Little Rock, Arkansas sludge metal vets Rwake have announced their first album in over 13 years, The Return of Magik, due March 14 via Relapse (pre-order). Recorded in early 2024 at East End Sounds in Hensley, Arkansas, it’s their first album with new lead guitarist Austin Sublett, and it includes a piece called “Psychedelic Incarceration” that was written and spoken by Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, leader of the veteran Southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas.
Our first taste is the title track, and it’s a pretty epic one. Clocking in at 12 minutes, it finds the harsh dual vocal approach of Chris Terry and Brittany Fugate sounding as devastating as ever over an onslaught of prog-sludge riffage, with a speak-shouted mid-section from Chris that makes things all the more suspenseful. The video (directed by Jonathon Oudthone of Nouvel Photo & Film) adds to the intensity, with silhouettes of the band performing as part of a forest seance. Check it out below.
Tracklist
You Swore We’d Always Be Together
The Return of Magik
With Stardust Flowers
Distant Constellations and the Psychedelic Incarceration
In After Reverse
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Rwake — 2025 Tour Dates
3/14 in Nashville, TN @ Eastside Bowl
3/15 in Little Rock, AR @ Rev Room
4/11 in Shreveport, LA @ Bear’s
4/12 in New Orleans, LA @ Siberia