With his band Zeal & Ardor, Swiss musician Manuel Gagneux was catapulted overnight from the underground to the big stages of the world.

The bold mix of Black Metal and old work songs and field hollers by enslaved African-Americans – his answer to a racist provocation on the Internet – is politically explosive. Religion, racism, segregation and appropriation: With his music Gagneux questions and breaks taboos. But being praised as a new kind of leader by his fans frightens the introverted artist. How can he deal with the oversized expectations?