Zeal & Ardor release disturbing video for new single Run

Avant-garde metallers Zeal & Ardor have released a video for their recent single Run, which was released late last month.

"Very excited to share this video for Run," says Zeal & Ardor frontman Manuel Gagneux. "Garrick Lauterbach, who directed it and I share a fascination with deep dreams and AI. Being able to weave it into a narrative of mental diaspora was an incredible treat. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do."

"Manuel Gagneux’s smashing track enabled us to condense certain current fears through our digital consciousness," says Lauterbach. "What a trip it was. Hold on to your tin foil hats and get ready to Run!".

The unsetting video is set in what appears to be a psychiatric hospital, and comes with a trigger warning for viewers with photosensitive epilepsy.

Revealing more about the song, Gagneux says, "Run is the first single we are releasing off of our self-titled album because, while there are definitely familiar elements present, it sets the tone for things to come. It is surely one of our most aggressive songs yet, but that is just a vanguard of what lies ahead. So run while you still can."

Run is the first release from the band since 2020’s Wake Of A Nation EP, which addressed the issue of police brutality in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis in May 2020.

“Wake Of A Nation's intent and context should be obvious,” Gagneux explained at the time. “I like to revel in ambiguity and in room for interpretation. This is not the case here. These six songs are a knee jerk reaction to what has happened to my fellow people in the last months."

No release date for the new Zeal & Ardor album has been announced.

Zeal &amp; Ardor - Run — (Image credit: MVKA)

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.