Elder Shed Metal Heft for Prog Clarity on ‘Through Zero’

Elder have never settled into a fixed shape. Across a career that swings between expansion and consolidation, each album has either broken new ground or refined the last breakthrough. Through Zero lands as another eruption—this time absorbing the knotty prog of frontman Nick DiSalvo’s side projects Weite and delving directly into the band’s core sound.

The result trades the remaining metallic weight of earlier work for a brighter, more nimble palette. Synthesizers and layered electronics, indebted to Tony Banks and Rick Wakeman, now carry as much presence as the riffs. Opener “Sigil to Ruin” sets the tone: post-rock dynamics, an odd-time riff articulated with Steve Howe-like precision, and sunny alt-rock vocals that feel earned rather than forced. It’s the sound of a group fully confident in its melodic reach.

The album’s structure is as disciplined as its ambition. Each side pairs a ten-minute epic with two shorter tracks, yet nothing overstays. In moving decisively away from doom metal’s atmospheric sprawl, Elder have tightened the songwriting without sacrificing complexity. Recurring motifs and sharper hooks replace meditative drift, giving the music a constant forward push.

Elder’s arc has long been one of steady self-surpassing. Through Zero doesn’t announce a new peak so much as confirm they have yet to find a ceiling.