Heavy Metal Textbooks

ELDER: Reflections Of A Floating World

Greatest Massachusetts Rock Band Of All Time?

There have been a lot of great rock bands that have come from my state: some of the most famous include The J. Geils Band, The Cars, Billy Squier and of course the one and only Aerosmith.  While Elder will never have as many radio plays as any of these bands, when it comes to songwriting complexity and creativity, none of them can touch Elder.  "Reflections Of A Floating World" marks another chapter in a story of true greatness.  Elder began their career being labeled as a doom/stoner band but have progressed into something far more complex and unique.  Over their last five releases (including the "Spires Burn" EP), the average track length is 10 minutes and 24 seconds.  Each of these lengthy tunes contains a myriad of memorable moments, and grooves that you wish would keep going, until you are distracted by a smooth transition into some other tasteful musical passage.  Funny how in the midst of an already long tune you can find a part you wish would go on longer, but this is how listening to Elder is for me. 

How to pick just two?  I am going with track 3, entitled "Staving Off Truth" for starters, for it's sweet transition from mellow to heavy around a minute or so in, and for the multitude of those moments I attempted to describe above. 

Next I am going with  track 4, "Blind," for its unique intro and all the subtleties  that ensue.  Jack Donovan's bass playing is reminiscent of  Tool's Justin Chancellor for a bit near the end of this one.  The bass playing throughout this album caught my attention right away.  Jack has always been great, but is extra tasteful on Reflections of a Floating World.

Elder is:

Nicholas DiSalvo - Guitar, keys, vocals 
Jack Donovan - Bass 
Matt Couto - Drums 
Michael Risberg - Guitar 
Michael Samos - Pedal steel

Join 872 other people to date who have picked this album up for a mere $7 on Bandcamp, here.

I am sticking with my claim that Elder is the best Bay State band ever, and are in the stratosphere of rock bands no matter what geographic boundaries you'd like to consider.  If you are already an Elder fan, you probably needed to download this on June 2nd when it was released and haven't stopped playing it since.  If you are new to the band or have just been a casual listener, I hope this is the album that will get you on the bandwagon.  Something else next weekend for sure, and until then make sure to keep it heavy.  Over and out  -ULTRA