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Elder Premiere “Compendium” from New Album Lore; March Tour Dates Announced

elder (Photo by Ryan Boyd)

Massachusetts trio Elder will release their third album, Lore, on Feb. 28. A week after the record comes out via Stickman Records in Europe and Armageddon Shop in the US, the three-piece will embark on a three-week tour with first-leg support from Washington’s Mos Generator that will take them through most of March along the Eastern Seaboard. If I had to guess, they’ll be on the West Coast somewhere around their appearance at this year’s Psycho California fest in May with SleepPentagramOmEarth and many, many others, but more dates are still to be announced. Every band hits a point where they have to decide if they’re going to really make a go for it or not. Elder, it would seem, are going for it.

All the better for planet earth in general. Anyone who heard 2012’s Spires Burn/Release 10″ (streamed here) could tell you they were on the cusp of something really special. Their 2008 self-titled and 2011’s Dead Roots Stirring (review here) both showcased a marked potential in what was then a young band — the second outing was a leap from the first — but with Lore, they push their sound deeper into a tonally rich progressive heavy rock, rife with intricate rhythmic turns, runs of bass and guitar, exploratory sensibility, swing and presence. A five-track full-length that only once dips below the 10-minute mark (“Deadweight” iselder lore 9:28), Lore feels grand, clean in its production and clear in its intent to redefine the band’s sound even as they thrust into by-now familiar crescendos and sweeping passages.

I’ve said on multiple occasions that I think Elder are among the finest US heavy psych has to offer, and that remains true, but guitarist/vocalist Nick DiSalvo (also Gold and Silver), bassist Jack Donovan and drummer Matt Couto (also Kind) have branched beyond those confines, and one of Lore‘s greatest strengths proves to be its crispness. As tight as they’ve been all along, a song like opener “Compendium” snaps the listener into the album, a brief alarm clock of a guitar noodle giving way to the full thrust right when it seems most dizzying. The track keeps “dizzying” as a central theme, Elder building parts on top of each other as they motor through verses and a chorus en route to an extended instrumental section that comprises much of the 10-minute piece’s second half in an adrenaline surge of lead guitar, crashing drums and dense bass working together with unbridled, mature chemistry. Elder have had a few triumphs over the last seven years since their first record, but as the chorus returns in the last minute of “Compendium,” it’s awfully hard not to feel like we’re witnessing their finest moment yet.

The album branches out from there, and with a month still to go to the release, I won’t spoil the joys of the 15-minute title-track, or of “Legend” or “Spirit at Aphelion,” but you can find “Compendium” on the Soundcloud player below, followed by the current tour dates (they also play Hull‘s last show on Feb. 21 in Brooklyn; more here), and I wholeheartedly recommend you take a listen.

More to come:

 

Elder tour dates with Mos Generator:

elder-mos-generator-tour03/06 Providence RI AS220
03/07 Peterborough NH Wreck Room
03/08 Rochester NY Bug Jar
03/09 Pittsburgh PA Gooski’s
03/10 Columbus OH Ace of Cups
03/11 Indianapolis IN 5th Quarter
03/12 Chicago IL Reggie’s
03/13 Texarkana TX Silver Dollar
03/14 Dallas TX Double Wide
03/16 Austin TX Beerland*
03/20 Austin TX The North Door*
03/21 Austin TX The Lost Well*
03/23 Houston TX Mango’s*
03/24 New Orleans LA Siberia*
03/25 Atlanta GA 529*
03/26 Charlotte NC Tremont Music Hall*
03/27 Richmond VA Strange Matter*
03/28 Baltimore MD Metro Gallery*
03/29 Philadelphia PA Kung Fu Necktie*
03/30 Boston MA TT the Bear’s Place*
* no Mos Generator

Elder on Thee Facebooks

Elder on Bandcamp

Armageddon Shop

Stickman Records

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18 Responses to “Elder Premiere “Compendium” from New Album Lore; March Tour Dates Announced”

  1. darren says:

    dead roots and spires are great albums but please don’t forget about live at roadburn. that album is BADASS, that is how a live album should be. hope these guys make their way to the west coast soon…

  2. Gary says:

    Bow down!

  3. Jeremy says:

    This is awesome!!

  4. tossom says:

    Fantastic! Getting better with each release.

  5. JTuck says:

    Beast, but lets not forgot self titled!! DA RIDDDDDUULLLL OV STEEEEUUULL!!

  6. Simon says:

    Hnnnngggh!!
    fuggen fuggity fuck YEAH

  7. Alessio says:

    Fucking need this

  8. Well done guys! Fucking good sound and composition is great!
    Can’t wait to see you in Europe!!
    Cheers
    Romain and Bright Curse

  9. Mike says:

    Awesome. This cannot get released soon enough!

  10. Thomas says:

    This song kicks ass all the way to moons of jupiter. I’m so fucking excited for their new album! ELDDEEEER!

  11. Peter says:

    Great fucking with amazing sound! This has just become my highest anticipated release of 2015!!

  12. Eric says:

    These guys are a force to be reckoned with. Really raising the bar for the entire genre.

  13. Tom says:

    My expectations to Lore just skyrocketed, because this song is a huge fucking cocktease.

  14. Mike Edwards says:

    Looking forward to this release badly.

  15. dale says:

    This is really incredible

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