Review by Saxy S for Wheel (FIN) - Charismatic Leaders (2024)

I've been hoping to see Wheel thrive for a while now. My introduction to this Finnish band was through their full length debut, Moving Backwards, from 2019 and described by one friend as having a "mighty fine Tool impression," which immediately piqued my interest. Now I had a difficult time hearing the Tool comparisons on that debut, but was still impressed by the bands mainstream adjacent approach to progressive metal and was just catchy enough to survive my short list of the best albums of that year. 2021's Resident Human did not have the same sort of reaction and I found it rather pedestrian and boring, almost like the most recent Soen album, Memorial, from last year.

And now in current times, it's time for the bands third studio release. This time, the production is all in house and the music in general is wide in scope. I was expecting something a little bit different from the start, but what caught me off guard was crushing post-metal influence via The Ocean Collective on tracks like "Porcelain," or the almost sludge metal grooves on "Saboteur." With such a heavy emphasis on the instrumental grooves this time around, I can hear where some of those Tool comparisons came from; not to mention these grooves usually are in an uncommon time signature. Where the alterations happen are in the vocals of James Lascelles, who performs the vocals with way more range than Maynard.

Returning to those instrumentals though, the variety can be a bit of a mixed bag, but I feel like Wheel do have their hearts in the right place when it comes to effort. I really enjoyed the intro to the closing track "The Freeze" with its oddly timed groove, before the drums and vocals enter with The Ocean tempo. It really has the feeling of the best of both worlds. As the ten-and-a-half minute closer continues, I was greeted by a heavy Tool riff by the distorted guitar and how the whole thing would build up to the records epic conclusion. However, the excitement was cut short by some mixing issues, mostly in the low end feeling like an atom bomb instead of a foundational center (which also occurs on "Submission" as well). The guitar solo during the bridge was not impressive either.

While an improvement from the last album, Charismatic Leaders is not without fault. Songs like "Submission" and "Saboteur" smack in the middle of the record carry on for much too long and would have served better if they were separated. Because "Porcelain" and "The Freeze" feel closer to the progressive formula and not just filler. The hybrids of sounds and styles on Charismatic Leaders is easily one of Wheel's best showings, but transitions out of soft sections into louder metal romps don't sound great. If they could find a decent producer who knows how to mix acoustic/electric dichotomy well (Insomnium, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Adam Jones, etc.) Wheel could be in a league all of their own. As it stand right now, it needs some refinement, but the charisma is here.

Best Songs: Porcelain, Empire, Disciple