To Discover: Elderstag
Portugal Just Dropped a Heavy Psych Bomb: And It’s Called Elderstag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYfEWdvbMUs
You thought the Iberian Peninsula was all about fado and sunburnt tourists? Think again. Outta Lisbon, a city where ancient stone meets underground grit, a new beast has surfaced: Elderstag. Their debut album? Self-titled, self-released, and not playing by the rules. Dropped January 13th, 2025, like some occult ritual timed to a waning moon, this isn’t just another heavy rock record. It’s a slow-burning, shape-shifting trip into a world where humanity… well, let’s just say it’s gone to the dogs. Literally.
Imagine waking up in a dystopia where every last human has been turned into an animal. No warning. No cure. Just fur, feathers, and primal instinct taking over. That’s the eerie concept threading through Elderstag, a full-length that swings between brooding introspection and full-on sonic rampage. One minute you’re in a hazy, stoner-drenched desert with a Telecaster whispering secrets; the next, you’re crushed under a prog-metal riff that sounds like a bear fighting a transformer. And somehow, it all makes sense.
This isn’t some bedroom project. These cats are veterans of Portugal’s underground, ex-members of The Chapter, Diabolical Mental State, Fonte, Voidust...so yeah, they’ve paid dues. You can hear the experience in the tight grooves, the dynamic shifts, the way the vocals slide from melancholic croon to raw command without breaking a sweat. There’s a maturity here, but zero compromise. Think Pink Floyd tripping at a Kyuss show, with a dash of Mastodon’s narrative spine. But don’t come at me with lazy “desert rock” labels: this thing moves. It evolves. It haunts.
What I love? They don’t over-explain. The story unfolds in whispers and riffs, not exposition. You piece it together through tone, texture, the growl of a bassline, the panic in a snare roll. It’s heavy without being macho, psychedelic without being navel-gazing. And the production? Crisp but not sterile, like it was recorded in a cathedral buried under a motorway.
If you’ve been craving something that feels heavy, not just loud, an album with soul, structure, and a seriously twisted imagination, then Elderstag is your next rabbit hole. Pressed on vinyl, streaming everywhere, and backed by a killer YouTube session (“The Shepherd” live? chills), these guys aren’t just arriving, they’re announcing.
Now go listen. Before you, too, start growling at the mirror.
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