Review WHEEL ‘Rumination’ – EP – Markus' Heavy Music Blog

Anglo-Finnish progressive metallers Wheel have recorded a new EP called ‘Rumination’. The 12″ contains three songs and starts with the thunderous ‘Blood Drinker’. In the forefront is the booming bass as well as the hitting drumbeats of Santeri Saksalas. When listening to the song, parallels to bands like Tool are apparent and one is not surprised that the band was compared to the legendary quartet around Maynard James Keenan in the early days.

In the course of time, Wheel gained independence, which manifests itself in ‘Impervious’. Here James Lascelles vocals are in the spotlight, which gives the song an atmospheric and emotional aura. In addition, the cleverly used changes between soft and loud are a stylistic feature, which strengthens the arcs of excitement in the song.

With ‘Sychnronise’ Wheel show with even more clarity that they are able to handle the whole emotional range. ‘Sychronise’ is calmer and comes almost ballad-like out of the speakers. Here feelings and emotion are in the foreground and in contrast to the opener, it is acoustic guitars and strings that reinforce the core expression of the song.

In 2023 Wheel will go on tour together with Epica and Apocalyptica and the new EP delivers three songs which should definitely be on the setlist. In addition, ‘Rumination’ is a good bridging option for fans who have a hard time waiting for the live shows.