More often than not, those artists who truly push the envelope and come up with something new to offer are not to be found at the top of the charts. Even within the underground metal scene, it is more common for those who play it the safest and stick to traditional modes of stylistic expression to rise to the top of the fray.
It is within those gray areas where one established subgenre begins to give way to another that those rare moments of radical innovation become commonplace, like a mythic borderland between rival kingdoms where the inhabitants are various hybrids of both sides. This is where Massachusetts-born stoner/doom quartet Elder has stood for much of their 20-year history.
Following a traditional beginning that resembled the fuzz-steeped stylings of Sleep and Electric Wizard, merging that very same psychedelic approach to heavy rock/metal with a strong progressive rock element that is fairly similar to where Mastodon went in the late 2000s. Their 7th and latest studio album, Through Zero, continues along the same creative trajectory, pushing the boundaries of what constitutes heavy music without warping to another universe in the process.
Ironically enough, while this album largely breaks with the established orthodoxy of emulating Black Sabbath’s pioneering work on Master Of Reality and Vol. 4 respectively, it affirms much of the same creative spirit that made said founding fathers of the stoner/doom style’s catalog so diverse. The free-flowing structure and extended lengths that the lion’s share of the songs on here enjoy run parallel to the extended jams that were a prominent feature of Sabbath’s eponymous 1970 debut album, complete with loosely grounded and technically prominent contributions from drummer Georg Edert and bassist Jack Donovan that resembles that of Ward and Butler in their prime.
On the other hand, the dreamy keyboards and wandering progressive riff work provided by guitarist Mike Risberg and guitarist/vocalist Nick DiSalvo falls much closer to the Sabotage and the wildly experimental stuff that followed until the end of Ozzy Osbourne’s original tenure with Sabbath in the 70s. Throw into the equation a modern production that accentuates a heavy punch rivaled by a dense yet spacey atmosphere and a vocal performance out of DiSalvo that’s smoother and less abrasive than Ozzy’s nasally bellow, and the highly contemplative and occasionally trippy character of Through Zero comes into view.
From one extended excursion through the lofty realm of the human experience to the next, this is an opus that takes its time to set up its point before getting it across, yet not a second is wasted on anything superfluous. The opening foray “Sigil To Ruin” goes on for over 10 minutes yet has a continuing sense of haste within its dream-like atmosphere, matching droning keyboards with an up-tempo rocking drive out of the guitars and rhythm section, and shifts seamlessly between airy light interludes and pummeling heavy grooves.
A similar trend continues within an even faster and bouncier feel on the rich progressive banger “Capture/Release”, which clocks in at just over 8 minutes, and along with the similarly long and animated title offering “Through Zero”, really plays up the progressive rock side of their hybrid approach in a manner that would make Genesis and Yes proud.
The technical showmanship reaches a clear apex on the extended 10-minute epic “Strata”, which all but sounds like the band tracked their parts while floating among the clouds, and the easy atmospheric flow turned punchy rocking crescendo in 8 minutes “Sight Unseen” proves a formidable instrumental take on progressive rock. Basically, the only entry that comes close to being a song in the conventional sense is the closing acoustic ballad “Blighted Age”, and even then, there are plenty of moving parts to keep things interesting.
If nothing else, the example that Elder has established with Through Zero is that breaking the rules doesn’t necessarily entail throwing out the rulebook entirely. There is a very coherent character along for the ride with all of the quirky twists and turns that this post-60s psychedelic bus makes on its journey through inner space, resulting in a series of songs that are generally too long for rock radio but internally consistent and potent enough to capture the imagination of any heavy rocker willing to stick around past the 4-minute mark.
Whether one prefers a sonic punch to the gut via a bottom-heavy groove or the fluid, jazzy noodling that was all the rage during the early to mid 70s, this album manages to do it all without sounding completely retro. At the end of it all is an album that isn’t too far removed from the sound that has allowed the likes of Baroness and Pallbearer to make big names for themselves, and while Elder are by no means newcomers to the scene, this has all the right elements to break through to new horizons in more ways than one.
Release Date: May 29th, 2026
Record Label: Blues Funeral Recordings
Genre: Heavy Psych Rock
Musicians:
- Nick DiSalvo / Vocals, guitars
- Mike Risberg / Guitars
- Jack Donovan / Bass
- Georg Edert / Drums
Through Zero Track-list:
- Sigil To Ruin
- Capture/Release
- Through Zero
- Strata
- Sight Unseen
- Blighted Age
Order the album here.
Through Zero confirms that Elder has no interest in standing still — twenty years in, and the quartet is still finding new corridors to get lost in, folding synths, post-metal weight, and heavy psych muscle into six tracks that reward every return visit. A bold, unhurried beast of a record that demands your full attention and pays it back in full
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Songwriting
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Musicianship
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Originality
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