The journey of Elder through their releases has been quite an experience. Starting off stoner doom and later incorporating a more psychedelic feel with heavier synth work, their sixth full-length, entitled Innate Passage (Stickman Records), has been released to the world. This adventure of an album spans over fifty-three minutes across five tracks that are adventures on their own. 

And like any adventure, the twists and turns will keep you at attention throughout the entire ride.

‘Endless Return’ is the single released from Innate Passage and it stands out right in the second track spot on the record. The guitar leads are a big highlight point on this track which is not usually the scenario (typically the riffs are what stand out over everything) but they absolutely nail it. The solo at the end with the outro riff is one of the most memorable on the album. ‘Coalescence’ is up next and this one goes for that post-metal vibe of building up a riff and hitting climaxes, which I am historically a sucker for. This one is a true head bobber that should kick in at the same time as that edible you took earlier. 

The longest track at just shy of fifteen minutes, ‘Merged in Dreams – Ne Plus Ultra’, really feels like two different tracks once the interlude hits. The first part starts off sounding like an Isis riff and builds up to a very upbeat passage that does not let up with that sweet fretwork on the guitar. After continuously building with more intensity, the interlude hits with dreamy synth and eventually clean guitar tones breakthrough as well. The drums start to lead us home in the last couple minutes until the rest of the band with distortion hits the biggest climax on the record to close out the song.

To cut right to the chase, the only thing that is a downer about this record is that it did not drop until Thanksgiving. Meaning, I feel many Album of the Year considerations are already decided at this point by most of us in the media to get the content ready (hey it’s a lot of work and I respect it!). Having said that, fans of Elder like myself are just happy to get new music whenever we can. It will show when the fans talk about which albums were their favorite this year and Innate Passage is mentioned often, deservingly so.

Buy the album here:

https://beholdtheelder.bandcamp.com/album/innate-passage

9 / 10

TIM LEDIN