elder - innate passage

amazing how this band delivers one masterpiece after the other. really happy about this u.s 'lava stone' grey marble edition snagged at grindpromotion records. released through armageddon shop. 2023.

elder - lore (armageddon pressing)

elder is such a great band. their first self-titled album sees their elaborate sound in an early stage but what comes after, is most likely the best stoner metal i have ever heard. "dead roots stirring" is a revelation of sound, the "spires burn/release" e.p. is more of the same brilliancy and their latest full length from 2015, "lore", is nothing short of a masterpiece. just recently i felt the urge to listen to "lore" again. i have the double clear vinyl edition which stickman records from hamburg pressed on the occasion of their european tour 2015.

while i was listening to the record, i visited the band's social media page to see if they were up to something new in the coming future. checking out the different postings, i came across pictures of a new u.s. pressing for "spires burn/release" and "lore", both on most lovely starburst colour variations. boy, as soon as i saw them i was hooked. i ventured over to the armageddon shop internet page. it's a record store with branches in providence and boston. from time to time they come up with a vinyl pressing of their own for a certain release.

in this case they were responsible for the first "lore" u.s. pressing coming on 180gr black vinyl. they did this re-press in april this year. the prices for both records were reasonable but together with shipping costs, i had to restrain myself and left out "spires burn/release". my crimson red copy looks nice already. "lore" on this hot yellow, green and purple starburst is a pleasure for ears and eyes alike. thanks to armageddon shop for superbly packing the vinyl so that no seam-split could occur, neither on cover sleeve nor on printed dust sleeves. 405 copies made. armageddon shop. 2015/2016.

while i still possess my european edition of "lore" before it will find a new home at the place of a good friend of mine, i thought i show the main difference of the two, which is the die-cut sleeve. the u.s. edition is of normal cardboard and has a more blue tinge to it, whereas the eu edition is of matte cardboard with a more turquoise colour tinge.

elder - spires burn / release

so this release right here was my last elder catch at burnout record store. in 2012 they released a two song e.p. simply named after the containing two songs 'spires burn / release'. it was the first record i threw on the turntable in the store to check its content. when i dropped the needle on it i was very surprised at what hit my ears.

it sounded strangely unfamiliar to the stuff i heard from 'lore' and 'dead roots stirring' on the internet. the voice was quirky and the riffs played at an odd pace. after five minutes of listening and wondering i recognised that the little '45rpm' lamp was gleaming while the record is played at 33rpm. oh man, so i lifted the needle, pushed the 33rpm button and started all over again.

now everything was in apple-pie order again. elder sounded just the way i remembered. those two songs are well packed with psychadelic melodies and stoner metal riffs at their best. check those two crackers at the elder bandcamp page. the e.p. was released by armageddon shop which is really a physical store, or better two stores - one in providence and the other in boston. this is the 2014 re-press on opaque crimson red. armageddon shop. 2012.