Aural Aggravation

Anglo-Finnish progressive metallers Wheel are pleased to announce the release of their much-anticipated third studio album Charismatic Leaders on the 3rd May 2024 (InsideOutMusic). 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 end 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.

To mark the announcement, the band have launched the first single taken from the album, and you can watch the video for ‘Empire’ here:

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Vocalist & guitarist James Lascelles comments of the track: “This is probably the most metal song I have ever written – it is intense as all hell when it kicks in and it keeps finding new ways to punch you in the face all the way to the end! Santeri did an incredible job with the drum track on this one and playing it live is really going to take some work in the rehearsal room..

Lyrically, it is about media empires and the effect they have on wider society – all of us are influenced to some degree, even if we would rather not admit it. Issues that require nuance are presented as binaries and opposing views are made into caricatures – a target for us to rage at that far too often, doesn’t even exist. This is not a new phenomenon by any means but it is one that seems to have been catalysed by the modern landscape of media, the internet and populist politics. As you might be able to tell from the mood of the song, this pisses me off immensely and it was cathartic to vent about it.”

The band will be celebrating the release of their new album with their first ever shows in Australia (supporting label-mates Caligula’s Horse) as well as their first ever North American headline shows. Later in the year the band will return to Europe for further headline dates, which have just been announced and can be found below:

31^st October – Olympia, Tampere, Finland

1^st November – Sawohouse UG, Kuopio, Finland

2^nd November – On The Rocks, Helsinki, Finland

7^th November – Lutakko, Jyväskylä, Finland

8^th November – Finlandia-Klubi, Lahti, Finland

9^th November – 45 Special, Oulu, Finland

15^th November – Logo, Hamburg, Germany

16^th November – Melkweg Up, Amsterdam, Netherlands

17^th November – 013, Tilburg, Netherlands

19^th November – Rebellion, Manchester, UK

20^th November – Cathouse, Glasgow, UK

21^st November – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK

22^nd November – 1865, Southampton, UK

23^rd November – Underworld, London, UK

24^th November – Thekla, Bristol, UK

26^th November – Kavka, Antwerp, Belgium

27^th November – Luxor, Cologne, Germany

28^th November – Colos Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany

30^th November – Backstage, Paris, France

2^nd December – Komplex, Zurich, Switzerland

3^rd December – Legend, Milan, Italy

4^th December – Backstage Halle, Munich, Germany

5^th December – Analog Music Hall, Budapest, Hungary

6^th December – Chelsea, Vienna, Austria

8^th December – Hyrdrozagadka, Warsaw, Poland

10^th December – Lido, Berlin, Germany

11^th December – Pumpehuset, Copenhagen, Denmark

12^th December – John Dee, Oslo, Norway

13^th December – Nalen Klubb, Stockholm, Sweden

Photo by Anastasya Korol