The Wheel is the followup to Slægt's critically acclaimed album "Domus Mysterium" from 2017. Songwriting began shortly after the recording sessions of "Domus Mysterium" (autumn 2016) and concluded not long before the band entered the studio in March 2018. Once again, Ballade Studios in Copenhagen were chosen as the place, where these new concoctions should be put to tape. The studio is still driven by Copenhagen based musician, producer and studio owner Lasse Ballade. Since the recording of "Domus Mysterium" the studio has grown in size and moved to a new, bigger and better locale in the same building, as where the previous version of Ballade Studios was situated. All recording was handled by Ballade, with all main tracking and overdubs being finished within the space of 12 days. The idea to add strings to certain sections of songs made the band call upon Felix Havstad Ziska. A local musician, who handled cello, viola and violin on "Gauntlet of Lovers" and the title track. Mixing and mastering were handled by Ballade in the same studio and concluded in the following months. The seven songs on "The Wheel" were all put together and honed collectively by the band, with different members providing the main ideas and rough sketches. It was important for the band, to keep the essence of "Domus Mysterium" intact, but try to distil it and make the songs shorter, more potent, and full of bite. Once again, all lyrics were handled by lead vocalist Oskar J. Frederiksen. The lyrics deal with topics such as: Coming into flesh, the union of music and magic, the ingredients of change and the limits of time. Some of them are more personal than general, and touch upon specific moments of transformation and fleshed out periods of unintentional (but self-inflicted) torment, as well as the growth, intent and essence of Slægt as a unit and creative brotherhood. "The Wheel" is an album that showcases a band that has grown without forgetting, where it came from. A band that is hungrier than ever before, and who knows, that more is to come. A band that is called Slægt, who is way more concerned with personal expression and writing the best songs possible, than adhering to fashions and mundane attractions.
