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Rwake - Rest review



Reviewer:
7.6

23 users:
7.35
Band: Rwake
Album: Rest
Style: Doom metal, Sludge metal
Release date: September 27, 2011
A review by: BitterCOld


01. Souls Of The Sky
02. It Was Beautiful But Now It's Sour
03. An Invisible Thread
04. The Culling
05. Ti Progetto
06. Was Only A Dream

The only thing restful about Rwake's Rest is the opening track, a quiet acoustic piece with soft female vocals to lull you in. Restless might be a better adjective for the bulk of the rest of this Little Rock, Arkansas' sludgedoom act.

You don't have much time to relax, as the slow, bruising riffs of "It Was Beautiful But Now It's Sour" kick in, with vocalist C.T. howling away like Lemmy, but in some bizarro universe where instead of fronting Motörhead, Lemmy is a Messianic prophet delivering fiery sermons in front of apocalyptic, fire-tinged skies for some Jim Jones-like cult. This whole track has some disturbing "eve of destruction" vibe that sets the mood for the rest of, well, Rest.

Nothing particularly restful here.

The album has, basically, four proper songs, all between nine and seventeen minutes long, with two shorter interlude pieces. Songs continue to feature the insane rambling prophet vocals oft paired with, or switched out with a perfectly malevolent rasp.

The band plows forward, shifting up tempos just as the vocal styles are alternated. Punishing power chords plowing forth at a ponderous clip, countered by occasional bursts of mid-paced speed. There are plenty of power chords, but there are melody lines occasionally laced over the top to add (or occasionally ease) tension. I love the drumming, often a rolling tribal feel at times... just feels powerful.

"An Invisible Thread" continues in a mighty similar vein as "(words words) Sour", whereas The Culling spends a good seven minutes of its run time slowly developing calm, soothing passages that once again give way to sermon-rant while the music continues to build in intensity that eventually climaxes to the similar, aforementioned style... it's the ability to ever-so-slowly build up to this is interesting. Marge Simpson once said in a flash forward episode of The Simpsons, "FOX turned into a hard-core sex network so slowly I didn't notice..." "The Culling" turned into yet another prophet of doom lecture so slowly, I found myself wondering how it got there.

The Ragna(Sludge)Rock mass closes with "Was Only A Dream", cult dismissed, go forth in peace and be sure to drink the purple kool-aid on the way out the door.

All in all, I found Rest reminiscent of Indian's "Guiltless", only perhaps much better focused, slightly less grating - thus slightly superior.

Next time you're in the mood for deranged, psychotic sludge-scored mass of doom, be sure to check this one out.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 8
Production: 8





Written on 02.11.2011 by BitterCOld has been officially reviewing albums for MetalStorm since 2009.


Comments

Comments: 13   Visited by: 144 users
02.11.2011 - 08:48
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Staff
You kinda threw me for a loop here... I read and read and thought, meh, this doesn't sound like my cup o' tea. And then I caught sight of an Indian reference and thought where the hell did that come from?

So now I guess I'll check it out.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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02.11.2011 - 08:50
Rating: 7
BitterCOld
The Ancient One
Admin
Written by Troy Killjoy on 02.11.2011 at 08:48

You kinda threw me for a loop here... I read and read and thought, meh, this doesn't sound like my cup o' tea. And then I caught sight of an Indian reference and thought where the hell did that come from?

So now I guess I'll check it out.

it's a point of approximation, i suppose. i've listened to a decent amount of music in this vein this year, and for whatever reason it sort of reminded me of that release. might have been the Ruination IPA talking, though.
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get the fuck off my lawn.

Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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02.11.2011 - 08:52
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Staff
Written by BitterCOld on 02.11.2011 at 08:50
might have been the Ruination IPA talking, though.

Regardless, I'm not talking myself out of it if there's even a glimmer of hope this sounds anything like Guiltless. I've rummaged through a heap of music this year and haven't come across anything quite like that album.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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02.11.2011 - 11:24
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Staff
Seems just like my cup of Earl grey. Consider me interested!
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass

Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.

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02.11.2011 - 12:14
BloodTears
ANA-thema
Elite
I've been listening to this album for quite a while now. Good review.

It is definitely my cup of tea. I think the album is a grower. It seems more dynamic and fitting the more you listen to it.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.

My Instagram
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03.11.2011 - 12:18
IronAngel
Good album. Dynamic is exactly how I'd describe it, like BloodTears. One of the better sludge albums of the year.
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03.11.2011 - 18:11
I listened to this on bandcamp and now I've got a headache...
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03.11.2011 - 23:25
Rating: 7
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Contributor
Written by IronAngel on 03.11.2011 at 12:18

Good album. Dynamic is exactly how I'd describe it, like BloodTears. One of the better sludge albums of the year.

eww...if IronAngel digs it...I'm in! See, him and me...we have this understanding...
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rekt
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03.11.2011 - 23:28
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Staff
Written by tea[m]ster on 03.11.2011 at 23:25

Written by IronAngel on 03.11.2011 at 12:18

Good album. Dynamic is exactly how I'd describe it, like BloodTears. One of the better sludge albums of the year.

eww...if IronAngel digs it...I'm in! See, him and me...we have this understanding...

How long have you guys been together?
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass

Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.

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03.11.2011 - 23:31
Rating: 7
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Contributor
Written by X-Ray Rod on 03.11.2011 at 23:28

Written by tea[m]ster on 03.11.2011 at 23:25

Written by IronAngel on 03.11.2011 at 12:18

Good album. Dynamic is exactly how I'd describe it, like BloodTears. One of the better sludge albums of the year.

eww...if IronAngel digs it...I'm in! See, him and me...we have this understanding...

How long have you guys been together?

ever since he started posting in my post/sludge/atmo thread...it was love at first sight!!!!
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rekt
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03.11.2011 - 23:52
IronAngel
Sorry... who are you, again?



Seriously though, there's something interesting about this album. It's pretty straightforward but then again, it's not. They have this twisted technicality (without actually being very complex) that adds a nice change of pace to the typical sludge business.
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04.11.2011 - 12:33
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
I agree with the above, this is a great album, has a certain something about it in its sound.
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04.11.2011 - 22:28
deepwithin
Definitely one of the better sludge/doom albums of the year. The overall atmosphere just drags you in. And it's amazing that it takes some time before you notice the grooveness of the songs. Personal favorite is The Culling, mesmerising its way to my subconscious...
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