Do I even really need to chime in here and say that Elder‘s new album, Omens, probably ranks as the most anticipated release of 2020? I mean, it was before they started recording, simply on the premise that they were working on new material. There’s no audio from it yet, so, you know, take it easy, but presumably they’ll get there. April 24 is the release date and it looks like it’ll once again be out through Armageddon Shop in the US and Stickman Records in Europe, which is how they’ve been rolling for half a decade now since putting out 2015’s Lore (review here) which if you missed it was this site’s pick for album of the decade just ended.

Omens will be the follow-up to the Massachusetts/Germany-based four-piece’s 2017 outing, Reflections of a Floating World (review here), which continued the progressive explorations of its predecessor while exploring a new range of instrumental dynamics. As to what the five tracks of Omens might foretell, we’ll have to wait to find out. The good news is there are now also tour dates to look forward to. With Bask, no less. No doubt the first of many tours to come.

This is a big deal.

From the PR wire:

ELDER RELEASE OMENS ON APRIL 24 VIA ARMAGEDDON SHOP

A NORTH AMERICAN SPRING TOUR HAS ALSO BEEN ANNOUNCED

Elder have set an April 24 release date for one of the year’s most eagerly-awaited rock releases: Omens (Armageddon Shop).

In the last dozen years, Elder has stepped out of the shadows of their peers in the heavy rock underground to emerge a unique voice, delivering album after album of almost unparalleled consistency and creativity. Omens, the band’s fifth full-length record, is the newest pillar in the construction of their own musical universe. Across five songs and 54 minutes, Elder further embrace experimentation in their brand of progressive psychedelic rock in which atmosphere, melody and structure are created and transformed again and again.

“To me, Omens is our most complete work to date: a set of songs that express the breadth of the band’s collective influences,” explains singer/guitar player Nick DiSalvo. “After recording The Gold & Silver Sessions EP, it felt like we fully scratched the itch to explore our minimalist side, taking a step back from the proggy song structures and heavy guitar work of our previous records and just letting the music drift along. When beginning to work on Omens, the goal was to integrate these two tendencies in the band – to make a modern day progressive rock record, but also to take time to jam and float when need be. Most importantly, I feel the spirit of adventure in our music is alive and well, and we missed no opportunity to bring in a whole new arsenal of sounds to the record.”

The five song, 54-minute album is a concept album that mimics the lifespan of a civilization, and also reads as a commentary on our own society hell-bent on profitability at the expense of our own lives and environment. Omens was produced by Peter Deimel (Anna Calvi, The Kills, The Wedding Present) and recorded at Studio Black Box in Noyant-La-Gravoyêre, France. Deimel and DiSalvo mixed the collection.

Elder tour dates:
May 6 Brooklyn, NY Elsewhere
May 7 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
May 8 Richmond, VA Richmond Music Hall
May 9 Asheville, NC Mothlight
May 10 Atlanta, GA The Earl
May 12 Lexington, KY Cosmic Charlies
May 13 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
May 14 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jacks
May 15 Houston, TX Secret Group
May 16 Austin, TX Barracuda
May 17 Dallas, TX Blue Light
May 19 Albuquerque, NM Sister Bar
May 20 Denver, CO Hi Dive
May 22 St. Paul, MN Turf Club
May 23 Chicago, IL Reggie’s
May 24 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
May 26 Detroit, MI Sanctuary
May 27 Toronto, ON Lee’s Palace
May 28 Montreal, QC Café Campus
May 29 Boston, MA ONCE Ballroom

Tickets are on-sale now. Bask opens on all dates.

Elder is Nick DiSalvo (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Jack Donovan (bass), Michael Risberg (guitars, keyboards) and Georg Edert (drums).

http://facebook.com/elderofficial
https://www.instagram.com/elderband/
http://armageddonshop.com
https://www.stickman-records.com/

Elder, Reflections of a Floating World (2017)

It should say something about the complexity of their operations that it takes six people to reproduce live what by and large is created solely by multi-instrumentalist Gilson Heitinga in the studio for the band Atlantis. Heitinga‘s project began seven years ago and will release Omens, their third mostly-instrumental full-length — there are also two EPs, most recently 2012’s La Petite Mort — on Oct. 14 through Burning World Records, crafting a sonic blend of post-metal, progressive electronica and a sense of tonal weight, resulting in six varied and textured tracks that truly seem to be the output of a clear vision for what the sound should be. Whether it’s the initial ambience of “Rapture” or the patient building of tension that leads to the slow-paced crush of “Widowmaker,” both of Omens‘ vinyl sides produce a rich, immersive feel that’s easy to get lost within.

There are stretches that come across as comparatively minimal, but Omens is never really still, and whether it’s a swirl of synth on backing the emergent shouts on “And She Drops the 7th Veil” or the noisy, chaotic patterning of the side B intro “The Path Into” — that path, incidentally, goes into “Widowmaker” — Atlantis always keep a sense of forward motion despite the changing sphere of each given track and the mood that each piece of the 50-minute offering makes so malleable throughout. As both the first instance of the weighted riffing that comes to the fore periodically and the album’s initial thrust,”Raptor” does a significant amount of work in establishing the atmospheric basis from which the rest of the songs work. It has both parcel fluctuations and an overarching linear build, and pays off in grand style only made more affecting by the drawn out keyboard melodies that top.

Because of that drama at the apex and because “Raptor” does so well in representing the whole of Omens from which it comes, I’m happy to have the chance to feature it here. Check it out on the player below, and please enjoy:

[mp3player width=480 height=150 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=atlantis-raptor.xml]

Omens will be available on Oct. 14 through Burning World Records and can be pre-ordered now on CD and gold or black vinyl.

Atlantis on Thee Facebooks

Burning World Records