Torture Wheel is an American band signed to the Finnish label Firedoom Music and they play funeral Doom music mixed with Ambient elements. A one man band and the result... E.M Hearst can do whatever he wants and surely knows what he wants.
Torture Wheel was founded in Hamilton, Ohio- USA, in late 2002 by E.M. Hearst as a side project to his main band Wraith Of The Ropes. It has remained a solo project throughout its entire existence, though Scarecrow Rottinghouse (vocalist/keyboardist of Wraith Of The Ropes) has appeared on every Torture Wheel release so far as both backing musicians and co- songwriter on at least one song per release, he is the unofficial member of the band. Most of the songs are written and performed solely by Hearst. In August 2003 the first work from Torture Wheel was released; a split release with Uncertainty Principle. Their second release, Thee Bridge Of Madness, came in November 2004.
Crushed Under features three songs from the split release with Uncertainty Principle (2003) and a fourth track, Crushed Under..., which was recorded in late 2003 for a compilation tape (that was never released).
Crushed Under... includes very long tracks, over ten minutes each. In this EP you can hear funeral Doom (if you want to call it that) with an ambient disposal. All the songs have this usual feeling that comes out in every desperate Doom work. The production is very bad and I could hardly sort out every note and every instrument of the songs as I listened to the album. Even the vocals sounded very dull like coming from a well. The fourth song is more different from the others; it has a more industrial sound and it's the only track that the vocals sound much better.
This album has absolutely nothing to do with heavy or brutal music of course and is also an average album for the average Doom Metal fan.
- Album Highlights: Crushed Under...