Description
Elder – Omens – Double Blue Vinyl Records
Made for their canceled 2020 tour.
Elder – Omens is the fifth full-length studio album by the progressive stoner/doom metal band Elder, released on April 24, 2020, via Armageddon Label (in North America) and Stickman Records (in Europe). Known for their expansive, genre-blending compositions, Elder pushed their sound even further into the realms of progressive rock, psychedelia, and post-metal with Omens, crafting a record that is both atmospheric and heavy, cerebral and emotionally resonant.
Clocking in at just over 54 minutes, Omens consists of five sprawling tracks, each ranging from around 9 to 13 minutes in length. These compositions unfold like suites, with dynamic shifts in tempo, mood, and texture. The album showcases Elder’s continued evolution from their earlier doom-laden roots toward more progressive territory — embracing synthesizers, intricate guitar interplay, and layered soundscapes. There’s a notable influence from bands like King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and Yes, but it’s all filtered through Elder’s distinctive blend of stoner metal heft and psychedelic complexity.
The album opens with the title track, “Omens”, setting the tone with swirling synths, melodic guitar lines, and Nick DiSalvo’s introspective vocals. Tracks like “Embers” and “Halcyon” explore themes of existential unrest and the passage of time, wrapped in expansive instrumental journeys that ebb and flow like tides. The closing track, “One Light Retreating”, is both epic and melancholic, offering a fitting conclusion to the album’s arc of introspection and transformation.
Omens touches on themes of ecological collapse, disillusionment with modern society, and spiritual searching — resonant topics in a world facing global uncertainty in 2020. Rather than issuing direct calls to action, Elder takes a more poetic, reflective approach, allowing the emotional weight of the music to communicate its urgency.
Recorded in Germany with engineer Peter Deimel (Shellac, The Kills), the album features a refined and spacious production style that gives room for each layer to breathe. This is especially important given Elder’s dense, intricately arranged sound. It was also the last studio album to feature original bassist Jack Donovan, making it something of a turning point in the band’s lineup and sound trajectory.
Omens was highly praised for its ambition, emotional depth, and masterful blending of heavy and progressive styles. It stands as a major milestone in Elder’s discography, appealing not just to metal fans, but to listeners of psychedelic rock, prog, and even post-rock.
If you’re looking for a heavy album that also offers deep musical complexity and philosophical undercurrents, Omens is a powerful listen that rewards repeated plays — a sonic journey that moves between thunder and tranquility, disillusionment and revelation.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Omens
In Procession
Halcyon
Embers
One Light Retreating
