Rwake – The Return of Magik

Written by on 30-03-2025 at 20:30.

After close to ten years, the sludge magicians of RWAKE are back with a new album. This record is titled The Return of Magik. And what a magical record it has become.

The album opens with the layered You Swore We’d Always Be Together. The song switches smoothly from an introspective intro to an Oranssi Pazuzu-like part and loosely follows through with some Floydian psychedelia. It sounds ominous and depressing at the same time. A feeling that is further emphasized by the vocal outbursts of singer C.T. There is a lot of soloing as well, making for a compelling whole.

The subsequent title track The Return of Magik features roaring drums and low-tuned, heavy guitars reminding me somewhat of Crowbar. The screams that seem to float above the music like weeping harpies give the song a melancholic undertone that Paradise Lost could learn a thing or two from. It’s all incredibly tightly played, and the mystical angle of the lyrics really appeals to the imagination: “To all the witches in the woods/ And to the goblins that understood/ There is a spirit that walks among us/ And it is living proof”.

With Stardust Flowers is about the everything and nothing, and the fact that we are all connected on a cosmic scale. The gentlemen of Rwake serve this fairly heavy fare with a garnish of slick guitar solos and meticulous drum and bass work. Perhaps this connectedness also applies to the various subgenres that the metal world has to offer, RWAKE demonstrating this successfully by switching effortlessly from hardcore to psychedelics to sludge. On Distant Constellations and the Psychedelic Incarceration we even hear a spoken intro accompanied by some acoustic melodies that could just as well be part of a neofolk album. The minimal instrumentation creates a mysterious atmosphere that forms a pleasant side path to the overwhelming musical sledgehammer of the first songs of the album. Striking about the lyrical themes on The Return of Magik is that Christian themes are sprinkled liberally. Something that certainly does not occur often in the world of metal music. Take, for example, this passage from Distant Constellations and the Psychedelic Incarceration: “Receiving new ground/ Like flowers from Christ/ And prayers in the night/ Divine transition.

On In After Reverse, the gentlemen show their filthiest side once more, before we get a musical funeral reading on Φ. A nice detail is that the end of Φ seamlessly transitions into the beginning of You Swore We’d Always Be Together. Like an eternal, cosmic cycle. What an album! Rwake switches to all directions on The Return of Magik.

For the listener who does not shy away from the rough, and also does not like genre restrictions, this album is definitely recommended.

Score:

85/100

Label:

Relapse Records, 2025

Tracklisting:

  1. You Swore We’d Always Be Together
  2. The Return of Magik
  3. With Stardust Flowers
  4. Distant Constellations and the Psychedelic Incarceration
  5. In After Reverse
  6. Φ

Line-up:

  • C.T. – Vocals
  • Jeff Morgan – Drums
  • Gravy – Guitars
  • Kiffin Rogers – Guitars
  • Chris Newman – Guitars
  • John Judkins – Bass guitar
  • B – Samples, moog, vocals

Links: