LORE

Seeing zero reviews for stoner rock's hottest band now makes me really sad. Yep, this is a prog-oriented site, but man have you actually heard ELDER? Their 10-15-min long epics are heavily inspired by the likes of MOTORPSYCHO, ANEKDOTEN, MASTODON, SOUNDGARDEN, even GENESIS and RUSH, and "Lore" is definitely their best album and/or the best starting point with their music. Got a soft spot for all the others too, but while "Dead Roots..." is a bit too jammy and "Reflections..." is basically "Lore, pt.II", this 5-track, 60-min beast of a record strikes a perfect balance between amazing songwriting (those leads!), hard-hitting grooves and impressive musicianship. One last word to sell it to ya? MELLOTRON, loads of it!

Knowing these guys personally makes me really proud - I was the one who brought them to play Kyiv's Robustfest back in 2016 (the biggest/oldest psych/stoner/doom/prog Ukrainian festival) - and they KILL it live. What a fantastic band, don't you miss them!

We've all heard the refrain before: rock n' roll, or "guitar," music is long dead and actually still dying. Cliché as it may be, the claim is backed up by the Billboard numbers. Those rock acts that do manage to top the charts, acts like Coldplay and Imagine Dragons, have grown to use the guitar and the traditional trappings of rock as an accessory to music that is increasingly electronic based. Wittingly or not, Nick DiSalvo, the front man and, on this record, sole guitarist of Elder, has stepped up to prove that the almighty riff is still King. Armed with a monster stoner rock guitar tone and a killer rhythm section, the album's 5 sprawling tracks aim to take the listener on a journey across colorful and ambitious soundscapes, a feat made all the more impressive given the core ensemble of musicians is essentially a power trio. Rock may have died in the mainstream. Independent progressive metal revived it.

This is probably the best album by the band, at least in my opinion as there are many contenders to come. Each track is an epic with four being over ten minutes long, one even reaching sixteen. Keyboards make a come back bringing more diversity in the instrumentation.

"COMPENDIUM" is the first track and it really sets a high bar. After the vocals, the song really starts to get good with its instrumentation. My favorite part is when all the instruments quiet down and its just the guitar making beautiful rhythms. "LEGEND" starts with a laid back, atmospheric guitar solo; I'm imagining rain streaming down a window glowing through a dark room. The structure here is similar to that of Dead Roots Stirring, and like that song, keeps introducing new passages throughout the track. The ending mirrors the beginning but this time more epic. "LORE" (the song) is absolutely amazing. The first half of this song heavily builds up to the second half, which is just one stunning melodic passage after another. This song needs to be listened to multiple times as after the initial impression, the second part provides a new context to the first making the song even better with future plays. "DEADWEIGHT" is the song that people probably forget, but don't be fooled, this track is no filler. The guitar solo is the standout moment here and is quite powerful. "SPIRIT AT APHELION" ends the album on a high note, the beginning is awesome with the acoustic guitar and keyboards, very lovely. The song gets very energetic, the chorus especially gets me going.

I love this album, it's a masterpiece in my eyes without any flaws. I can't see how any fan of metal or heavy prog wouldn't be able to enjoy it. While I like the vocals, that might be the only thing that would put people off. Another thing is that this might be the best place to start if one hasn't listened to Elder before.