Rwake: The Return of Magik

It’s been 14 years since Arkansas-based Rwake released its last album, Rest. They’re back with The Return of Magik. Rwake has usually been referred to as a doom or sludge band. You can hear that on this album, for sure. The songs are generally lengthy, often plodding, and muddy sounding at points. But there are enough other elements to make them hard to classify.

First, the vocals are extreme. Between Brittany Fugate’s piercing screams and Chris Terry’s guttural pronouncements, the listener is ear-slapped from the beginning, only to be given slight reprieves when Terry goes into spoken-word mode. Also, the electric guitars are not always down-tuned. There’s some real shredding on the album. Finally, some of the arrangements break free in an unexpected way and can get sort of proggy at times. Fugate and Terry are backed by four talented musicians: guitarists Austin Sublett and John Judkins, bassist Reid Raley, and Jeff Morgan on drums as well as acoustic guitar and 12-string bass.

Whether you enjoy the album probably will depend on how you respond to the vocals. I could see how Fugate’s near-constant assault could be fatiguing, and I was ready for a break by the time I reached the fourth track, “Distant Constellations and the Psychedelic Incarceration,� where the listener is given a bit of a reprieve.

This is a very heavy album (minus the brief and almost pastoral instrumental closer), and one that I enjoyed overall. While it never quite lifted off for me, I’d bet I will return to it on occasion.

Track Listing
1. You Swore We’d Always Be Together (7:59)
2. The Return of Magik (11:55)
3. With Stardust Flowers (7:58)
4. Distant Constellations and the Psychedelic Incarceration (13:55)
5. In after Reverse (10:21)
6. Φ (1:42)

Added: June 9th 2025
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 245
Language: english

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