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. Just recently, the band shared the first details about their fifth studio album, Omens, which is slated for a release on April 24th via Stickman Records and Armageddon Shop. Today, the psychedelic rock virtuosos, who are based between the States and Berlin, Germany, have not only shared the outstanding album cover in its entirely, but are also premiering a first single taken from Omens!
”Embers is doubtless one of the most energetic and upbeat songs Elder has ever made, and really became the favorite to play while rehearsing to record Omens.” Says multi-instrumentalist, Nick DiSalvo. ”It’s maybe the least traditionally heavy track from the record, but it’s certainly dense. Lots of interlocking guitar and bass lines, keyboards, synthesizer solos (thanks to our friend Fabio Cuomo!) – you can hear that we had plenty of fun making this album. Like any Elder song, it’s best heard in context, and we’re excited to release the full record soon!”
Just exclusively premiered with Visions Magazine and Stereogum, listen to Elder's brand new single, Embers, HERE!
Omens Tracklisting:
1. Omens
2. In Procession
3. Halcyon
4. Embers
5. One Light Retreating
Elder paints pictures with their music, and Omens shows the band experimenting with an even more colorful palette – with good reason. After thirteen years, this is the first full-length recorded with a new lineup including guitarist Michael Risberg and new drummer Georg Edert, along with guest performances by Fabio Cuomo on Rhodes piano and synthesizers. This is music for a vacation from reality – or to lose oneself in another world. And yet Omens is not purely an exercise in escapism, but also reflects the increasingly bleak, confusing and antagonistic times in which it was written. Composed as a concept album spanning the lifespan of a civilization, the album also reads as a commentary on our own society hell-bent on profitability at the expense of our own lives and environment.
With it, Elder further embrace experimentation in their brand of progressive psychedelic rock in which atmosphere, melody and structure are created and transformed again and again. Following 2017's Reflections of a Floating World and the 2019 experimental EP The Gold & Silver Sessions, it was anyone's guess what the band's next full-length might have in store. Having cemented their own sound – a dense yet lucid brand of heavy rock full of unexpected flourishes and progressive jaunts - the latter EP showcased an exact opposite side of Elder, more rooted in sparse krautrock and even jazz-tinged jams. Omens answers this speculation with a contradiction that embodies the spirit of Elder: somehow, there's even more everything. In these five cinematic songs, lush, intricately interwoven melodies grow and dissolve into spaced-out jams. Massive riffs thunder down into a churning sea of psychedelic sounds and unpredictable grooves carry away the listener.Omens was recorded and mixed at Black Box Studios in France with engineer Peter Deimel (Shellac, dEUS, Motorpsycho) and mastered by Carl Saff in Chicago. The result is an album that is rich, warm and dynamic, presenting the many layers of Elder's complex sound clearly and offering new discoveries with every listen!
Elder will embark on US and European tours this spring through summer to support the record, which is set for release on April 24th . The album pre-sale has just started, in the US at Armageddon Shop and in Europe via Stickman Records.
Elder live:
- 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
- 06.06.2020 CH - Winterthur, Heavy Psych Sounds Festival
- 07.06.2020 AT - Salzburg, Rockhouse
- 08.06.2020 AT - Vienna, Arena
- 09.06.2020 HUN - Budapest, Instant
- 10.06.2020 CRO - Zagreb, Vintage Industrial
- 11.06.2020 AT - Linz, Stadtwerkstatt
- 19.06.2020 FR - Clisson, Hellfest 2020
- 22.06.2020 GER - Karlsruhe, Stadtmitte
- 23.06.2020 BE - Brussels, Magasin 4
- 24.06.2020 NL - Haarlem, Patronaat
- 25.06.2020 GER - Osnabrück, Bastard Club
- 26.06.2020 GER - Wiesbaden, Schlachthof,15 Years SOL Festival
- 27.06.2020 GER - Munich, Backstage, 15 Years SOL Festival
- 28.06.2020 GER - Berlin, Lido
- 30.06.2020 GER - Hamburg, Markthalle
- 04.07.2020 ESP - Viverio, Resurrection Festival