So glad to see a new Run The Jewels release!

@colemanclark4027

2 жыл бұрын

This is the first thing I thought of when I saw the thumbnail

@TheMagicalArden

2 жыл бұрын

Never listened to RTJ but their album artwork is so iconic that I was suprised that it wasn't a RTJ album. Overlapping members, maybe?

@danzig3462

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheMagicalArden RTJ isn't involved with Zeal & Ardor at all.

@gcwens

2 жыл бұрын

exactly what i thought when i saw the cover lol

@mrlevinielsen

2 жыл бұрын

Walk The Diamonds

I guess it's just different strokes, but man I hard disagree. I was absolutely blown away by this record. The riffs are heavy, the drumming kicks ass, it's catchy and accessible enough without being too poppy. And I feel "Church Burns" is pretty brilliant in the way it expresses a black metal sentiment through a gospel sound. To me, it's a thrill ride from start to finish.

I don't think you should have given the record a 4/10 just because the album cover is holding up 4 fingers

@pyxidus_

2 жыл бұрын

It should be a 0/10 because 2 fingers are pointing up and 2 are pointing down

@chagrin6919

2 жыл бұрын

@@pyxidus_ big brain

@guywithaguitar1827

2 жыл бұрын

True. Fantano really needs to start being more professional so people start taking him more seriously. Him agreeing to participate and collaborate with ERB (Epic Rap Battles of History) in the rap battle Anthony Fantano VS Rosa Parks didn't help either…

nine times out of ten, if anthony hates a metal album, its good.

@meowertwelve6262

2 жыл бұрын

This is that 1/10 spot then?

@peazeralus

2 жыл бұрын

on Melon's scale, we're looking for 3-4 for metal greatness

@luker.6967

2 жыл бұрын

Parallax II?

@mazlabel4

2 жыл бұрын

@@peazeralus nah this aint as good as stranger fruit but their is some good songs

@bimblor7945

2 жыл бұрын

metal fans are silly

He's openly stated his nu metal influences, and he's going for something different each release. I loved this album.

@bfwrarest8921

Жыл бұрын

Not a strong defense

Can't believe Anthony used a 4 point scale for this review

@geniuserisloci2027

2 жыл бұрын

Lol nice

Götterdämmerung is a solid bop tho.

I’m actually shocked. I get it’s less cohesive but many of these songs are among their best IMO.

@jakechinatown

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, Tony lost the plot on this one.

Melon imma let you finish in a minute, but Götterdammerüng is one of the hardest hitting songs OF THE YEAR! No but I did really like this album, sorry to see you didn’t feel similarly.

I was initially shocked that he didn’t like Emersion- I think it’s a highlight of the record personally- but then I remembered that he hates blackgaze and it made more sense

@teodorbrekke

2 жыл бұрын

Song of the year for me🗣

@TheAlbumsThatMadeMe

2 жыл бұрын

Fave track on the album personally 😁

@casualnerdeverything2816

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I don’t get that at all. This album is amazing and emersion is one of the best things this year

@Abasedbymygrief

2 жыл бұрын

when has fantano ever hated blackgaze he gave deafheaven an 8 and I think alter of plagues a 9

@nikolademitri731

2 жыл бұрын

@@Abasedbymygrief yeah, I don’t think that’s the issue either. Maybe he’s made a comment about being over the sound? Idk, but it’s a sound that’s overdone imo, even if it’s still brilliant when done right (particularly when someone is also a good songwriter and doesn’t just rely on atmospherics).

This is one of the greatest albums in the last 10 years of metal.... this critique proves just how out of touch Anthony can be sometimes. This album made me listen to the rest of their work and I still love this one best!

I actually enjoyed this album even more than Stranger Fruit. Fantastic blend of tunes imo. Death To The Holy absolutely bangs.

@OkaySoShit

2 жыл бұрын

You enjoyed because you don't have a taste. But if you watch ratings on internet sites... Nobody like it

@perlundgren7797

2 жыл бұрын

​@@OkaySoShit A score of 0.07 points lower than Stranger Fruit on rateyourmusic means that "nobody likes it"? Seems legit.

@jakechinatown

2 жыл бұрын

It's by far their best album, I don't know what Tony is thinking on this one. And he's the reason I know about them in the first place lol

@jakechinatown

2 жыл бұрын

@@OkaySoShit That's not true, it's very well reviewed.

@OkaySoShit

2 жыл бұрын

@@jakechinatown no, it's true

HARD DISAGREE. After many listens I would give this an 8/10 at least. It feels to me, much like you said in your review of stranger fruit, that theres only so far you can take this blending of genres (southern slave folk and black metal) that hes simply branching out and experimenting with other stylings as well as the aforementioned two. I absolutely love this album. Its sofa king good.

@Aenigmakil

2 жыл бұрын

The album is fantastic! 8/10 seems fair!

I still can’t wrap my head around disliking Bow honestly. Can’t get enough of the vibe and the imagery conveyed by the lyricism. It may not be as good as SF, but I still think it’s really good!

Nah this album is a solid 8 imo

My man just ignored Götterdämmerung. There's a damn Goethe quote in it which makes it s funny.

Venom, (I got that) adrenaline momentum And I'm not knowin' when I'm Ever gonna slow up and I'm Ready to snap any moment I'm Thinkin' it's time to go get 'em They ain't gonna know what hit 'em (W-W-When they get bit with the-)

In your weekly track review, you said that "Run" was easily one of their best tracks yet. And it didn't make it into your favorite tracks on the album??

Anthony, you are a crazy person. This album is front to back incredible, current AOTY without a shadow of a doubt

@burgermind802

2 жыл бұрын

The Elden Ring of albums

@RobinHood-cd9mh

2 жыл бұрын

Lmao

@jamesflorence6206

2 жыл бұрын

Like you took the words out of my mouth.

All things considered, I do like this Album. Especially Run and Götterdämmerung go hard. I can see you're point tho, especially compared to Stranger Fruit.

@jakechinatown

2 жыл бұрын

It's better than Stranger Fruit though lol

@lemonsoda8502

2 жыл бұрын

Omg right? Run have such a raw sound to it, one of my favs so far! :D

Even though this wasn't as good as Stranger Fruit, I'm 100% sure that their music will only get better over time. Expect a 9/10 in a few years.

@meowertwelve6262

2 жыл бұрын

I really hope so. Stranger Fruit is such a great album. Something that can top it would be remarkable.

@j.s.7894

2 жыл бұрын

This is one of those funny times where I discover a band through Fantano giving them a disappointed/mid review. Stranger Fruit is fucking awesome. Glad to have found these guys.

@savvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvva

2 жыл бұрын

Lol... keep dreaming

@OkaySoShit

2 жыл бұрын

Lol

@SevenHunnid

2 жыл бұрын

I’m just a young mexican stoner that smokes weed on my KZread channel, tryna me it out the hood One Day👌 When i look at the top where all the successful people are… there isn’t NO mexicans

I sorta agree with you on this record, but Run and Erase still go so fucking hard and deserve cred

@OkaySoShit

2 жыл бұрын

No

@spamsingles5948

2 жыл бұрын

Agree, those were 2 of the 3 songs I liked here. He even put those on best tracks of the week too

This is the closest to a 10/10 full-length album I’ve heard since 2017. I’ve come to terms with how Melon and I’s music tastes rarely align, but that’s what’s beautiful about music and art, it all speaks differently to everyone… Also “I Caught You” gets me throbbing

@AndrewSchlegel

2 жыл бұрын

I'd highly recommend giving the album Born Against a spin, IMO blew everything else out of the water last year but got next to no attention as it's from a smaller artist

Already watched the whole thing, great review! Unsubbed

@jasonlovesmusicreacting882

2 жыл бұрын

Lol yooooo nice pfp! Their new song rips!!

@Hari-jb5hj

2 жыл бұрын

@@jasonlovesmusicreacting882 which is the album ?!

@jasonlovesmusicreacting882

2 жыл бұрын

@@Hari-jb5hj My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

@Hari-jb5hj

2 жыл бұрын

@@jasonlovesmusicreacting882 wow, we got a comedian in the house🗿

@kirk4608

2 жыл бұрын

@@Hari-jb5hj Dead Reflection by Silverstein. Awesome album!

I agree that stranger fruit is the better album, but I still had a really great time with this record. I’ve got a couple issues, but it wasn’t enough to make hate the album or anything. But I think the thing that I love about your reviews the most is that you’re incredibly well articulated. Even if I disagree with you, I can absolutely understand almost every time why you might feel a certain way about a song or an album overall, and I think that’s an important thing when connecting ti an audience of your size. Thanks for the good stuff dude. Keep it up

I dont think you could be more wrong. Were the first two albums great? Yes. But they had holes. Devil Is Fine had 3 god awful and useless filler tracks, on top of Come On Down which makes me think of a auto parts commercial every time. Stranger Fruit definitely had some weaker tracks like waste, as well as more god awful filler tracks like The Fool, and Solve. The Wake Of A Nation ep was literal perfection that led directly to this almost perfect album. Easily a top contender for best album of the year. Additional side note: Zeal & Ardors entire lyrical mythos comes from the idea of "what if slaves revolted against forced christianity with satanism" its suppose to be on the nose.

@geniuserisloci2027

2 жыл бұрын

Just because you didn't vibe with or enjoy "filler tracks" like The Fool & Solve, doesn't mean they're godawful or useless, my dude. Just say you enjoyed some tracks more than others it's really not hard jfc lol. You missed sooo much on Waste being a weak track shit went hard what even 🤦‍♀️

@geniuserisloci2027

2 жыл бұрын

That said Wake of a Nation was definitely perfection, agreed

@ameliabrittain158

Жыл бұрын

Wake of a nation is indeed perfection, it’s zeal and ardor at their most zeal and ardor

This album is a grower. Stranger Fruit was amazing, and the more I spend time with this one the more I feel it's just as good.

@jakechinatown

2 жыл бұрын

I love Stranger Fruit but I've been listening to the new one nonstop since it came out. Fantano's review baffles me considering he turned me onto them in the first place lol

@jakechinatown

2 жыл бұрын

To each their own, I just thought we had similar taste in this kind of thing.

This is one of those rare reviews of yours where I absolutely don't hear most, if not all, of the critiques you're making. Most of your comparisons sound literally nothing like what I recall listening to. It's moments like this where I wish I could listen to the album with you and discuss to get a better idea of specifically what you're calling out as X or Y.

WHAT? This is they best album. I reviewed it to a 10/10 on my site.

@maybechair2774

Жыл бұрын

Based

Bruh I gave this album a 9. Damn, agree to disagree then

@thinhhoang3338

2 жыл бұрын

Fr tho, how is this a 4. I gave this an 8. This album is pretty sick

@GENIRYODAN

2 жыл бұрын

@Andrew-~ What do you mean? Mf's been reviewing music and in the music sphere for much longer than most of his fans been alive, if there's anyone that should have opinions on music it's him.. With that said, everyone has their taste.

@alicec1533

2 жыл бұрын

@Andrew-~ "He also likes 100 gecs" Lol, why say this like it's a point against him? People have opinions. Fantano, as a critic, generally details why he holds those opinions pretty well, but they're just opinions at the end of the day.

I usually agree with your scores you give on reviews, but man, you were way off on this one. This was easily a high 8 low 9/10 for me. Also better than Stranger Fruit. Easily their best release so far

Fantano be correct challenge (impossible) (failed) In all seriousness, I'm sorry you didn't like it, I think it's their best work so far, and I absolutely love it.

@byel2844

2 жыл бұрын

jesus it is not their best work what's wrong with people that think every new shit is the best like when donda dropped I heard mfs saying it was better than the college dropout like ???????

@nightskye5208

2 жыл бұрын

@@byel2844 well I still like it

@DuSeun

2 жыл бұрын

@@byel2844 You do realize music is subjective right?

@HeavyMetal-jy4vj

2 жыл бұрын

@@DuSeun I think Biell is just annoyed that OP was being snarky not allowing Fantano to have a opinion

@nightskye5208

2 жыл бұрын

@@HeavyMetal-jy4vj bruh I literally said I wasn't being serious lmao

Damn, I didn’t think this was as good as their last album, but I do not think it was a 4. More like a 6.

@HannesRadke

2 жыл бұрын

Makes me think of his Tool - Fear Inoculum review.

@nikolademitri731

2 жыл бұрын

@@HannesRadke word, except Fear Inoculum was/is better than 10,000 Days imo… not by a ton, but after I figured out all the twists and turns, it grew on me enough that I think it’s a hair better. I just think it would have made more sense as a follow up to Lateralus, and so it feels slightly “out of time”, and that remains my biggest issue with it.. But yeah, he’s being too harsh to this album, as he was with Fearnoculum, so I feel you.

@HannesRadke

2 жыл бұрын

@@nikolademitri731 Judging from my pure gut feeling enjoyment and the time I've spent banging, I'd rate them both 9/10 lol

@nikolademitri731

2 жыл бұрын

@@HannesRadke you mean 10k and Fear/I, or Fruit and Z&A? I’m fine with someone calling all the above between 8-9, except the new Z/A, but that’s because I haven’t spent enough time with it. Frankly, I don’t think I’m going to give it more than a 7, at best, but the numbers don’t fvking matter anyway, it’s obviously about the enjoyment.

@HannesRadke

2 жыл бұрын

@@nikolademitri731 All of the above. What can I say, I love what I love. Sure it might be cheesy, pretentious or stupid, but I love it.

Aw man, I agree that this isn't as good as his last album, but I didn't think it was as low as a 4 🤷

@BigHeadCross

2 жыл бұрын

I mean is just his opinion. For you can be a 10 if you want 😌

@jakechinatown

2 жыл бұрын

@@BigHeadCross Yes, he's talking about his opinion. We all are. That's what we do here. Lol

Wow, Cal is acting really weird here melon. Is everything okay? You haven't harmed him right?

happy birthday Anthony! feels like yesterday you turned 4. ~ Love, Dad. 👨‍🍼🍉🎉

This is one of the first times in something like this we’ve been far apart. I really dig this record. I’d give it a solid 7-8/10

Melon's 2022 Scores: 10: 0 9: 3 Silvana Estrada - Marchita Black Country, New Road - Ants from Up There Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You 8: 6 The Weeknd - Dawn FM FKA twigs - Caprisongs foxtails - fawn Krallice - Crystalline Exhaustion Beach House - Once Twice Melody Black Dresses - Forget Your Own Face 7: 8 Nas - Magic tricot - Jodeki Yard Act - The Overload Amber Mark - Three Dimensions Deep Ustalost - Before the Glinting Spell Unvests Animal Collective - Time Skiffs yeule - Glitch Princess Spoon - Lucifer on the Sofa 6: 6 Earl Sweatshirt - SICK! Cordae - From a Birds Eye View AURORA - The Gods We Can Touch Mitski - Laurel Hell Saba - Few Good Things alt-J - The Dream 5: 0 4: 4 Boris - W Yeat - 2 Alivë Big K.R.I.T. - Digital Roses Don't Die Zeal and Ardor - Zeal & Ardor 3: 3 Roddy Ricch - Live Life Fast $NOT - Ethereal Oliver Tree - Cowboy Tears 2: 0 1: 0 0: 0 NOT GOOD: 1 Gunna - DS4EVER NOT BAD: 1 Walker Hayes - Country Stuff The Album

What is it with Melon hating on recent experimental black metal albums lately? Fuck man, this is Z&A's best because it's the most cohesive.

A 5-year-old gives this album a 4; however, if you add 5 and 4, you get 9, and I have no idea what this means.

To me it felt like a strong 7/10. Sure the corny bits were difficult to stomach but I felt there were more highs than lows, and if anything it excited me. So I gotta give it that.

@jakechinatown

2 жыл бұрын

I feel like if you're doing metal and you aren't even a little bit corny you're probably a Nazi.

4/10 is an actual joke. It’s certainly not perfect, but this is a well produced, technically proficient release that blends an eclectic mix of influences and approaches that combines together to create one of the more interesting releases of the year so far.

@DuSeun

2 жыл бұрын

I agree. The clean and powerful production and succesful blends of genres we haven't often seen before deserve at least a 6/10 in my opinion. It may not be as good as Stranger Fruit, but it definitely isn't below average

Damn I actually thought this was way better than their last 2 releases. The nu-metal influence makes so much sense imo

after multiple listens I would say, that the self-titling is very warranted. It is not watered down, the different elements are just more harmoniously merged, whereas on older records they often had some janky songwriting; songs often only coming together in their live performance. Here, the sounds united, moistly. There is some cheesiness, yes, especially in the "apple black metal" songs like emersion. But if you listen too something like "feed the machine", it is an incredibly well fleshed out merging of all the influences. Many of the songs ARE louder, but at the same time more compositionally sublte. And if it comes to merging "black music" and metal, I think refferencing Nu MEtal - especially now that it has a resurgence - is almost mandatory.

This was actually my favorite zeal and adore album🤷‍♂️

I dunno, this is like comparing the meat to the potatoes. So far, every time I listen to anything from Z&A it feels like I'm being electrocuted in a good way. 💜

They kill it live. Go see them

@lawnshark025

2 жыл бұрын

saw them open for opeth and mastodon recently. they were p fun

@nohbuddy1

2 жыл бұрын

@@lawnshark025 Same

@jacobballance117

2 жыл бұрын

@@lawnshark025 they were honestly better than Opeth when I saw them lol

@geniuserisloci2027

2 жыл бұрын

10/10 comment

Thought this was gonna be a 10

I don't think it was as good as Stranger Fruit but I still really enjoyed this album. I think what made listening to it as a whole slightly underwhelming for me was the fact that my favourite songs off it were already released as singles. If you're going in without listening to all the singles then it's still a banger of an album.

@JoaoFerreira-lk3hn

2 жыл бұрын

When it comes to new album rollouts I usually avoid anything past the 2nd single for this exact reason. After listening to the album I realized most of my favourites were songs that had been released as singles, had I listened to them beforehand I probably would have felt like the rest of the album didn't add much to what I had already heard. This way I enjoyed it a lot better because I was listening to everything for the first time.

@DextRAR

2 жыл бұрын

They released WAYYYYY too many singles for this album, taking out the instrumentals we had already heard half of the album by the time it released. It doesn't help that the singles contained most of the best songs (Gotterdammerung, Run, Erase)

I forgot their first album wasn’t self-titled.

Hard disagree. This album was an improvement on Stranger Fruit in virtually every way.

I'm crying shitting pissing farting and listening to this album on repeat Tony you monster

Terrible review. This is easily Zeal & Ardors best album and an AOTY candidate.

Gotta agree. Not a bad album, but 'Stranger Fruit' was SO good!

Sometimes I forget how much we can disagree on something. Holy shit.

Ok but how he not like golden Liar, that was the best song on here

I don't really agree with you, Anthony. For me it's a 10, even though I'm not a huge fan of black metal and metal in general, I'm in awe of this beast. Huge breakdowns, screaming or call-and-response vocals, iconoclastic lyrics... There are so many things that I love about this album. Superb work! Definitely album of the year for me and one of my favorite albums ever, 10/10, instant classic! I know you'd like something more experimental, but for me it's perfect combination of melodic, memorable and more left-field music. Could not hope for a better outcome.

@meowertwelve6262

2 жыл бұрын

Did you listen to a Stranger Fruit? It is much more interesting.

@MrWaynealex

2 жыл бұрын

@@meowertwelve6262 not for me really. SF sounds too raw and unproduced and doesn't really have a great number of memorable songs.

@lolusuck386

2 жыл бұрын

This is why people listen to Fantano's review and not yours.

@DuSeun

2 жыл бұрын

@@lolusuck386 People can make up their own opinions about music, you should try it sometimes

Don't trust anyone wearing a Sunn O t-shirt. This is their best album yet. By quite a long way. You shouldn't be reviewing music if you are clearly uninspired.

turn the 4 upside down it’s a 9 now

Damn this new Run The Jewels album sounds different

@miserirken

2 жыл бұрын

Too much De La Rocha feats.

Some of my favorite Z & D songs are on this album, but yeah there are a couple skippable ones. Still a sick album and there's nothing like them right now.

Don't think I've disagreed this hard with a Fantano review until now. Doesn't beat Stranger Fruit, but it's pretty damn close. What om earth man..

Stranger Fruit is clearly better, but this one packs a way heavier punch. Maybe Melon had super high expectations or something, but I thought Z&A are continuing to kill it.

Kinda expected this review and I don't necessarily disagree with his comments but damn I'm digging the album hard anyway.

I don't think we listened to the same album

Fantano isn’t using red flannels anymore???

I thought it was pretty mixed, but overall a 6-7 imo. My favorites were Emersion, Erase, Feed the Machine, I Caught You, and Gotterdammerung.

Bought "Devil is Fine" on its original day of release. The new record is the best of their releases so far. Each to their own, but I couldn't disagree more with this.

I liked many of the songs. Felt there is a lot of bangers here. LET THE CHURCH BURN. 8/10

Taking issue with the electronic instrumental tracks makes me wonder if Anthony actually listened to the other full lengths… they do that on every album.

It’s about time god damn. Also I loved this album. More than Stranger Fruit.

Wasn’t expecting such a low score albums a solid 8 for me

While I agree /some/ of this album didn't land for me the way I wanted it to & I found myself agreeing with more of what was said than I'd like in light of my love for this band, I believe Zeal & Ardor still has something profound to say musically, if we can be patient. Highly suggest checking out their last livestream event (if that access still exists?), they put on an absolutely incomparable live show & we could only be so lucky as to witness such mastery of performance. 🖤🤘🤙

The second hand embarrassment of seeing someone call out "artistic corniness" only to hit send on a vid with that "character work" bit. Oof

Too late Melon, I already have my opinion and you can't change it now

Any chance of a Gang of Youths album review Ant-knee?

I will say that the album really grew on me. I was a little worried with one of the earlier singles and the others were okay. Then I first heard the album when it was released and thought it was okay, definitely nowhere near SF, but good. Now, however, I really like it. Still doesn't beat SF but I think it is one I will go back to in the future a good amount of times.

This album was not as good as Stranger Fruit. But gosh darn this album was still very good

6:31 my man really talking about “binary generic riffs” when he’s literally got Prequelle sitting behind him lmao.

Nah this one was definitely like a 7/10, maybe 8/10.

This is one of them newer bands in which I'm just happy to get more material. They can't all be zingers, but more Z and A is typically a gud thing. Appreciate melon's detailed reviewing skillz

Glad it's dividing opinion. Good music does that. Not sure where I stand on it as an overall body of work yet but it's a fucking great listen with some outstanding tracks.

I agree, this review deserves a 4... i mean, this channel deserves it.

Götterdämmerung slaps so hard though

This band rocks. Saw them open for Mastodon back in November and I left there a fan.

Zeal and Ardor are the best thing to happen to metal in fuck knows how long.

I think a 4 is a bullshit score for an album you “didn’t enjoy at all”

This album is fantastic. The satanism isn't only supposed to be present in some songs, it's one of the key parts of the entire project: what if american slaves turned to satanism instead of Christianity? This album feels like the band finally cementing in their sound while still pushing the boundaries.

Im feeling lonely, You're voice is helping a bit Fantano

Great reviewer. Way-off review (to me). This record is fucking brilliant

The devil having a cup of tea with you. Ancient wisdoms being long repressed.

Fully agree that this was a step back from Stranger Fruit. I was definitely a little underwhelmed even though I still enjoyed it

Strange. I think this is their best album and the previous EP was their best EP. I love all four releases but I prefer the latest two!

Götterdämmerung slaps tho

I mostly agree with this review, but I have to disagree with you on “Emmersion,” I interpreted it as Manuel’s own take on “transcendental black metal” a la Liturgy, and I really liked it. However, it was indeed a misfit among the darker-toned tracks and didn’t really belong on the album.

I think it’s funny how most of the comments disagree with melon, feels good lol

What just happen here is crime man. Smfho

mate I love ya, but you've missed it on this album buddy. far and away their best album yet, a departure from their og sound and a change that had to happen.

Love this album. You’re crazy.

I haven't heard that song, but the "Bow down to the American way" song, from the way you present it, sounds a LOT like that one Nico Vega song that was in all the BioShock Infinite commercials. "Stand tall for the beast of America!"

@samsta2

2 жыл бұрын

That's what I thought, what a callback