“I hear my voice echo through you.”
Nine. Years. It has taken nearly a full decade for I See Stars’ follow up to their 2016 album Treehouse. Following a period of inactivity where many questioned if the band were even active anymore, they began an extremely drawn-out rollout of singles starting in 2023. Now in the third quarter of 2025, the electronicore band are finally ready to release THE WHEEL. Undeniably, the most burning question is then, was it worth the wait?
The opening track, also the title track, does little to inspire confidence in a “yes” to that question. Since Treehouse, longtime vocalist Devin Oliver has taken over sole vocal duties in the band. The range of vocal techniques he has brought to THE WHEEL are quite frankly puzzling. On its title track, Oliver goes for a strange, talk-yell vocal style that sounds painfully awkward. This drags on for the entire duration of the two-minute track as cookie-cutter modern metalcore heavy guitars drone on in the background, making a relatively short track feel confusingly long. This vocal choice became a thorn in my side as the album progressed.
The album that follows is a perplexing spectacle, sounding like two halves of completely different EPs forcibly stitched together. The first of these two parts are the “experimental” tracks, where the band have endeavoured for a heavy edge on their sound. Unfortunately, none of the attempts went well. Take “D4M4GE DONE” for example. Oliver’s off-putting sing-talk vocals on the verses do not fit the sound, and the track opens up into an uninspired and repetitive chorus. With hints of screams from Oliver on the track, I’m puzzled as to why he didn’t just use them on the verses, where they would have had much more impact. Beyond its grating vocal choices, the track plays out in a very tired fashion, complete with a breakdown to qualify it as a modern heavy song; a breakdown that adds nothing to the song.
The criticisms on the vocal choices extend to “SPLIT”, a late album cut where the talk-sing vocals have had enough time to properly wear on the ears. It’s also here that the extremely predictable structure of most of these songs starts to show itself. While not inherently a bad thing, when the repeated elements just do not sound good, the repetition fails. It has an extended buildup to its ending breakdown, which might have had a payoff if the breakdown was anything to write home about, with its bland chugs and pathetically short duration. The eerie synth effects in the background are probably the only interesting thing about the section, and by extension, the entire track, as they appear intermittently, but it’s not an element that’s utilised to its best effect. From early tracks like “ELIMINATOR” to pre-closer cut “Anomaly”, it’s just botched attempt after botched attempt at a heavier sound.
“Drift” is where they attempt to take the experimentation to its extreme, with the heaviest guitar tuning on the album being found here. Yet again, the yell-talk vocals fail to fully deliver the impact it strives for, and while the mid-track breakcore section is admittedly engaging, the track’s main hook is repeated too many times. The track tries, but it doesn’t go nearly as far as it needs to. Vocally, it’s especially frustrating as Oliver has displayed his ability for harsh vocals before, most notably on “Mobbin Out” from Treehouse. Why then is there such a reluctance to utilise them here, where they would have been so much more effective?
So with that portion of the album covered, what is the other half of the album? Unfortunately, mostly by-the-numbers modern post hardcore. Early album cut “FLOAT” is fairly inoffensive, opting to go for a mostly sung approach, which actually plays out better than any of the heavier tracks. There’s nothing the song does egregiously wrong, but it also just doesn’t do much at all.
“are we 3ven?” may be the best attempt at this, with one of the few good choruses this album has to offer. With a rather effective atmosphere throughout the track and some interesting use of electronic layers, the track does what it needs to well enough. Yet again, an alright song, but still not much of a highlight. Also, the inconsistent naming conventions are a minor annoyance.
Where they go for the accessible approach, I See Stars also makes missteps. While I appreciate the personal notes that “Flood Light” is going for, it’s marred by its bland chorus that sounds frankly outdated. It’s rather ironic that on an album that tries to do unexpected things, the safer tracks end up being the superior tracks, though not by much.
The album’s intended centerpiece appears to be “Lost It”, a five-minute track featuring Remington Leith of labelmates Palaye Royale. The resulting track is rather underwhelming, all things considered, playing out like an older Thirty Seconds to Mars track. While it does capture some of that cinematic atmosphere that they are going for, the track shoots itself in the foot by being far too repetitive, drilling the chorus into your ears a mind-numbing number of times. It’s quite a shame because the soundscapes explored on the track are genuinely interesting, with guitarist Brent Allen experimenting with some lush guitar tones in parts of the track. Leith’s vocals also clash with the direction of the song, with his overly abrasive vocal style and raucous screaming sounding grating against the attempted grandiosity. I can see where the track was trying to go; it didn’t get very close.
Somewhat regrettably, two tracks actually managed to engage me. The former is mid-album cut “carry on for you”, in which the first half takes the form of a dreamy DnB track. The vibey atmosphere it crafts is effective in conveying the melancholy it’s going for; a much more effective use of the electronic elements that the band is usually known for. When it finally opens up into an ambience-heavy section, it flows nicely and creates an impactful release. Closing track “Curtain Call” follows a similar direction, although without the DnB and instead going for a full-on post-rock atmosphere mixed in with the electronics. The way the track builds on the verses genuinely creates a lush soundscape that really works. The track climaxes with an extended guitar section from Allen, playing a reverb-heavy, long solo surrounded by the floaty atmospheric elements. When the album finally doesn’t rely on predictable elements and takes the right risks, the result is genuinely impressive. It’s therefore regrettable that these two tracks weren’t the main direction of THE WHEEL, sadly existing as the receptacle for my “what-ifs” about this album.
Succinctly put, I don’t know what THE WHEEL is trying to reinvent. The few points where it excels are left without space to fully develop, overshadowed and dragged down by a deadweight of uninspired tropes and off-putting sonic decisions. Where Treehouse offered a version of I See Stars that managed to adapt stylistically to its lineup changes, THE WHEEL instead offers a confused band that has lost the plot. The album itself flows very clunkily and offers so little in the way of highlight-worthy moments that it simply feels tiring to listen to. Perhaps in another nine years, we may have an album worth waiting for, because this one decidedly isn’t it.
3/10
THE WHEEL releases on the 12th of September through Sumerian Records. Pre-order and merch links for the album can be found here.