the tremolo riff. The next time around brings in the drums to build things up until a scream lets out and the music intensifies with the guitar becoming more prominent and a double kick drum beat taking the composition to the next level. \u00a0The screams on most of the tracks here serve to blend in with the furniture instead of taking center stage because the star of the show is the bluesy vocals that hook the listener and keep them entertained throughout the track. As with several other tracks on the album, the formula that is utilized by Zeal and Ardor is to introduce a vocal melody and have the music that goes with it start off gently and then up the intensity in both departments as the songs progress. It’s a formula that works extremely well and makes for an interesting listen.<\/p>\n