Torture Wheel is a side project of the Horror Metal band Wraith of the Ropes. It is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist E.M. Hearst and he has been the sole member of Torture Wheel throughout it's entire existence. Occasionally though, his Wraith of the Ropes band mate, Scarecrow Jack Rottinghouse, will also contribute keyboards to a song, so he could be seen as an unoffical second member of the band.

The musical inspiration for forming Torture Wheel came originally from listening to extreme "Funeral Doom" bands of the past decade, but inspiration comes from many different forms of music... doom metal, black metal, heavy metal, 70's prog & psychedelic rock, industrial, abstract / soundscape / musique concrete and so on... Torture Wheel pledges allegiance to no one genre, it is an ever evolving entity.

In August 2003, NULLL Records (Belgium) released the first music from Torture Wheel: the "Split with Uncertainty Principle". The music on this release shows the very raw beginnings of Torture Wheel with songs built around near-static walls of distorted guitars with reverberating synth lines echoing in the distance and nightmarish sounds and voices swirling in the background. The music is a sort of surrealistic form of Funeral Doom.

The second release came in November, 2004. Nothingness Records (Belgium) released "Thee Bridge ov Madness" (a split with Moss). Torture Wheel's side of this split showed a great progression from the earlier material in both songwriting and musicianship. The songs were much more powerful and focused as well as having a much improved sound quality. Still, the songs retained the emotionally dark, abstract (and nearly psychotic) essence of the original Torture Wheel songs.

After signing a two-release deal with Firebox/Firedoom Music in 2004, Torture Wheel's third release (an EP called Crushed Under...) was unleashed in early 2005. The "EP" is a 45 minute CD, which is by all standards a "full-length" release... but the band only considers it an "EP" because it consists only of old pre-Bridge ov Madness material. "Crushed Under" could actually be seen as a compilation CD of all the material created in the first year of Torture Wheel's existence (including the entire T.W. side of the "Split with Uncertainty Principle" along with another previously unreleased track from the same period).

The fourth release from Torture Wheel will also be it's last. In mid-2005, E.M. Hearst began writing and recording all new material for the first proper full-length from this project... this albums title: "Dying Wish". E.M. decided to take the music in a completely different direction for this album. The synthesizers that had been the focus of all previous material are almost completely gone now... as well as almost any trace of "Funeral Doom". The tempo of the songs has drastically increased, frequently utilizing blast-beats. The music of Dying Wish is more influenced by traditional Doom Metal and Black Metal, but it is still as dark and atmospheric as before.

"Dying Wish" is likely to be finished and released in early 2006.

Line-up

E.M. Hearst - guitars, bass, vocals, programming, keys & effects

Discography

Crushed Under... (Firedoom Music, 2005)
Thee Bridge ov Madness; Split with Moss (Nothingness Records, 2004)
Split with Uncertainty Principle (NULLL Records, 2003)

Crushed Under...

Crushed Under...

HOMEPAGE:   listen.to/wotr
E-MAIL:   Torture Wheel