Back from another long hiatus! I'm back again with another masterpiece that came to our speakers this year. A majestic, carefully written and full of surprises album by the legendary
Elder, that was released not only to confirm their potential (even though we have clearly seen that on the previous LPs and EP), but to fill us with more of the magical harmonies and the stomping riffs this band is able to come up with.
Lore partially keeps the lyrical themes of the EP (
Spires Burn / Release) that was released before it and strengthens it with more pomposity, making the album carry the name that would best describe it. It's like reading the lore of a mystical land, far away from something usual and common. The band makes sure to enrich those lyrics with a barrage of imposing riffs and captivating yet earthen melodies, that tend to impress -and not to weary the listener- until the very last minute.
Compendium is the first song (and the first one released, I think) of the album, that gives us a first idea of what we are going to hear in what we are holding in our hands or looking at our screens. A melodic yet powerful song with long solos and beautifully matched riffs followed by Nick's voice, opening a way for our journey into that magnificent album called Lore.
Legend, the next song, keeps up with a more calm pace for the most of its part, something that could remind us of the last songs of
Dead Roots Stirring, but still in the way that Lore has been written, meaning longer solos and riffs, a more powerful voice and more sound effects.
Lore comes to take the place of
Legend and, giving my humble opinion, it is the strongest song in the album! Great melodies that if you close your eyes, they can take you to magical places, making you one with the story that unfolds through the lyrics. A great piece of art and something musicians who pursue the same style should admire.
Deadweight gives the listener the feeling that they're under the sea and the waves start to swallow them whole, slowly sinking in a dark abyss. The song escalates to a point that someone could feel it like tremendous waves crushing on a cliff, something that reminded me of
Oceanic by
Isis, in a similar but still very different way.
Spirit at Aphelion, the epilogue of this majestic album, keeps the same "spirit" as the previous ones. Powerful riffs, sound effects that bring you to another world and beautifully matched lyrics that create a farrago of something that could be described as heavenly!
Coming to a conclusion, as I don't intent to prattle, this album is an utter piece of art that should be admired by the listeners and by the fellow musicians as well. I could write far more things about each one of the songs, but I would not like to spoil more than the less of those you are about to hear. Listen to the album (at least more than once), buy it and go see those guys live, because I dare say they must be the best of their kind.
The seeds we've sewn rising forth
the sons of trite and jealous birth
who wash their hands in blood and soil
.a golden light an earthly toil
