Review: Elder at Eulogy
A throng descended on the corner of Buxton and Collier Avenues the night of Jan. 22, and not for the $19 trout bologna sandwiches at Good Hot Fish, the buzzy new restaurant (closed on Mondays) by celebrity chef Ashleigh Shanti.
Instead, the sold-out crowd was filing into Eulogy, Burial Beer Co.’s music hall, to start the week with a generous helping of heavy psychedelia. Serving the main course was Berlin-based Elder, who made time for its headlining Asheville performance between supporting dates in Charlotte and Nashville with Tool.
Guitarists Nick DiSalvo and Mike Risberg kicked off the set with powerful swirling harmonies, backed by the full-throated ripping of bassist Jack Donovan and drummer Georg Edert. Like the music of their current tour mates, Elder’s was plenty mathy, but the quartet played with enough space and precision for complicated parts to ring with clarity.
I could sense an aspirational bigness in the band’s sound — DiSalvo’s vocal work, for example, featured more sustained, straightforward lines that could reverberate at a Tool-sized arena show. Donovan’s bass often reinforced Edert’s tom and kick hits rather than playing counterpoint, avoiding any rhythmic muddiness.
Yet I also didn’t feel cheated by seeing Elder in the modest confines of Eulogy. It was a particular joy to watch Risberg’s hands up close, tracing elegant, effortless sweeps over the fretboard that somehow translated into heavy grooves.
And the athleticism of the members astounded through their hour-plus set of long tracks and minimal breaks. The sheer density of musical ideas on display honestly got a bit exhausting for me as a listener, but I didn’t notice any loss of cohesion or tempo sloppiness from the band itself.
My appetite had been whetted earlier in the evening by Asheville’s own Bask. Infusing a touch of Americana picking into a base of stoner and progressive rock, the four-piece outfit came across as fine songwriters and well-rehearsed performers ready for larger stages.
During the roughly 45-minute set, I found myself making favorable comparisons to prog metal legends Dream Theater as Bask worked through quick time changes and soaring guitar lines courtesy of Ray Worth and Zeb Camp. Drummer Scott Middleton and bassist Jesse Van Note kept everything on track with smart, spacious beats, punctuated at just the right places with thick slabs of double-kick pedal.
Atlanta trio Royal Thunder opened the night. Fronted by bassist and vocalist Mlny Parsonz, the trio brought gritty, Janis Joplin-eque vocals into the heavy atmospherics of a Queensrÿche or Deafheaven.
Given the band’s smaller lineup, I wanted a bit more bite from guitarist Josh Weaver, who seemed to be restraining his instrument’s presence under compression and phaser effects. But Royal Thunder nevertheless provided a fine appetizer for the musical menu that followed.
(Photo courtesy of the artists)
