LIVE REVIEW: Elder @ The Electric Ballroom, London

If you’re a fan of trippy, moody prog then chances are you’re already an ELDER fan. To really hammer the point home on their UK tour, they’ve brought along support from the psych rock and stoner aficionados STEAK and SLOMOSA and tonight’s show promises to be a real sonic odyssey.

Openers STEAK set the scene admirably. Though they’re initially working with a less than stellar turnout, a few songs in they’ve got into the swing of things and the room is considerably busier. Musically sitting somewhere around slightly proggy psych rock like CLUTCH and a mild trip, there’s a healthy dose of fuzz and a surprising lack of pot clouds. Most of the set is dedicated towards more straightforward material, but the latter third dips into increasingly progressive territories for them, though there’s never a bluesy stoner riff too far away. Insofar as you can warm up a mostly static crowd of prog fans, STEAK do well even without much in their sonic arsenal. 

Rating: 7/10

SLOMOSA lean even further into stoner doom territory, driving forwards with a fuzzy single-mindedness and stacks of riffs. The crowd has swollen to almost capacity by now and there’s people having to watch from near merch and the side bars; despite having just a single record to their name, SLOMOSA already have a small legion of fans. Opening with a double header of Afghansk Rev and Estonia, the throng lap it up, cheering every bluesy lick. It’s an energetic, rollicking good time occasionally reminiscent of the beer-swilling ORANGE GOBLIN and goes down a storm. 

Rating: 8/10

Setting the scene between bands, upbeat jazz plays over the PA, something that would be incongruous in many places, but not tonight. Over a decade-plus career, ELDER have evolved from their more typical stoner doom roots into a far more esoteric animal, embracing jazz, ambient and 70s and 80s prog. It’s telling of their expansive sound that in their 90 minute set they play just seven songs, drawing equally on both last year’s Innate Passage and 2017’s beloved Reflections Of A Floating World along with picks from across their discography.

Opening with Catastasis, they weave intricate, atmospheric prog with an infusion of psychedelia that the crowd lap up. It’s immediately transportive as the song ebbs and flows. An evocative light show only heightens the feeling of transcendence, soft hues contrasted by roving and pulsing bright whites. ELDER make such captivating music seem effortless, the sprawling Merged In Dreams – Ne Plus Ultra near rapturous, while the cuts from Reflections… (Blind and encore Sanctuary) exemplify their ability to meld those stoner influences in solid riffs with loose, noodly prog that hangs together as a complete work of art. Sure, nobody’s throwing shapes in a moshpit, but the raucous cheers, along with just one look at the grins and sheer bliss on people’s faces says it all. 

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Emma Barrott here: 

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