Elder with Blackwater Holylight

Formed in a small coastal town in Massachusetts in the mid aughts, Elder has reinvented their sound over the course of seven albums to grow from a stalwart of the stoner/doom scene into one of the most unique voices in the rock underground. Their long-scale compositions unfold as journeys, running the gamut of styles from the 70's to the present within a single song with a penchant for "sheer gatefold-era grandeur" (Rolling Stone).

Now two decades into their existence, the band remains an anomaly in the underground rock scene - a rare band with the ability to absorb and shed influences from a myriad of genres without falling into pastiche or losing their own identity. Their new record Through Zero is a strong reaffirmation of a commitment to pushing boundaries in the world of heavy rock and cements the group’s status as leaders of the pack in heavy psychedelic rock.

Elder has long since mastered crushing riffs, melodic jaunts, progressive patterns, hypnotic grooves and ethereal atmosphere along their path of music-making in the past twenty years. On their new album Through Zero, Elder takes these years of experience and forms possibly their most immediate and engaging record to date, while allowing seeds from outside the sphere of rock music to take root and bloom within their progressive framework. Listeners will find familiar elements of new textures, sequences, and sounds alongside Elder’s iconic take on heavy rock. As always, every spin reveals new details.

Recorded in Berlin across several months between tours in 2025, Through Zero is the first album which the band not only produced but also co-mixed together with longtime collaborator Richard Behrens. The album sounds more like a full extension of the band’s creative intentions than ever before.

beholdtheelder.com

When the women of Blackwater Holylight left their hometown of Portland OR three years ago, their mission was to escape the gloom of the Pacific Northwest and the placating comfort of familiarity. Aiming for the sunnier climes of LA, the band found themselves not only in a warmer environment, but in a blank slate landscape—one without jobs, longtime friend groups, and the easy retreat of old habits. And it was here, unencumbered by the contentment of security, that Blackwater Holylight began diligently working on their fourth full-length album, Not Here Not Gone. As with their previous work, Not Here Not Gone explores the duality of light and dark—menacing riffs provide the bedrock to beguiling melodies; dense walls of shoegaze guitars pair with lighter-than-air synths; and heavy subject matter is delivered by siren song vocals. Across their work, the listener gets a sense of empowerment at one turn, vulnerability the next. As drummer Eliese Dorsay describes it, “some songs we’re the predator, and some songs we’re the prey.” The juxtaposition of confidence and uncertainty is never in as such stark relief as when one makes a life changing decision, which may explain how the band’s relocation intensified their study in contrasts to intoxicating new heights on Not Here Not Gone.

blackwaterholylight.com

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