Background Gagneux was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1989 to an African American mother and a Swiss father. Both of Gagneux's parents were musicians, and he learned piano at an early age. Growing up, he frequently listened to
grindcore and
technical and
melodic death metal artists. Gagneux posted his Birdmask music to
4chan "to get feedback because they're brutally honest and don't give a shit about you". He would ask users for two musical genres to combine and create a song in half an hour as an experiment to expand his creativity. One of these users suggested that he fuse "
black metal", while another suggested "
nigger music"; in response, he started Zeal & Ardor, which features elements of both black metal and
slave songs. Other genres suggested included "
Afro Djent,
Nashville Power Electronics and
Industrial Grunge". Gagneux later stated the band came from the question of "what if American slaves had embraced Satan instead of Jesus?".
Self-titled release and Devil Is Fine (2014–2016) The project's first release was a work in progress of a song called "A Spiritual", released on
SoundCloud on December 13, 2013. Gagneux self-released the demo album
Zeal and Ardor to Bandcamp in June 2014. The project's official debut album,
Devil Is Fine, was first released on
Bandcamp on April 15, 2016. Gagneux wrote and recorded the album himself. In November 2016, the band was featured in an article written by
Bandcamp about black experimental metal. In June 2016,
Rolling Stone featured
Devil Is Fine as one of the "Best Metal Records of 2016 So Far". On November 11, 2016, Gagneux announced his signing with the UK-based record company MVKA. The lead single, "Devil Is Fine", had a music video released on December 15, 2016. A second single, "Come On Down", was released on January 16, 2017. MKVA re-released
Devil Is Fine on February 24, 2017. It charted at 17 on the
Swiss Hitparade charts.
Expansion to full band and Stranger Fruit (2017–2019) In 2017, the project became a full-fledged band with the addition of backing vocalists Denis Wagner and Marc Obrist, guitarist Tiziano Volante, bassist Mia Rafaela Dieu, and drummer Marco Von Allmen. Gagneux formed the full band after promoter Walter Hoeijmakers asked him to play at the
Roadburn Festival. They opened for
Prophets of Rage for two shows in London and Germany in 2017. Zeal & Ardor offered a unique merchandise deal during their 2018 shows, and fans could get free merchandise if they
branded the band's logo on their skin. Eight people took up the offer, with Gagneux saying, "The intent was that no one would ever do it. Because that's the whole thing: you don't want this brand. If you do, you're just an idiot who is following, not thinking for yourself. If they want to underline my statement, that's fine with me. But eight people is enough. If they don't get the symbolism, let's not encourage them.." The next album,
Stranger Fruit, was released on June 8, 2018. It was preceded by the singles "Gravedigger's Chant", "Waste", and "Built On Ashes". In June 2018, the band's song "Devil Is Fine" from
Devil Is Fine was featured in a trailer for the upcoming video game
The Division 2. In February 2019, the band announced "
Live in London", a live album released on March 22.
Wake of a Nation and Zeal & Ardor (2020–2023) In September and October 2020, the band released five of the six songs from their first EP,
Wake of a Nation, which was announced alongside the first two singles for release on October 23 of the same year. Gagneux wrote the songs in direct response to the
murder of George Floyd earlier in 2020. Gagneux explained the EP in the announcement: On May 25, 2021, the group released "Run", the first single off their
upcoming self-titled third studio album. A second single, "Erase", was released on July 23. On September 1, 2021, a third single, "Bow", was released. A fourth single, "Götterdämmerung", was released on October 15. The song is sung mainly in German and described by Gagneux as "our most bare-bones song yet. No gimmicks, no frills, no distractions, just rage." On November 6, they performed a livestream concert from
Museum Tinguely in Switzerland. A fifth single, "Golden Liar", was released on December 1.
Greif (2024-present) The band's fourth album
Greif was announced on April 22, 2024. The first single "to my ilk" was released alongside the release date of August 23. The album will be their first recorded as a full band. The second single "Clawing Out" was released on May 24. The third single "Fend You Off" was released on June 22. ==Tours and festival appearances==