Elderwood

Formed in 2018, and based out of Draper, Utah, Elderwood began as a passion project for Derek Lupus to channel his musical influences from bands such as Ulver and Agalloch into his own project. With the first demo in 2019 featuring a raw, yet atmospheric piece, along with a neofolk song in the vein of Ulver's Kveldssanger, it was released to mild success in the local metal underground. Following 3 years of a pandemic, ended up resulting in the debut EP "Hymns of the Ancients", which managed to blend both the black metal and folk elements more seamlessly, channeling sounds of the Cascadian scene in the Pacific Northwest, while keeping an identity of its own. It was also the first Elderwood release to contain actual drums, with session work provided by Krzysztof Klingbein (who has performed with the likes of Belphegor and Vader), which added an additional dynamic to the sound. Not too long after the release of "Hymns of the Ancients", Lupus recruited Ashton Childs (Sacrilegion, ex-Onethium) as a full tine drummer. Together, they are in the process of creating their debut album, which they are hoping to have released by 2025