Elder

Omens

STICKMAN

Thankfully no sign of Damian.

For majestic spaced-out jams it’s pretty hard to beat Elder, who have now developed well beyond their early stoner and doom roots into a behemoth of intricately proggy heavy psychedelia. With new drummer Georg Edert on board, Omens is a sterling evolution of the work put into 2015’s Lore and 2017’s Reflections Of A Floating World, the five lengthy tracks benefiting from greater use of Michael Risberg’s keyboard skills to lighten the ever-present oceanic swell of riffs. In Procession, Halcyon and Embers, in particular, have a welcome Floydian trippiness to them, with more space to let the compositions breathe and stretch to their full potential. Bags of melody, plenty of light and shade, and great songs. A cosmic triumph. ■■■■■■■■■■