Like every new Elder album, I first approached Through Zero with trepidation. This is not because I was worried about its quality; I have come to expect nothing but excellence from what is becoming my favorite band of all time. I was worried rather because I didn't know which direction I wanted Elder to take this new release. This is a new concern of mine. It's been pretty clear for a while now that Elder have been leading their music, or vice versa, in all sorts of possible directions. First, the influence of Lore is always exerting its undeniable pull. But then there are the most improvisational elements we saw on The Gold & Silver Sessions and the grandiose elements of Innate Passage and even the starker, more crystalline sounds of Reflections of a Floating World and Omens.
This is not to neatly package all of these albums into distinct eras; I think that model suits some bands but not Elder. Their music has always revolved around a common core, each time displaying a different perspective on the heart of the storm. So, which perspective would we get this time? This is what I was wondering as I hit play for the first time and, to be honest, it took me a while to formulate an answer. You see, Through Zero is the most "complete" Elder album to date, I believe, in the sense that it contains tidbits, influences, and sounds from every one of the "modes" that Elder have shown us before.
First, yes, the "big riff" mentality of Lore is very much more felt on this release. You can't listen to "Capture & Release" or "Strata" and deny it. More than any of the previous releases, Through Zero has some excellent, intricate, groovy, many-noted riffs in that style that propelled Lore to the legendary status it holds today. But that's not the whole story; there is much more to Through Zero. First, the synths. Good lord, the synths. It sounds like Elder have ceased apologizing for their Yes influences, if they even apologized for them to begin with. These are some Tales From Topographic Oceans levels of synth tones, lush, psychedelic, and prominent. Then, there's the atmosphere and size of it all. While the album does not have a sweeping epic in the style of "Merged In Dream - Ne Plus Ultra", it certainly does not lack in broad, sweeping tracks like the marvellous "Sight Unseen".
This is also where that improvisational, warmer tone of The Gold & Silver Sessions most comes to bear. There's something more intimate even in those atmospheric moments, sweeping in a different, smaller sense. It's hard to put your finger on it; it's a balance that Elder have struck well throughout their career but here has been refined even further. In fact, it might be one of my favorite things about Elder, this feeling that even though you are listening to undeniably grandiose music, there are still beating hearts communicating very real and important feelings to you behind the instruments. On Through Zero, through and by all of the influences and themes I've cited above, this sort of connection is most present, at least for me.
Which brings me to the closer, "Blighted Age". It's short but it might be one of my favorite Elder tracks to date. The despondency on it, the desire for something more, the reckoning with the wonder and allure of the world around us, the sense that there is something more to be captured, to be lived, runs right through this track. The fact that it closes such a powerfully groovy, massively expansive, and warm album just makes it even better. My fears were unnecessary, my concerns irrelevant. The fact is, whatever direction Elder had chosen to emphasize on this album, I would have loved it. But bringing everything together to such degree on Through Zero means that it exceeded all of my expectations.