Heavy Metal Textbooks

ELDER: THE GOLD & SLIVER SESSIONS

Masterful Musical Voyage

Elder's latest release is so perfect that the word pilgrimage really seems appropriate.  If you close your eyes you will get carried away and filled with the feeling that you're about to get enlightened.  These tunes maintain a constant feeling of becoming, like you're always on the verge of something great.  Progressive rock, like jazz, is always evolving and ends up being filled with hundreds of fleeting but memorable moments that challenge your ear with their creativity.  Elder's "The Gold & Silver Sessions" EP manages to make you feel like they are simultaneously lingering on each theme and evolving at the same time.  This release sets a mood right away and expertly controls its ebb and flow right through the end of the third track.  

Here is the first track, entitled "Illusory Motion", and the player will continue on with tracks 2 and 3 for those of you who have the thirty four minutes it will take to hear the whole EP.  

I have not been able to play anything else in my car since purchasing this last week; I just let the CD keep starting over and find new qualities to enjoy about this album with every play.  The interplay between Nick, Jack, Matt and Michael, and between Nick and himself is breathtaking.  I consider Elder to be one of the most perfect hard rock bands of my lifetime, and I've been alive for pretty much the entire lifespan of hard rock.  The digital album is only $6 on Bandcamp, but vinyl is available, and of course CD.
(PS: How about that cover art?  Can't find any info on who did it but he or she deserves much respect)

Elder are: 

Nicholas DiSalvo - Guitar, keys, vocals 
Jack Donovan - Bass 
Matt Couto - Drums 

Michael Risberg - Guitar, keyboards 

I'll have to stop listening to this before I can review something else;  it will be a tall order, but I should have something else that's awesome to rave about next weekend.  

Until then, stay heavy

-ULTRA