ALL PATHS DIVERGE

DELVING is the solo project of ELDER's Nick DiSalvo. Nick is the leader and drummer of ELDER and with this his second solo record we get an hour of diverse music. Nick relates that the music here doesn't fit the ELDER narrative and so this became his outlet for that. His first record was composed and recorded during Covid, while album number two was created whenever he had some down time with his main band.

And while this album can get heavy, it's rare, the focus is more on electronics, piano, and atmosphere. No vocals, and while Nick is a multi-instrumentalist he did bring in the ELDER guitarist to help with the ambience on "Zodiac" along with Fabien Menou who also helps with that, but also adds rhodes and upright piano throughout. I like that album cover, dripping with colour. It's actually a four panel picture, you just can't look at it as one complete picture.

Electronics start the first three tracks along with the closer, track seven. I really enjoy that he did this, and sometimes these electronics come back in a song but not always. Drums are fairly active on that opener "Sentinel" along with the piano. There's a spacey calm at 5 minutes. "Omnipresence" opens with sequencers as drums come out of this with guitar and atmosphere. Organ after 3 minutes and it turns heavier 5 minutes in with guitar over top. "Chain Of Mind" has plenty of energy with synths, drums and more.

"New Meridian" is pretty cool with those dominant synths after 4 minutes as Nick turns up the heat here. Before this it had been fairly relaxed until it started to build. "Zodiac" is the longest piece at 13 1/2 minutes. It's guitar and piano leading early then drums join in. A nice determined sound here around 1 1/2 minutes as it gets heavy. A change at 3 minutes with piano and emotion for me. So good. We get spacey interludes and the final almost 4 minutes is soundscape music.

"The Ascetic" at 9 1/2 minutes features plenty of synths, piano and electronics. Some heaviness too. "Vanish With Grace" and I wonder who Grace is? The almost 10 minute closer opens with electronics with guitar joining in quickly. He's rocking pretty good by 5 minutes, piano too. A change after 6 minutes as we get percussion and atmosphere only. Keys join in as it's a jam to the end.

I'm sure ELDER fans were hoping for another ELDER album here, but I like the paths he took here with the piano, electronics and synths having big roles. A very solid 4 stars for this one.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to Mellotron Storm
• Report this review (#3201485)
• Buy DELVING music online with PA partners
• Show all DELVING MP3/Stream
• Go to DELVING page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to All Paths Diverge page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for DELVING related discussions