On June 27th, 2024, I was lucky to catch ZEAL & ARDOR at Tapper in Tallinn on their way north to the Tuska Festival in Helsinki on Friday.
They’re traveling with an avant-garde band from Finland, NYOS, who opened the evening with an engaging set. Shrouded in thick smoke, they entertained the audience with their signature intricate guitar riffs and drum solos. It was a pleasant way to start the evening.
At half past nine, ZEAL & ARDOR took to the stage, starting strong with “Wake of a Nation,” singing along with literally half of the audience. But that was nothing compared to how crazy the crowd went when they followed that with “Götterdämmerung” and an absolute favorite of mine, “Ship on Fire.” The set consisted of songs from all of their albums, even the one that hasn’t been released yet. The listeners got a sneak peek into two unreleased songs, “Sugarcoat” and “Kilonova.” I was so unprepared for it that, for a second, it had me questioning my ZEAL & ARDOR knowledge—did I really not know a song they’re playing? And yes, I didn’t, because nobody else did either. What I can tell you is that the new album seems to be a lot softer than their self-titled release from 2022 and will contain fewer occult themes than its predecessors.
They nicely weaved softer songs in between their best black metal bangers, giving everyone a short break from headbanging, which my almost 30-year-old neck really appreciated. To finish the set consisting of 18 (!) songs, they played “Clawing Out,” a single from their new album “Greif” coming out in August this year.
When asked, the band members said that it’s not their first time in Tallinn, although the last concert they played in the Baltics was long ago. Hopefully, the great and engaged crowds in Riga and Tallinn will encourage them to come and visit the Baltics and Nordics more often, because they do have a strong and dedicated fan base up here.
Nyos
Zeal & Ardor
Photos by Magdalena Niemczura
