Elder hardly needs any introduction to fans of heavy psychedelic rock. The Massachusetts-to-Berlin band has taken the world by storm with their brand of drawn-out, psychedelic stoner rock, which effortlessly evokes 1970s prog and fuses it with towering walls of fuzz guitar. They cemented their reputation with the riff-heavy *Lore* from 2015 and the contemplative doom/prog album *Reflections of a Floating World* from 2017. *Through Zero* is their seventh album, and showcases a band that has no intention of standing still.

Through Zero retains many of Elder’s hallmarks, but complicates the stoner elements in favour of a more amorphous soundscape that prioritises dynamics. Fuzzed-out riffs and interwoven rhythms are still present, but are underpinned by calmer, krautrock-tinged prog sections, where meditative loops give way to crushing guitar spectacle. This is music about the journey, not the destination, and that is evident from the first track to the last.

‘Capture/Release’ begins with retro, almost danceable synth and guitar playing before a massive riff tears the song apart. From there, shifting phrases and harmonised melodies lead into a bridge built over a rolling rhythm section, featuring a spacious interplay between guitar and synth, until that same massive riff storms back in. It is one of the album’s clear highlights. The closing track, ‘Blighted Age’, is one of the shortest and most subdued tracks in Elder’s catalogue, unfolding as a contemplative acoustic meditation that brings the album to a quiet and reflective close.

*Through Zero* is Elder’s most complete album to date, in the sense that it contains elements, influences and sounds from all the different styles the band has shown us in the past. The quartet have arrived at a place that has more in common with progressive rock and ambient electronic music than with the heavy underground scene that adopted them. This may feel like a loss to those who want riffs everywhere. But what makes Elder the undisputed leaders of their genre is their ability to create captivating soundscapes, their ear for melodic progressions and sheer strength in the riff department – and all of this is present in *Through Zero*.

*Through Zero* isn’t Elder at their most immediately riff-driven, but it’s a mature and well-crafted album from a band that’s constantly expanding its horizons. Take your time with it, especially before they take to the Norwegian stage again this winter.