Received as a glowing, sunlit cracking-open of their machine this seventh full-length album from the dramatic wandering hand of Berlin, Germany-based heavy psych/progressive rock quartet ELDER seeks to convey traversal through the liminal, an impossible threshold crossed and the otherside examined. ‘Through Zero‘ is fittingly surreal in voice as heavy nodes of thoughtful reflection and keen realization are threaded within their signature, a restless craft which now goes about infusing prominent, high-active synth/keyboard inflection throughout. Familiar to the devout and likely overwhelming to the uninitiated these pieces speak effortlessly to a broad-set ouevre in idiosyncratic voice, a band engrossed in their wrangle of concerted forms and thrilling tangent.

Elder have been alive and kicking since 2006, living through dreamlike stoner/doom metal birth as a trio on the south coast of Massachusetts ’til their krauty prog-rock imbued heavy psychedelic awakening found them rooted in Berlin. I’d written about that evolution in reasonable depth back when their fifth album (‘Omens‘, 2020) had proven both antidote to the moment and microcosmic revelation. Though I’d been a fan since 2015 and gave high praise over the years that album was breakthrough enough to warrant placement at #13 on my Top 100 of 2020. It’d been strong catalyst for the voice explored since via collaborative albums, interstitial EPs, live records alongside direct expansion within the brighter-still narrative of ‘Innate Passage‘ (2022). We can include ‘Through Zero‘ within the fallout, another thinking man’s double LP which explores their progressive rock handiwork as a point of purpose.

The patiently slung dynamic of ‘Through Zero‘ is alien in its own right but shouldn’t appear bizarre to the ‘ready initiated fandom. From my point of view it manifest as lush homecoming, a warmth that teems with creative flourish as Elder‘s patternation trades between strides of narrative quietude and splashy ranting movements much in the same way that ‘Omens‘ had but with less of the heavy rock twang of ‘Innate Passage‘. They’ve not lost their heavier edge, though, as you’ll find bigger fuzzier riffs flowing throughout opener “Sigil to Ruin”, and most of LP1 for that matter. This time around their ratio of heavier rhythms to exploratory tangent generally leans into keyboard granted flair and flourish to provide richest detail up front.

The trio of pieces which constitute Side A and B should be considered some of Elder‘s best work to date in terms of realizing their own unique voice in signature while still tasking themselves with evolutionary action. Most all of the band’s records bear an intrinsically repeatable level of deep-set detailing and infectious narrative but within the space of those three ~9-10 minute songs the hills-and-valleys of their station are deeper cut as the heady float of their rhythmic command takes on a more insistent, confidently struck conductorial hand.

Deeply introverted as the quartet’s touch may be the stonier soar of key single “Capture/Release” provides a fine example of the note-heavy, rambling tamber they’ve fostered over the last decade. The slickly cut cyclic guitar runs and effects-juiced concert of all parts in motion within this busied song create a sensation of searching ambition and reflection, carrying a driven stoner metal heaviness which is executed without violence beyond the motorik jabber of the piece’s main riff. The title track (“Through Zero“) provides similar experience in three separate acts as they go on leading with the riff in its first third, drifting apart in the middle section and finding one of the more redeeming crescendo in the final part. One great boon of Elder‘s work I’ve always touted is not only the ability to generate a grand reveal or build a piece into tension but their ability to end a piece in a satisfying, intentioned way and this continues to be the case here on ‘Through Zero‘.

The trio of pieces which constitute Side C and D no less active than the first LPs worth but they’ll undoubtedly read as spacious, skygazing conclusion. Granted “Strata” is an exception, feeling more spiritually akin to Elder‘s jig on ‘Innate Passage‘ as it flows and ramps into its fourth minute, an arrangement which feels somewhat merciless in its momentum across those ~11 minutes. By contrast the two closing pieces, or Side D, are less substantive: “Sight Unseen” offers a steadily building jam and “Blighted Age” is roughly half a song as it floats past. Not the most thrilling endpoint for the full listen beyond “Strata” as I’d felt those last fifteen or so minutes were disconnected filler set to pack the second LP. — ‘Through Zero‘ could’ve just as well been cinched up into a solid set of four songs (as in, the first four included) and had the same impact per my own experience.

Stepping back in to Elder‘s singular realm and finding they’ve still room to build atop their progressive rock attuned vision of heavy psychedelic muse has been inspiring if not familiar in some sense. I’ve long admired the band’s ability to both accumulate what works and discard what doesn’t, as has been key for their evolution over the last decade plus, though for these sessions including the ‘overflow’ found on the final fifteen or so minutes blurs the impact of the full listen. Not every album I put on needs to bear a grand finale or poignancy at all though in this case it’d felt ‘Through Zero‘ had been building up toward something ’til they’d softly jammed out. That said I believe some of the band’s very best material occurs within its first four pieces and that’d been more than enough to keep me pulling back into their efforts here day after day. A high recommendation.

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