Elder – Through Zero

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · June 19, 2026

Elder is a heavy progressive/ psychedelic stoner rock band originally from Massachusetts. Now mostly residing in Berlin, Germany, they have released seven full length albums including: 2008’s Self Titled, 2011’s Dead Roots Stirring, 2015’s Lore, 2017’s Reflections of a Floating World, 2020’s Omens, 2022’s Innate Passage, and 2026’s Through Zero. They also released 2012’s Spires Burn/Release EP, 2019’s The Gold & Silver Sessions, 2021’s In Procession/Halcyon (Live Session) EP, 2021’s ELDOVAR: A Story of Darkness & Light (with Kadavar), 2024’s Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios, and 2025’s Liminality / Dream State Return EP. The band consists of Nicholas DiSalvo on guitar, vocals, and synthesizer, Jack Donovan on bass, Michael Risberg on guitar, rhodes piano, and slide guitar, and Georg Edert on drums, percussion. Through Zero was released on May 29th 2026 and contains six tracks at fifty three minutes long. It was released by three labels: Blues Funeral Recordings in America, Stickman Records in Europe, and Birds Robe in Australia.

With nearly two decades as an active band, Elder continues to refine and expand their sound, as one of the premier juggernauts in the heavy underground music scene. I have simply described Through Zero as tightly progged atmospheric rock. The opening track “Sigil To Ruin” is a ten and a half minute journey into space rock, and beyond. The music is so deep and dense that it’s hard to digest after only a couple of listens. It requires several plus headphone experiences to begin to grasp the music that Elder is presenting. There is so much meat in these six tracks that it’s easy to get lost in the wonder of what the band is doing. “Capture/ Release” has a layered synth intro that cascades into a proggy evolution of hard rock. I hear elements of King Crimson and Yes in the music, but ultimately it’s all Elder. Last year’s opening slot for Tool was a huge boost for the band, expanding their popularity into the current age.

The third song and title track “Through Zero” has a crunchy riff adjoined with the elaborate structure. Hard and soft dynamics grace this song with a consistent flow of unpredictability and heavy rock glory. “Strata” is another strong pursuit through progressive and heavy psych rock. The first thing I noticed with this recording is the consistent use of keyboards and synthesizers throughout. It adds a texture to the music that pings my curiosity into their fully functioning sound. The musicianship is top notch with the rhythm section locked in tightly with the guitars and synth coloring each song.

“Sight Unseen” is another expansive expedition into the sonic realm of progressive hard rock. The song has a new age flair to its sound, augmented with the synth elements and clean cosmic guitar tones. Elder transitions into heavier territory with this instrumental track and pushes their sound further down the exploratory audio domain. The final cut is called “Blighted Age” and it’s excellent! The shortest track on Through Zero, just under six minutes, it concludes this fantastic album with spellbinding confidence. The theme for this record is explained on their Bandcamp page: “Through Zero” is a term borrowed from music engineering which describes the property of a frequency being able to pass through the zero point and continue into the negative. While not a concept rooted in philosophy, it resonates on an existential level: the zero point is not an end, but a midpoint along a mostly unseeable path where the journey is the destination and reality is less linear than most of us understand.”

Admittedly, I have to be in the right mood and frame of mind to absorb the music of Elder. The band are spectacular songwriters that dive deep into the sonic arena of progressive hard rock and beyond. Every release has been an evolution of a band that continues to grow and keep getting better, some twenty years later. The buzz about Elder is continually growing and I expect Through Zero to be in a top position by the year’s end.