Band:	Rwake
Album:	The Return Of Magik
Style:	Doom metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	March 14, 2025
A review by:	nikarg

01. You Swore We'd Always Be Together
02. The Return Of Magik
03. With Stardust Flowers
04. Distant Constellations And The Psychedelic Incarceration
05. In After Reverse
06. Φ

Rwake (pronounced “Wake”) titled their last album ‘Rest’, and I don’t know whether it was some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, but it took them 14 years to release its successor, The Return Of Magik. Somehow, whether it was intentional or not, both titles are very fitting. This here is Rwake’s grand return, and it is pure magik.

In case you don’t know, and you are wondering how Rwake got their name and what that “R” is doing there, here’s the backstory: The band was initially called Wake, due to the funeral reference, but they realized that there were already other bands with the same name. While trying (unsuccessfully) to come up with something equally cool but different, one night when vocalist C.T. was really drunk, he kept trying to say "Wake" and he just slurred it and said "Rrrwake". That was it, the band’s name was decided.

Let’s now get to the music of Rwake, who are as far from your average sludge metal band as possible. Stoner, doom, and post-metal are a big part of their sound, and references to bands such as Neurosis, Pallbearer, Sleep, and Amenra can be heard in the music. Hailing from Arkansas, the band subtly incorporates southern tunes, so Hank Williams or Lynyrd Skynyrd are also making an appearance here and there. But, honestly, Rwake are very original, and they sound like no one else.

The Return Of Magik is following the long-form way of creating music, with the album’s runtime stretching to 54 minutes, with only five main songs on it (“Φ” is a short acoustic outro). Now, these songs never get boring, but they are progressive in the sense that they offer an engrossing journey. You can take any one of the songs and extend it in perpetuity, and not be tired of it; in all fairness, I have no idea how the band decides that a song is actually finished (more on that in the next paragraph).

Rwake are still fronted by both C.T. and B., and the co-existence of male and female vocals offers additional layers to music that is already very layered. Vocally, one of my favourite aspect of Rwake is how C.T. seems to preach from the top of his lungs, and then B. emerges with her scorching screams and obliterates everything. Another aspect is that Rwake have the tendency to create a theme with the acoustic guitars and to come up with more contemplative passages, until the intensity slowly starts to build up, and then it just explodes. The opening track, “You Swore We'd Always Be Together” is a great example of that. But, unlike Rest, which was a record of mostly individual, stand-alone songs, The Return Of Magik flows easily as just one very long song; you can start playing it, and you get to the end without even realizing it.

The music on this album (and any Rwake album for that matter) feels ceremonial, almost religious. The tribal drumming of Jeff Morgan, who is also the main songwriter here, adds to that feeling. There are tempo changes and different time signatures, of course, but the drums focus on hitting hard and going with the rhythm, rather than do the oddball move. The Return Of Magik introduces new lead guitarist Austin Sublett and his solos are nothing less than jaw-dropping. I could honestly list a ton of standout moments on this album, but my absolute favourite must be the riff at 4’10’’ on the title track, which is a serious contender for riff of the year, and the way C.T. spits out the lyrics over it is just perfect. But I urge you to listen to the record in full, because it is the only way to get the real experience out of it.

Sludge metal album of the year. Nothing can top this.

“By the turning of the wheel
And the binding of the thread
What was sent shall return
As the circle is ever fed”