Going out on the open road and taking on a grueling road trip is a massive undertaking despite how simple it may seen to get behind the wheel and drive. Dealing with other drivers, experiencing monotony, and keeping your mind engaged are obstacles along the way, so having something to keep your mind stimulated is crucial.
I’ve always consider Elder road music, which might seem strange to some people, but we’re all different. Yes, there are plenty of other great settings to take on the band’s adventurous, spacious prog metal, but I’ve always found their records make time go soaring when I’m travelling. Their latest record is “Through Zero,” their seventh and follow-up to criminally underappreciated “Innate Passage,” and this one feels like the band—vocalist/guitarist Nick DiSalvo, guitarist/keyboard player Mike Risberg, bassist Jack Donovan, drummer Georg Edert—is breathing new life, exploding with expanded energy. Not that they were lacking any of that ever, but it feels like they have amped up their power and passion on these six tracks and 54 minutes.
“Sigil to Ruin” opens with guitars soaring, airy passes soothing, and the bass plodding, DiSalvo opening the lyrical portion of your program singing, “Awake again before the sun.” That’s how this song feels. The tempo gets punchier, guitars buzzing, the tension growing thicker, the darkness lowering as keys pulse. A nighttime vibe cools as the playing bathes in stars, calls circle, and guitars sketch a new path. “Capture/Release” quiets nerves, keys circling like clouds, the pace boiling while guitars are smearing. The singing takes off, guitars engulfing, the pace charring as melodies deepen, a prog-fueled storm battering the land below. The catchiness gets stickier, synth wails zapping through the universe, the riffs sending off beams of fire. The title track is hazy, guitars chugging, calm spreading before guitars begin to snarl. Glistening keys rush across space, the singing layering emotion, the melodies bursting and flooding, sounds washing out as guitars snake through time. The pace trudges and scorches, triumphant playing exploding with light.
Strains bleed into “Strata,” a fluttering, airy release with the singing easing nerves, the keys then blazing and the guitars tackling. Guitars burn and ignite, the band taking on an active tempo, the bass chugging, and atmospheric flourishes adding brighter colors. Synth blows open as the riffs cut, the leads buzz with energy, sweeping into an alien whir that blends into instrumental “Sight Unseen.” Keys release some pressure, guitars icing wounds through a dreamy haze, synth pulsing like pinpoints of light in a storm cloud, the pace breathing before actively burning. The band returns with volcanic force, the heaviest sequence of this record shaking the earth, the doomy ferocity slowly subsiding, glimmering into the cosmos. Closer “Blighted Age” melts, guitars trickling, the singing blooming as the melodies trace patterns in the sky. Sounds swarm and murmur, the psychedelic warmth spreading feeling like a salve, everything gradually rising toward the sun.
“Through Zero” is a rush of an experience, a record that gets inside your head and has you making up your own visuals for a journey inside your mind. Elder always created music that fills your heart and soul and reminds you that heavy vibes can serve more purposes than brutality and can pay off true cinematic dreams. This is another fantastic record from a band that’s never steered us wrong, and these songs can fuel your own physical adventures or give you a boost of creativity that your brain has been craving.
For more on the band, go here: https://beholdtheelder.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://www.bluesfuneral.com/products/us-orders-elder-through-zero-vinyl-editions
For more on the label, go here: https://www.bluesfuneral.com/
Meat Mead Metal 