WHEEL Preserved in Time | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

   

Released by Cruz del Sur Music on April 9th, 2021

Quick Background

Wheel is a Doom Metal band formed in 2006 in Dortmund, Germany. The self-titled debut was released in 2010 and the successor Icarus came out 2013. The quartet has been a stable line-up with the exception of singer Arkadius Kurek taking a sabbatical in 2018. Wheel makes true, epic doom in the vein of Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus (most notably) and Trouble.

Preserved in Time

Preserved in Time is therefore Wheel's 4th full length studio album and first studio album in eight years. It runs for 48 minutes featuring 7 proper tracks. No intros, short instrumentals or anything like that. Just 7 mid to long proper traditional dooms songs. 

In recent years we were blessed with new albums capturing the Doom roots in both Europe and the US. Even the godfather themselves, Candlemass, came back with original singer and a good full length album. Sorcerer put out a very good album last year, but on the other hand Pallbearer was one of my disappointments of 2020. Preserved in Time is the first proper Doom album to hit my playlist in 2021. Overall the album is more in line with Sorcerer than American new Doom bands. Wheel do not lean towards death doom at all. The vocals are clean and mid range. "Hero of the Weak" is a small exception as it is heavier and darker than the rest of the album. It's actually one of my favorite, but it doesn't get anywhere close to Death/Funeral Doom. They also don't go too proggy, the longest track is the closer "Daedalus" running at 9 minutes. The other songs being around 7 min on average are extended due to the slow tempo and not because of long instrumental passages or solos. Actually, Wheel are very economical when it comes to guitar solos, maybe a missed opportunity. "At Night They Came Upon Us" opens the album with a nice riff reminding me of Rainbow. It's indeed not-so-slow song and it has a Mediterranean flavor due to the main riff and also a hint of Ghost. In sum, while still Doom, it's very traditional metal as well. The single "She Left in Silence" also works very well. Nice groove, doomy riffs and melody. Another favorite of mine is "Aeon of Darkness" and its moody acoustic intro is a nice touch 

The Picky Guy

None of the songs blew me away, even though most of them are good tracks. My specific problem were with songs number 2 and 3 which also caused an album flow problem for me. "When the Shadow Takes You Over" is very slow tempo and super doomy but it doesn't catch my attention. Then "After All" has this traditional Sabbath feel to it which is always a good thing, but the song title is repeated so many times, it gets annoying. Personally.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Wheel's Preserved in Time is a good alternative for those who can't get enough of traditional epic Doom classic albums. It won't bring anything new to your pallet, but it will satisfy the Doom hunger in you. Therefore it is a difficult album to grade. It's certainly well written, executed and produced, but it won't change your world. So that leads me to give it 80/100, a good album worth checking for Doom fans, specially those who favor Solitude Aeturnus.

SCORE: 80/100

Genre: Doom Metal

Released by Cruz del Sur Music on April 9th, 2021

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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