RWAKE — Rest (review)

RWAKE — Rest album cover Album · 2011 · Atmospheric Sludge Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Rest" is the 5th full-length studio album by US (Little Rock, Arkansas) sludge metal act Rwake. The album was released in September 2011 by Relapse Records. Rwake had a regular and quite deserved breakthrough with "Voices Of Omens (2007)". An album that firmly put them on the southern sludge metal map.

..."Rest" continues the quite adventurous sludge metal style of it´s predecessor. The atmosphere is ridden with despair, the vocals are aggressive, raw and shouting (sometimes close to a black metal rasp) and the riffs heavier than heavy. There are six tracks on the 52:47 minutes long album and two of them are shorter intros/interludes. The remaining four tracks are all very long. Three of them exceed the 10 minute mark. There are a lot going on in those tracks though so they can easily bear the long playing time. Rwake succeed very well in incorporating acoustic and clean guitar sections into the tracks and those sections compliment the heavier distorted and sludgy riffing very well. An example is the 16:06 minutes long "The Culling", which starts with about 6 minutes of clean post rock/metal type guitar work before entering heavier territories. It´s safe to say that Rwake´s music is not for those who favor regular vers/chorus structures. The development in a track like "It Was Beautiful but Now It´s Sour" tells that story pretty well.

"Rest" is overall a very impressive album by Rwake and it should ensure that the band are counted among the current elite of sludge metal acts. The album features a strong sound production, excellent musicianship, and maybe the most important thing, adventurous and powerful songwriting. I find it a highly recommendable release to those who like their sludge metal with a twist. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is fully deserved.
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UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
If you like this one you should definitely take a listen to their last album too. Great stuff to be found there too.
Doomster wrote:
more than 2 years ago
*impressed
Doomster wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Heh, I just checked it out and am very impressive. I'm not sure if I dig the vocals yet, but I'm sure they'll grow on me. Great review!
Doomster wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I need to check out this album sometime soon. It looks like it'll appeal to me.
J-Man wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I agree - this is a great album!

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