Benjamin Homberger
Wheel
Hi there, thanks for having WHEEL for the interview. Everyone's healthy and well at this end. A little bit exhausted and fed up from the pandemic but at least healthy.
It's less of an epic than that. The band never split up. We have constantly been rehearsing and writing songs seven of which are now on the new album. We even played shows. But that's not the whole story of course. During that long period of time, we've been losing our neat little and familiar rehearsal space and it took us some time to find a new one that would fit our needs. There have also been new challenges such as parenthood for most of the bandmembers but one thing that struck hardest for sure was the leaving of Arkadius in 2017 after the Malta doom festival. We knew before that he wouldn't be easily replaced but thrown into the situation we found out it's almost impossible. Though we collaborated with Midnight Rider's Micha "Wayne" Baum who is a really good vocalist we had to learn we all missed something which is not Micha's fault in any way. Fortunately, Arkadius rejoined the band in 2018 and since then things got more and more in motion again. And well, here we are!
As I said we never quit making music as WHEEL but the return of Arkadius gave us the GO.
We all felt there's so much music that's still to be written and we all enjoy it so much to play and arrange songs together. Not to mention that we've got a deeply grown friendship over the years I guess nobody wants to miss.
Exactly! Cruz Del Sur was first choice. When we finished the album and had talked to our former label Eyes like snow it soon turned out that both sides were not too much interested in further cooperation. Having that cleared we all agreed Cruz Del Sur would be great and fortunately they liked the album from the beginning and gave us the chance. We're extremely happy about that. It also shows us that our songs must have reached a new quality level as they are obviously good enough to make Cruz Del Sur give us a chance!
As soon as we knew the seven songs you now can hear would be the new album we started thinking over an album title. It had to be powerful enough to keep it in mind (or preserve it if you like) and also to connect the seven stories told in the lyrics.
Time though it marches on so quickly is the great constant of the universe. It seems to be a paradox: Time is ever passing and moving on the one hand and always there since the big bang (and maybe even before) until long after mankind will have vanished from the sleeve…Scary in a way.
Memory is the only force that can overcome time for a little while. It's one of the most important tools to save what we would like to keep from oblivion. By recording an album for example or taking a photo we preserve ourselves and our deeds beyond the span of our existence. But sooner or later even the memories will be swept away as time passes…
We're all into Art Nouveau as you might have guessed and finding that masterpiece by Koloman Moser was like a lucky punch because it suits the album title so well and supports it in a powerful way. We don't regard the hourglass symbolism as a burden as it supports the album title as well symbolizing time itself and having the sand preserved in its glass vessel and by its permanent run symbolizing the passing of time. Phew -heavy stuff!!
After 14 years we know what to expect from each other and what everyone needs to get himself into the songwriting and arranging process in the best individual way. We also know how to push each other to his limits (in a positive way) as well. Concerning the development of musicianship, we can say that several things happen more automatically than in the early days which gives the playing a more relaxed and natural touch maybe. It's difficult to analyze and point out some development because we don't have an external view on it…
That was one of the few things we really talked about up front: After Icarus we decided to get it less experimental and to give it a clear direction which hopefully we managed to do.
Of course you keep listening to other music during the songwriting process and the main inspiration have been albums where all songs flow in the same direction, albums that come along as a tight unit, not just a collection of songs. Not talking about concept albums anyway…
Difficult to say. It's not a conscious decision I suppose. People keep telling us after shows that there is a unique atmosphere we seem to create through our performance. If we managed to capture it on the album it would be great.
His voice is very unique. The singer's voice is always a band's main trademark. And we think that with Arkadius we have a singer who makes much of the difference. He did his best job so far on Preserved In Time but this time he was also ready to let us push him the one little step further and for sure his performance gives the album something very special.
Well, as mentioned above we wanted to keep it more focused to one direction less experimental less different stylistic influences. We also wanted to give it a more natural flow and therefore left out the click track while recording several passages. By that we achieved a rather tight and organic production I think. This time we were sure about how we wanted the album to sound and with Dennis Koehne we fortunately found the man for mix and mastering who could shape it the way we wanted it. Great Job by him!
I find it incredible and almost frightening how many really talented bands you can find even in a small scene as the doom metal scene is. The main problem most of the bands often have is the lack of a unique singer who can make the difference.
On the lyrical side: All members of the band abhor any form of violence and terror especially terror under the cloak of religion or other ethical and moral virtues that is set against minorities (or even majorities) who do not look or do not act as oneself. No one who blows innocent people and himself away for whatever reason is a damn hero but only a murderer and an asshole!
On the musical side: classical doom intro followed by a little more uptempo stakkato riff underlying the verse (put out the click track here…) followed by the chorus where guitar and vocal line carry each other pretty well. Rather heavy middle section with that double bass/guitar thing. Short bridge we recommend to headbang to and finally - not too surprising – chorus again including some vocal variations and guitar melody lines. And that's it. A good song we do like a lot. Came not as easy as it may read here…
Yeah, apart from 'At Night They Came Upon Us' the most In-your-face-song of the album. It was the last one finished before the recording sessions and for a long time we were not quite sure if it would fit to the other material. But after having recorded some pre-production demo it felt more and more alright. The album version though recorded with click track is even stronger with its very organic flow and powerful drive and has since become one of our favorites.
Lyrically it's about the insecurity about what will remain of us when we died. Will we be sorely missed or will we soon be forgotten?
Time in our opinion is much too precious to just skip it. Preserved In Time will be released and we are still only in the first third of the year. You just cannot predict how the vaccination campaigns that have been started in many countries may influence the course of the pandemic. At first we will have to re-start real life rehearsals with full band again to be prepared to hit the stage again at any possible time. Be sure we will be taking the first chance to reappear LIVE that's given to us under secure circumstances.
As soon as one recording is brought to an end our view is set to the future already. In fact, there are several ideas for new songs but we don't have any arrangements or even finished songs yet. Maybe it's time for some cover version of some favorite ours too. We will see.
Thanks in return! See you somewhere on the road someday! Stay safe and healthy - Cheers
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