Wheel – Preserved in Time

Release date: 09.04.2021
Label: Cruz Del Sur Music

Intro

Wheel is a traditional epic doom band from Germany that has been active for over 11 years. ‘Preserved in Time’ is the band’s third full length but what makes this album special is that it’s been picked up by the legendary label in heavy metal, Cruz Del Sur. That piqued my interest as I felt the label might’ve seen some promise out of promoting the band. If not for this, there is a high chance it would have flown under the radar for me. I’m glad it didn’t and I’ll tell you why.

Review

Wheel marries the sounds of epic doom like Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus, with traditional doom like Trouble. The riffs are slow, heavy and hard hitting. The solid rhythm section when combined with soaring vocals complete the epic doom package. I’m usually a stickler for doom and I can sniff out quality instantly and this album here hits most of my doomy sweet spots.

It’s not all slow, melancholic and dreary with Wheel. The band does mix it up with varying tempos and there are some great mid-paced riff-y heavy metal sections as well. Take for example, the opening track ‘At Night They Came Upon Us’ where the band comes out all guns blazing. It’s not as doomy as I proclaimed but when the chorus and second verse kick in, you’ll hear the epicness in Arkadius’s vocals and the slow melodies, which remind you that you’re listening to a doom band. Everything about the music so far sounds very Solitude Aeturnus-esque. ‘When the Shadow Takes Over’ leans more on the mournful side of things. The song tests Arkadius’s melodic range as a vocalist and he passes those tests with flying colors. The singalong chorus is one of the more memorable pieces on the album. ‘She Left in Silence’ was released prior to the album release. It’s the band’s most diverse song which highlights their strengths. This could easily be one of the better epic doom songs to have to been written in the last decade.

The second half of the album felt a bit weaker compared to the first. To me, it seemed to lack the vigor with ‘Aeon of Darkness’ and ‘Hero of the Weak’. These two songs have good choruses but the rest fell a bit flat in my opinion. But luckily, the album closer ‘Daedalus’ wins hard. The song seemed to have incorporated some middle-eastern influence in its intro. Albeit a short lived intro and then the band returns to their regular doomy proceedings.

If I were to break down the album by its vocals and instrumentation, I’d say the guitars were solid in the riffs department and how it amalgamates with everything else to define Wheel’s sound. But what I found lacking were interesting guitar solos. It’s a personal preference and it would’ve been the cherry on top for me. The bass and drums hold their own, doing just enough to provide a backbone to the album. Arkadius’s vocals are pretty good in my opinion. He’ll fall short if everyone compares him to Rob Lowe but I think he does justice to the tunes and plays a big part in making Wheel not sound monotonous. The production and the old school tone will receive appreciative nods from old timers who witnessed the birth of this subgenre in the eighties. As you can tell, the pros outweigh the cons by a stretch.

With ‘Preserved in Time‘, Wheel has become the most prominent flag bearers for epic doom in 2021. The album clocks in at a little over forty-eight minutes but it ironically whizzes by quickly. That’s always a good sign. I’ll admit it’s not a perfect album but I do see it challenging a few spots in people’s year-end lists. It’s memorable enough to be, you know, ‘Preserved in Time’. I’ll stop with my poor dad-puns now. Go listen to Wheel!

Line up:

• Marcus Grabowski – Bass
• Cazy – Drums
• Benjamin Homberger – Guitars
• Arkadius Kurek – Vocals

Links:

Bandcamp
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