Elder
Elder

THE REVIEW

"Stoner": Anyone can do it, but some do it better. (Part One.)

American band from Massachusetts, Elder released this debut album in 2007 for the metallic and groovy record label "MeteorCity." Stoner metal then. Yes, but stoner metal with real chops.

The trio starts from the foundations laid by the never sufficiently praised Sleep, rewriting, speeding up, and expanding the stylistic elements that the Pike, Cisneros, and Hakius group had dictated in the now not so recent 1991. While Nick Disalvo on vocals rediscovers the potential of singing in perfect "Volume One" style, and on guitar alternates rock-crushing riffs with trippy passages reminiscent of "Holy Mountain," his companions Jack Donovan on bass, and Matt Couto on drums, modify the tempos bending Doom to the needs of psychedelia. It's known that stoner, for better or worse, is a genre that becomes repetitive after a while, but these guys know their stuff and season the formula with an imperceptible hint of epic sounds, which in the pot, once cooking is complete, give the record a decidedly personal flavor.

The Elder thus succeed in their attempt to be original even while referencing one of the bands, if not The band, most representative of the genre; and they craft a blistering debut album, capable of being appreciated both by those who grew up on stoner and by those who are just now dipping into the genre.