ELDER
Elder is Nicholas DiSalvo, Jack Donovan, Michael Risberg and Georg Edert.
Elder is a genre-pushing rock band that melds heavy psychedelic sounds with progressive elements and evocative soundscapes. Formed in a small coastal town in Massachusetts in the mid aughts, the band has reinvented their sound over the course of five albums to grow from a stalwart of the stoner/doom scene into one of the most unique voices in the rock underground. Their long-scale compositions unfold as journeys, running the gamut of styles from the 70’s to the present within a single song with a penchant for “sheer gatefold-era grandeur” (Rolling Stone).
By continuing to incorporate new elements to their sound, Elder’s output has repeatedly set benchmarks for their peers. Beginning with 2008’s Elder and 2010’s Dead Roots Stirring, Elder made ripples in the stoner rock scene with their uniquely melodic approach to the genre. In 2015 they surprised again with Lore, a watershed moment in the band’s career (recently crowned “Album of the Decade” by The Obelisk) which brought in elements of post-, prog- and space rock into the Elder sound. Despite several years of heavy touring surrounding the album, Reflections of a Floating World was released just two years later, earning a spot at the top of many best-of lists including Rolling Stone (#5, 20 Best Metal Albums Of 2017), Stereogum and others.
In 2019, a tour pitstop in Berlin, Germany yielded the experimental EP The Gold & Silver Sessions. Recorded live based off ideas largely crafted while on the road, the release showcased Elder’s softer side; motorik beats, lush keyboards and sparse compositions replaced the usual colossal riffs and dense structure. Almost a decade and a half after the first sludgy riffs were recorded and the first demo pressed, the door for Elder stylistically remained wide open.
Elder’s 2020 album Omens answered any speculation about new directions with affirmation: evolution or extinction. Lush, intricately interwoven melodies grow and dissolve into spaced-out jams; massive riffs thunder down into a churning sea of psychedelic sounds and unpredictable grooves carry away the listener. Elder paint pictures with their music, and Omens shows the band experimenting with an even more colorful palette – with good reason. After thirteen years, this was the first full-length recorded with a new lineup including guitarist Michael Risberg and new drummer Georg Edert, along with guest performances by Fabio Cuomo on Rhodes piano and synthesizers.
During the pandemic of the early 2020’s, Elder continued work on new music despite having their wings clipped at the beginning of a new album release. Channeling the surreal and bizarre everyday developments into music, a body of work quickly came together that would become the band’s newest album Innate Passage. Recorded and mixed at Cloud’s Hill Studio in Hamburg, Germany during two sessions over the course of 2021, this new album shows the band’s ever-expanding musical vocabulary and joy for sonic exploration as never before.
2024, dispite being planned as a year to work on new music, was busier than anticipated with Elder being invited to open for Tool on their US tour in January/February. The first support tour the band had done in almost a decade was a big one with performances in arenas from Madison Square Garden to the (former) Staples Center. A few months later the band unveiled its latest offering, a the live album Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios. Recorded while on tour in summer of 2023, the album showcases the band’s powerful live performance on that tour.
As of now, Elder are working on their next album, roughly scheduled for release in 2025.
KING BUFFALO
“King Buffalo is a psychedelic trio in the classic format of bass, drums, and guitar, whose expansive and thunderous music is anything but easily definable.
Formed by three long-standing members of the blooming Rochester, NY rock scene, King Buffalo gathered in September of 2013 to start working on a new musical collaboration in a heavy rock vein. Their efforts spawned a demo release and several splits and one-offs which, coupled with their impressive live show, quickly gained them an international audience.
Nearly exactly three years after their formation, King Buffalo shows the world its first long-player creation – a powerful concoction of heavy psych, blues, and stoner rock in stunning cohesion. Orion’s flow is surprising giving the relative youth of the band, but King Buffalo seems to be a rare breed capable of fusing loose-knit and spacious pieces into a tightly-focused package. Written during and out of jam sessions, Orion’s nine tracks are texturally rich and oozing with psychedelic goodness, yet honed and driving in the next blink of an eye. Lush, shimmering melodies á la Dead Meadow and free-flowing grooves that recall All Them Witches meet with the full force of fuzzed-out stoner rock riffs, all coinciding organically. impressively, King Buffalo’s focus extends beyond composition and into the technical realm; Orion was recorded entirely by the band in the very same rehearsal room that played host to the songs’ creation. After a successful self-release, Stickman Records is proud to present Orion to the world on 180 gram vinyl including CD as well as a standalone CD release.” – via Sludgelord
BLACK ROAD
Black Road is a four-piece sultry stoner/doom band from Chicago, IL. Founding members Tim M. and Suzi Uzi write the riffs and lyrics, with new member Trey Wedgeworth (bass) and newest member Danny Garcia (drums) creating a heavy and harmonious rhythm as the backbone. Formed in the summer of 2015, Black Road has had lineup changes that have pushed the band to become stronger and more focused. Just before acquiring then-new members Robert and Casey in fall of 2016, Black Road signed with DHU Records (Netherlands) for a vinyl and cassette deal. In early 2017, they signed with BloodRock Records (Italy) for the CD release. After almost one full year of gaining their new bassist and drummer, Black Road was finally ready to reveal their self-titled debut Black Road – EP (10/6/2017). One year later, a digital single with a runtime of over ten minutes was released: Witch of the Future. The single album release with two tracks is titled “Blood On The Blade” (4/5/2019), and the 7” vinyl sold out in 20 minutes in the US and overseas at DHU Records. “Witch of the Future”, the debut full-length attempt, was released on Halloween 2019 with the same two killer labels. It features a completely new recording of the song “Witch of the Future”, and a brand new mix for “Blood on the Blade”. A repress on “Witch of the Future” was released in September 2020, with a limited edition translucent red vinyl via DHU Records and The Company. This second pressing (sold out) featured new artwork.
SASQUATCH TURF WAR
Banging Chicago riff-rock. This oozy, three-piece instrumental trio brings a clamor of sprawling guitar, monstrous drums, and heavy bass lines to the very edge of the stage. Their debut album releases June 2017.