Elder describe themselves as "a sonic interpretation of the forces that surround us; the pounding waves of ancient seas, the weight of stone colossi rising up from the earth and the endlessness of inflamed, majestic skies." Dead Roots Stirring, their second album since 2009, proves their poetic self-description is truth. Elder's balance of doom-heavy bombast, bulky metal, and stoner rock has been perfected, translating their riff-heavy debut for long, structured monoliths of massive, slow-burning charcoaled incense. "The waves of ancient seas" act as the foundation in which their songs are layered upon, "the weight of stone colossi rising up from the earth" as the copious, blackened adrenaline of their massive guitar riffs, and "the endlessness of inflamed, majestic skies" as the mythic, earth-toned atmosphere signaled from their self-created, smoke filled sky above.
Kicking things off is "Gemini", opening with a series of melodic, curling guitar chords as a fat bass build arouses a foreshadowing monster. After a swampy guitar solo is broken down into a muddy mire, the beast arises from its sunken grave. It grunts a wildly psychedelic wail, as an enormously crushing riff marks each step. From there on out, the album's most upbeat moment is on "The Knot"; a phasing psychedelia and a melodically tuned bass crunch paving the mix. Thus, before entering the void; expelling a towering riff that cradles the rest of the mix into a smoky oblivion. That smoke fills the acoustic despair of "III", as a lite wind can be heard in the distance, leading the pastoral acoustic chords to distorted landscapes; before a great divide separates the ground below, crushing those who fall victim to its unforgiving audible heaviness.
On the album's title track, these sounds are translated into a 12-minute epic of exiled riffs, spiraling dismal, and throbbing instrumentation. Multiple times it builds to hellish climaxes of unrivaled sonic weight; massive feedback of damned doom and stoner heaviness prevail. Elder use their massive sound to great effect throughout Dead Roots Stirring, taking what Jimi Hendrix was doing in the late '60s, Black Sabbath in the '70s, and recently what Electric Wizard and Ufomammut have done with stoner rock, and translate it into their own unique, unrelenting interpretation of psychedelic hard rock. With Dead Roots Stirring, Elder confirm their place amongst the leaders of all things heavy, as they continue to push the limits of rock music.
[Elder Myspace]
[Buy Dead Roots Stirring from MeteorCity Records]
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