Review Summary: A sonic hallucination.
Considering how varied the imagery and instrumentation conjured through stoner rock can be, it’s becoming difficult for bands within the genre to truly stand out. Include too many otherworldly elements and the music becomes bleary and bloated; too much reliance on beefy riffs and bands become parallel to one another. Where can they strike the balance between the two? To answer this, one has to travel down the sinuous path that
“Reflections of a Floating World” carves.
Most people agree that albums should lead you on a journey. Essentially, this album is Elder’s Adventures in Wonderland. Containing no filler and overflowing with riffs, the whole sequencing, song progression and the robustness of Elder’s fourth album is remarkable as it conveys so much colourful imagery that contorts from one picture to the next with every fluctuating riff. Languorous structures and extensive interludes are frequent within the 65-minute trip to make it sound as fluid as possible. Moreover, it demands the listener to experience the album in full, rather than individual songs. Expressing this fluidity best is “Sonntag”, where Elder creates their climaxes not by exchanging or removing the Tool-esque fidgeting, alternatively, they fill the sparse space to capacity with it. Throughout
“Reflections of a Floating World”, it’s as if the lucid minds of Jack Donovan, Matt Couto and Nicholas DiSalvo have all aligned in seamless synchronicity with each other. That kind of musicianship really ties the room together, dude.
Their individual efforts are as admirable as the overall combination of them. “Staving Off Truth” begins when light ripples of guitar gliding over undisturbed waters beneath the cloudless skies. Then, DiSalvo decides to throw in a boulder. Gentle ripples now rise into plunging waves of chunky riffs and Donovan’s buzzing bass before, once again, entering a spacious environment where melodious droplets of chords dance around freely. A second boulder cracks the surface tension and Elder returns to striding time signatures and haughty riffing. Unlike past albums, with the addition of 2 session members, Elder is able to navigate their beautifully heavy riff through the vibrant hues of spaced-out harmonies which quiver around acoustic guitars and shimmering keys in “Thousand Hands”.
Like all exceptional stoner rock,
“Reflections of a Floating World” manages to make you feel like you’re tripping without actually being high. As mentioned, the whole album is bursting with life and conveys an array of imagery, unique to every listener. Spiralling riffing tumble down the rabbit hole during “Sanctuary”. Look left and there are flurries of guitars leading down corridors decorated with twisted keys, look right and the spirited guitars morph into the droning buzz of a bee’s wings, look forward and kaleidoscopic solos erupt from nowhere, look up and thick bass follows the echoing vocals like runny honey, look down and dreamy- not dreary- melodies bubble about before crashing into Elder’s consistently dynamic marathon of riffs. As the song seemingly ends, it’s just a transition into a dreamlike phase of tumultuous bass and twinkling notes. Similarly, “Blind” has the same effect, however, Elder creates a hazy, humid atmosphere as rays of bass and blurry atmosphere beat down on your untainted senses, allowing DiSalvo’s perfectly styled vocals to tranquilly wash over you.
Fans of Pallbearer’s latest album will certainly feel comfortable nestled among the elongated song structures and hallucinated atmosphere Elder encompasses, particularly in this album and as a band also. Granted, there are sure comparisons to Elder’s previous album,
“Lore”, such as the organic procession of prolonged rhythm sections, it seems unnecessary to compare
“Reflections of a Floating World” to Elder’s past albums as it stands independently as a modern masterpiece.
