Band: Elder | Album: Through Zero | Genre: Progressive rock, Heavy psych | Year: 2026

From: Berlin, Germany | Label: Blues Funeral 

Bandcamp

I’ve found Elder’s work to be a bit inconsistent over their last few releases. After the stellar Lore and Reflections of a Floating World, Omens was spotty and failed to deliver on the band’s promise of change. The Gold and Silver Sessions were an interesting (if unnecessary) foray into krautrock. ELDOVAR was a neat collaboration album; and while I liked Innate Passage, it’s not a record I’ve found myself returning to. Last year’s EP was also a bit of a split decision from me, with one good-but-not-exactly-memorable song and one fantastic one.

Across the span of these last few releases, I’ve sensed that Elder has had a desire to more fully embrace progressive rock, but they’ve had a hard time escaping some of the songwriting tricks and patterns they’ve long utilized.

Through Zero, Elder’s seventh (or eighth or ninth, depending on how one counts splits/collaborations) full-length album, is their greatest success since 2017’s Reflections. On this record, they’ve fully embraced progressive rock while also maintaining their unique voice. Synthesizers and other keyboards are integrated more fully here than anywhere else in their discography. Their classic heavy psych stylings are still prominent and an integral part of their music, but they’re supported by a greater diversity of sounds. Literal textures and tones, as well as melodies and songwriting styles, are more varied on this record than they’ve been before.