Rwake - "The Return of Magik"
For all the witches in the woods
Doom Metal feels incredibly appropriate for 2025. I can never seem to find enough of it, generally, but this year I definitely just need more of it.
So Rwake’s (pronounced “wake”) new album — their first in thirteen years — is incredibly welcome. If we include the sub-two-minute outro track, The Return of Magik’s six tracks, totalling 54 minutes, are a deep dive into sonic witchcraft; the album endeavors to defy any genric label you want to throw at it.
On their Bandcamp page, the band self-identifies as “ethereal Sludge/Doom and Progressive Metal”.
Check. Check. Check.
A Sputnik review penned by user Free Death #2 tosses MeloDeath and Blackened Metalcore into the mix.
Checkity-check.
Psychedelic Rock is also very much present. There are trace hints of Post- sensibilities.
There’s a fucking STEEL GUITAR on the album!1
The end result is an album with, as Phil Cooper of Distorted Sound put it, “expansive highs and crushing lows” — it’s a really apt descriptor, but it still doesn’t cover the depth of the gamut that this album runs. It is ethereal and haunting. It feels like stumbling into Hell while pursuing Heaven, having both in sight as you tumble down, unable to stop the spiraling.
While I have not been able to find a reliable source for lyrics for this album (and many of the vocals are very harsh, obscuring the lyrics), I believe that loss is a core concept, and magic or witchcraft is a central motif. While I think the album would be more enjoyable (and understandable) with clean vocals, the instrumental quality is deep and layered and exceptional to the point that the harsh vocals don’t bother me very much.
The guitar lines (electric, acoustic, steel) are all exceptional, which is especially appreciable because neither of them (Austin Sublett and John Judkins) were with the band for their last LP. That said, Judkins joined as a bassist right after the last album released (in 2011), taking over for Reid Raley, who returned a couple of years later, allowing Judkins to switch to guitar.
Much of the reason why Rwake went on such a long hiatus is because they all had families. But the band still played together, even doing the occasional gig or live show. They made the most of the hiatus, though. As Brittany “The B” Fugate told New Noise, the process of creating The Return of Magik started in 2018.
They cooked it for 6+ years. And it shows. Everything just melds so beautifully. If anybody ever asks what Little Rock-style BBQ would be, I’m pointing to this album.
Rating: Blue
Unless I’ve missed something, it’s only present in tracks 1 & 6 in the lighter portions. But still.