Anglo-Finnish progressive metallers Wheel recently announced the release of their much-anticipated third studio album “Charismatic Leaders” on May 3rd, 2024. The album was meticulously crafted to meet Wheel’s ever-heightening benchmarks and recording with engineers/co-producers Daniel Bergstrand and Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah) stretched from August to December 2023.
The result, mixed by Forrester Savell, has consolidated all the gains of what came before: singer/guitarist James Lascelles, lead guitarist Jussi Turunen and drummer Santeri Saksala’s third album represents their heaviest and most conscious music to date.
Now the band has shared the second album single — the dynamic and expansive “Porcelain.” Stream it below.
Vocalist and guitarist James Lascelles comments: “‘Porcelain’ ended up being about social norms and how the values of the past seem abhorrent by modern standards. In turn, our current values will likely be seen as primitive, careless, or even cruel in the future. I think we would all like to imagine that if we had been born long ago, we would have the same worldview that we do now but this would likely not be the case. We are all shaped by our surroundings and social conformity, probably more than we would like to admit. It was a humbling topic to dig into and the more I thought about it, the more empathy I was able to find for our ancestors.”
“Charismatic Leaders” clocks in at just under 50 minutes, and will be available as a Limited CD Digipak (also featuring the “Rumination” EP tracks as a bonus), and a Gatefold 180g LP, both featuring artwork from Lucas Mayer (Long Distance Calling, Blackout Problems).
Pre-order your copy now HERE.
