Wheel - Preserved In Time - CD

True, epic doom of the highest order in the vein of Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus and Trouble! On their first studio album in eight years, Preserved in Time, Germany’s Wheel delivers seven songs of brooding, emotional doom that promises to be an early 2021 favorite!
Wheel released their second studio album, Icarus, in 2013, but then underwent a period of inactivity. The band lost their rehearsal space and real-life events like starting a family and new day jobs took precedence. However, this gave the members of Wheel, more time to fine-craft the songs that would eventually comprise Preserved in Time, their first new studio album in eight years and Cruz Del Sur Music debut.Recorded by Homberger in the band’s rehearsal room and mixed and mastered by Dennis Koehne, Preserved in Time represents a bold step forward from Icarus for Wheel, especially in the production — the album is raw but is heavierand doomier. And, in keeping with that natural feel, the members of Wheel left in minor mistakes and recorded
without a click-track. The result is an epic, expansive batch of songs that highlights Kurek’s depth as a vocalist as well as the band’s sterling compositional abilities where each song ebbs and flows in plumes of reflection and misery, setto the charge of heavy, foreboding riffs and climatic melodies.According to Homberger, the Preserved in Time album title was inspired by the idea that time is a vessel, and all thathappened is preserved as long as someone remembers. This theme is reflected on the album’s gorgeous art nouveaustyled cover art featuring a woman holding an hourglass as either a symbol of reverence or burden — that is up to the listener to decide.
In what promises to be one of early 2021’s first significant doom metal releases, Preserved in Time heralds the emergence of Wheel as one of Europe’s finest practitioners of a style that is forever revered.