At the end of 2024, Elder looked back on an unusual period in their now near 20-year career. A few years ago, the band had dropped their most progressive record yet, 2022's highly acclaimed Innate Passage, followed by the usual heavy touring schedule (including a 24-show arena tour supporting Tool).
The band had then taken a year long sabbatical to recharge their creative batteries, which instead of rest culminated in the release of multiple albums by side-projects. Convening in winter of that year for a 2 week songwriting session at Big Snuff Studio in Berlin, the band set a goal of knocking off the rust and putting together some ideas for the next record.
While combing through an archive of old sketches, they hit upon an outline of a song from somewhere between 2020's Omens and its successor Innate Passage, abandoned then for reasons now inscrutable. Picking up the pieces with fresh ears, Elder fleshed out a new version of the track, which is firmly rooted between those two albums but with an identity of its own. Building on the song's ending, a swirling tower of synthesizers, chugging guitars and almost tribal drumming was constructed in the course of lengthy in-studio jams.
Liminality/Dream State Return can be seen as a bridge between eras in Elder's creative universe; one foot is planted in the highly melodic and sometimes alternative/grunge tinged riffing of Omens, the other in Innate Passage's dreamy prog soundscapes, and its head in the clouds looking toward Elder's upcoming LP 7. The vinyl version comes as a one-sided, 180 gr. translucent LP with etching on the B side (including download).
