Wheatstone Bridge

With heavy, chugging riffs aplenty playing in unison with some amazingly complex arrangements and a totally bewildering array of different and difficult time signatures, I don’t know whether the public is going to look upon this offering merely as some incredibly talented musicians showcasing their dexterity or whether they will be taken seriously enough for the cohesiveness of their songwriting. The challenge here is to be able to absorb and process the amazing amount of musical information without being seriously overwhelmed. For some this will be a walk in the park while others might find it a bit intimidating. Personally, I liken this to watching a new, groundbreaking video where you see an amazing amount of “Matrix” like action but wonder at how far technology and imaginative ideas can be taken. You can see the action but don’t believe it was done by humans. There can be no denying the insanely and oft times breakneck speed with which the drummer hammers away at the skins and cymbals and to his credit, he manages to keep up with proceedings very well considering the overall speed and difficulty of the songs.

- Sea of Tranquility.org

Compton’s Picture Book Encyclopedia was an old friend of mine as a kid. Besides helping me through various school reports, it also gave my curiosity a tremendous insight by providing a really cool (albeit pencil-drawing) of the female reproductive system. Not only that, it led me, nearly 40 years later, to buy this killer EP on name alone. See, I was riffling through the ol’ Compton’s one day & happened upon a picture of a device called a WHEATSTONE BRIDGE. Apparently used for some kind of electrical measurements, the cool-sounding name & sci-fi description stuck in my mind like glue. So, a couple weeks ago when Chris from Of Sound Mind held this disc in my face & recommended it, it was good as in-the-bag. From South Carolina, this trio (David Wilson – guitar/vocals; Erine Planck – drums/midi; John Taylor – bass/vocals) surely could be placed in the prog/math category, due to the blinding musicianship and insane dime-turning changes involved in this 3-song, 21-minute disc. Still, this blows most of that kinda stuff out of the water by virtue of the memorable quality of the songs & also the raw, primitive, local-type recording here that I just flat-out love. Not only that, some of the vocals have a folk-ish, Tull-like vibe giving this sucker a heavier, darker edge. Ideas of latter-day Crimson, the 1st Watchtower album & late ‘80’s mega-obscurity Spectral Incursion (ask me about this!) dance thru the pillaging that nail home the point: great musicians can really kick ass. I don’t need an encyclopedia to tell me that! Smokin’ stuff.


- Chaosrealm.com

Oh my friggin god! wheatstone bridge was AWESOME last night at the luna festival at WCU. incredible straight-up prog-rock on the level of king crimson, rush, nektar, yes, etc.; you have to see it to believe it. techincal excursions into the nether world of guitar, bass, and drums - riffs that will set you on your butt. mathematical equations of musical bliss! i have to tell you - i think the drummer matched both the bass & guitar riff-for-riff all night. tight isn't the word for it - maybe IMPOSSIBLE would be a better word to describe what was going down.

- Kyle Huff

North Carolina's Wheatstone Bridge are a bracing and pure incarnation of something hard to evoke these days:
the spirit of true and pure prog rock. In total, the sound is shockingly isolated, fresh, very personable
and always surprising and sensually homespun.

- Bravewords/Bloodyknuckles magazine