Album Review: Elder - Through Zero (Stickman Records, 2026)
- May 26
- 5 min read
Written: 26th May 2026
Two decades into their existence, genre-blending rock band Elder have released a string of well-received albums while simultaneously evolving their sound and gaining fans with each passing year. Through Zero is the quartet’s seventh full-length album; guitarist and singer Nick DiSalvo explains the meaning behind the title: “Through Zero is a term borrowed from engineering and the world of music. It describes the property of a frequency being able to pass through the zero point and continue into the negative. While it isn’t a concept rooted in philosophy, it resonates with me on a conceptual level: the zero point is not an end, but a midpoint along a partially unseen path. Interpretation is open: the journey is the destination, beginnings and endings may be arbitrary, or perhaps reality is simply less linear than we tend to assume.”
Through Zero consists of six tracks lasting almost fifty-five minutes and opens with the ten-and-a-half minute Sigil To Ruin. Beginning with lonesome synths and guitar that slowly comes to the fore, Elder hit their stride with throbbing, propulsive bass from Jack Donovan. Covering a range of styles, from heavier psychedelic moments to post-rock explorations and extended progressive passages, Sigil To Ruin is a striking example of the kaleidoscopic approach to the whole album. Dreamy electronics in the third quarter illustrate Elder’s willingness to allow different shades and hues to drive their music and the song’s cosmic conclusion finds fascinating, intricate layers of instrumentation that reward close attention. Lyrically, Sigil To Ruin explores inner struggle and the darker side of human nature, showing how we can be both the cause and victim of destruction. Enemy of man hiding in plain view / Left behind a smouldering in the wound / Ringing out the drone of eternity / Cleave the heart straight from the chest of the beast.
Speaking about second track, Capture / Release, Di Salvo comments, “It is about the feeling of being caught in this technocratic nightmare that’s been imposed on us all and reaffirming the reasons we create as humans in the first place - purely for our own free expression and joy. It says a lot about our world that we need to remind ourselves of why we do what we love, when that becomes divested of its inherent meaning." As a fan of bands such as Tangerine Dream, I find the electronic influences that run throughout Through Zero to be most satisfying. Capture / Release starts in this way and builds over the initial two minutes, with jagged riffs adding bright flashes of colour. Two minutes in, heavier guitars take the track in a different direction while the dancing synths continue before a further minute later we are in full-on psychedelic stoner territory. It is a seamless convergence of Elder’s heavier roots and their current ideals that finds DiSalvo and keyboardist Mike Risberg combining in labyrinthine ways as Capture / Release reaches its climax.
Through Zero’s nine minute title track truly encapsulates what Elder were aiming for with this album and there is much truth in Nick DiSalvo’s statement that it is, “Dreamy, heavy, raw, electronic; there’s a bit of everything that makes this album special to us.” Moving through each of these spheres, Through Zero is expansive and precisely constructed with moments of fragile beauty balancing delightfully with hypnotic post-metal embellishments. It does take a few plays to fully appreciate everything going on but not because of any over-complexity. Instead, its depth rewards attention, with each layer revealing more the closer you engage. Delving into themes of impermanence, the lyrics suggest how we might come to terms with mortality. Standing at a temple to the loss / Crimson line flowing down the vein / Distant flower of the earth / Patient as the passing of a day. Progressive and post-rock / metal influences including some stellar keyboard work define the final third’s character as the quarter return to the opening themes.
The lengthy tracks keep coming in the shape of the eleven minute Strata, which begins with a spacious arrangement that further hints at a love of post-rock. Reverberant guitars and ethereal synths float as Di Salvo’s vocals hover in delicate threads. Felt around the shadow lands / Seeking out the light of the past / A piece of us remains down there / Embers waiting to catch. Following the first two verses, Strata ignites with an urgent energy but the more open feel is maintained as melody and Donovan’s restless bass intertwine. So hollow / Follow down to the end. As we hit the three-and-half-minute mark, there is a change of tempo and a surge of energy leading towards one of the most exciting musical passages on the entire album. Playing with time signatures, Elder change tack with three minutes to go and the psych and stoner foundations of their oeuvre return.
Instrumental Sight Unseen – another nine minute track – offers something completely different to what has come before. Opening with diaphanous and dreamlike ambient synths with textured guitars and an oscillating bassline, Elder fully embrace a shoegaze atmosphere which builds gradually towards that of post-rock. By the time we approach the midpoint, it sits between a more urgent Tangerine Dream and pulsating rock. At five and a half minutes, Elder release the brakes and everything erupts with irresistible power. The next three minutes contain the heaviest moments of the album, surging into a crushing, monolithic and groove-heavy passage that channels the band’s stoner heritage with seismic force. It marks a galvanic shift from the earlier atmospheric tone, as tectonic riffs and churning, overdriven weight take full control.
Blighted Age ends the album in more contemplative fashion as acoustic guitars take the lead. By comparison with the earlier tracks, it floats past us, catching our attention with occasional sparkling detail, drifting lightly like a circling butterfly rather than sweeping us up in a sudden surge of sheer weight. With only eight lines of lyrics, the track is almost all instrumental and while it will certainly appeal to fans of well-structured post-rock – it really is quite gorgeous in places - it does raise the question of whether this is the most effective closing statement. One can imagine it working just as well earlier in the tracklist as a moment of contrast within the heavier material; yet there is also something to be said for ending in this quieter, reflective way, leaving space to absorb and reconsider everything that has come before.
With Through Zero, Elder have compiled their most wide‑ranging collection to date, shifting effortlessly between contrasting ideas while maintaining a clear sense of purpose. It feels meticulously shaped at every turn, with an instinctive interplay that speaks to a group operating at a very high level. The arrangements are architectural in their precision, yet never rigid, allowing each passage space to unfold and connect. Even where its closing choice invites discussion, the record’s ambition and execution leave a lasting impression; this is a bold, inventive step forward that reinforces their position at the forefront of modern progressive heavy music. Commanding. Kinetic. Immersive.
Through Zero will be released on May 29th 2026 via Stickman Records in Europe, in North America through Blunes Funeral Recordings and via Bird's Robe in Australia.
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this review has me hyped