RWAKE: The Return Of Magik Full-Length Out Today On Relapse Records; Band To Play Special Hometown Release Show This Weekend

Photo by Brett Cole

After more than thirteen years of silence, an unsettling sound that is strangely familiar yet somehow even more haunted re-emerges from the Arkansas depths. There is no mistake as to what this is. RWAKE has released a new transmission. The Return Of Magik is out today on Relapse Records.

Years have now fed into an album that reaches into a swirling, cosmic unknown âÂ RWAKE has grown, and the perspective of the material has shifted accordingly. Overwhelming at its peak and haunting during moments of respite, The Return Of Magik is undeniably RWAKE. Every movement feels like an emotionally engrossing journey. Arrangements carefully and thoughtfully built in layers over a period of years lend mystique and a feeling of building toward a cathartic release. There is no box into which the material might fit other than one with the bandâs name on it.

**Stream RWAKEâs The Return Of Magik HERE.**

Watch the bandâs previously released video for âThe Return Of Magikâ HERE.

The Return Of Magik is available on CD, LP, and digital formats. Find preorders at Relapse.com HERE.

Additionally, RWAKE has announced their first shows of 2025 around the release of The Return Of Magik including a hometown release show on March 15th which will be recorded for a possible future live album.

RWAKE Live:
3/14/2025 Eastside Bowl â Nashville, TN [tickets]
3/15/2025 Rev Room âÂ Little Rock, AR [tickets] * Record Release Show
4/11/2025 Bear’s â Shreveport, LA [tickets]
4/12/2025 Siberia â New Orleans, LA [tickets]

Recorded in early 2024 at East End Sounds in Hensley, Arkansas, The Return Of Magik introduces RWAKEâs guitaristsÂ John Judkins andÂ AustinÂ SublettÂ with a barrage of shredded solos suited to the angular, progressive metal riffing of the albumâs most jaw-clenching moments, while presenting a through-line of molten, immersive ambience. The opener âYou Swore Weâd Always Be Togetherâ â already a fixture of live sets â and the expansive sprawl of âDistant Constellations And The Psychedelic Incarcerationâ move with cruelty and grace alike. Foreboding, syncopated riffs sway against Moog-driven space and guttural bellows. The Return Of Magikâs songs stand alone as individualized post-metallic blends of genres.

RWAKE remains dually fronted; Chris Terryâs powerful vocals lay against Brittany Fugateâs visceral screams. Jeff Morgan returns to the drum kit, in addition to acoustic guitar and 12-string bass. Bassist/noisemaker Reid Raley, Sublett, and fellow guitarist John Judkins set an instrumental backdrop that is vast and engrossing in itself â quiet, contemplative passages often explode into gut-wrenching, doomed out distortions. The Return Of Magik, which features artwork by Loni Gillum of Minervaâs Menagerie and RWAKE, burns brighter and beyond the ferocity of the bandâs already storied catalog.

Although the Magik may be bleak, the manner in which RWAKE revels in it can only be called a celebration.

ââ¦a deeply engrossing emotional journey that balances earthy, cosmic and hellacious atmospheres with pristine acoustic guitar inter play, outsized doomy riffs and exquisite psychedelic sections that burst into cathartic release.â â Decibel Magazine

“Return Of Magik takes the bandâs spellcraft into both more intimate and more cosmic places while they summon the monster riffs that have been crushing underground audiences for decades.” â Nashville Scene

“Itâs hard for a band to come back after such a long time with something that lives up to the myth, but theyâve done it.” â Stereogum

“As psychedelic and out-there as it gets, RWAKE never loses sight of their roots here. This is clearly the work of the same band that turned heads all those years ago, but the additional years of experience and more adventurous sonic palette make it their most immersive record yet.” â The Quietus

“…a striking comeback for RWAKE thatâ¦ will be recognizable to those who followed their course the better part of a generation ago while introducing new listeners to the fold, most of all by highlighting who RWAKE are in its uncompromising, forward-thinking, distinctive craft. Itâs a cohesive, engrossing, wholly realized work thatâs an intangible meld of different players, ideas, styles, and times, so if you want to sum that up by calling it âmagicâ â or âmagik,â as it were â then fair enough.” â The Obelisk

“The music on this album (and any RWAKE album for that matter) feels ceremonial, almost religious. The tribal drumming of Jeff Morganâ¦ adds to that feeling. Sludge metal album of the year. Nothing can top this” â Metal Storm

“They were always a curious ever-shifting beast, one with mystic themes and rawly organic production values, and this is still part of what theyâre all about. With The Return Of Magik weâre getting pieces which communicate more directly, speak with intricately stated rasp and stammering enthusiasm to the point that this reappearance feels evolved, moreso than what theyâd left us with back in 2011 with Rest.” â Mystification ‘Zine

“I sincerely hope it doesnât take such a long hiatus to produce such sonic creations again but I guess the wait was well worth it!” â Ghost Cult

âRWAKE have made an ambitious comeback… embracing both the band’s roots and their drive for new forms of expression and sounds, all demonstrated in an exciting release. Anyone who doesn’t shy away from modern sludge and is keen to broaden their musical horizons and challenge themselves should give this album at least a spin.” â Metal.de

RWAKE:
C.T. â vocals, words, theme
Reid â bass guitars, distortion
John â guitars, lap + pedal steel, 12-string bass
Austin â guitars
Brittany â energy peddler, keys and a microphone
Jeff â drums, acoustic guitar, 12-string bass

* ââ¦Psychedelic Incarcerationâ written and spoken by Jim âDandyâ Mangrum of Black Oak Arkansas, February 17th, 2024 in Black Oak, Arkansas.