The spacey doom metal band Elder got started in Massachusetts, and they dropped their first record 20 years ago. These days, Elder are based in Berlin, and they’ve gone all-in on psychedelic ambition. Elder took a bit of a hiatus after their last album, 2022’s Innate Passage, and they came back last year with a two-song 12″ single, “Liminality” b/w “Dream State Return.” Now, they’re ready to announce another LP.
Later this spring, Elder will release their new album Through Zero. The band produced it themselves, and they mixed it alongside longtime collaborator Richard Behrens. The album only has six songs, but given past history with this band, you should expect those songs to be long. Today, the band shares the album’s title track, a nine-minute epic that moves from big riffs to expansive folk melodies to twinkly keyboard bits and back again. It’s heavier than some of the band’s recent music, and there are some great transitions in there. Here’s how frontman Nick DiSalvo describes it:
In a diverse album, the title track of our new album sits on the middle of the spectrum and is a perfect first impression of what’s to come. Dreamy, heavy, raw, electronic, there’s a bit of everything that makes this album special to us. “Through Zero” is about impermanence, coming to terms with mortality and the long struggle to not only make peace but to find a sort of solidarity with the dead. The more time passes, the more this theme returns to me, and always in a new light — much as our music always returns in a slightly changed state reflecting who we are becoming.
Below, check out “Through Zero,” the album’s tracklist, and Elder’s upcoming European tour dates.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Sigil To Ruin”
02 “Capture & Release”
03 “Through Zero”
04 “Strata”
05 “Sight Unseen”
06 “Blighted Age”
TOUR DATES:
6/13 – Derby, UK @ Download Festival
6/14 – Colchester, UK @ Colchester Arts Centre *
6/15 – Southampton, UK @ The 1865 *
6/16 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 *
6/18 – Clisson, France @ Hellfest
6/19 – Dessel, Belgium @ Graspop Metal Meeting
6/20 – Dortmund, Germany @ Junkyard Open Air ^
6/21 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Das Bett
6/23 – Winterthur, Switzerland @ Gaswerk
6/24 – Karlsruhe, Germany @ P8 #
6/26 – Oslo, Norway @ Tons of Rock
6/27 – Thyrnau, Germany @ Blackdoor Festival
6/30 – Sofia, Belgium @ Mixtape 5
7/01 – Thessaloniki, Greece @ Eightball Club
7/02 – Athens, Greece @ Arch Club
7/07 – Slunj, Croatia @ Bearstone Festival
7/10 – Pleszew, Poland @ Red Smoke Festival
7/23 – Reutlingen, Germany @ Hafensounds Festival ^
7/25 – Tolmin, Slovenia @ Tolminator Festival
7/26 – Milan, Italy @ Circolo Magnolia Summer
7/28 – Rockstadt, Romania @ Rockstadt Extreme Fest
7/30 – Breitenbach am Herzberg, Germany @ Burg Herrzberg Festival
8/04 – Rostock, Germany @ MAU Club
8/05 – Josefov-Jaromer, Czech Republic @ Brutal Assault Festival
8/09 – Âncora, Portugal @ Sonic Blast Festival
8/14 – Valais, Switzerland @ PALP Festival
* with Blood Incantation
^ with Kadaver
# with REZN
Through Zero is out 5/29 via Blues Funeral Recordings (North America), Stickman Records (Europe/UK), and Bird’s Robe (Australia).
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source stereogum.com ’
