RWAKE (If You Walk Before You Crawl You Crawl Before You Die) CD
Been waiting a long time for the second RWAKE album to be released, and I'm glad to report that they are continuing to evolve as a band quite nicely. This time, the group had found a new home in At A Loss Recordings and this time the overall production is powerful and more effective. Once again their sound is hard to pigeonhole, although they mostly remind me to early Neurosis in some moments. It's clever and corny all at once, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. They do so many different things, from moody acoustic themes to mid-80's Hardcore to classic heavy metal twin guitar assaults and it all works beautifully (or depressive; chose what you want!). Again, RWAKE are not a sludge band, they completely have their own thing goin' on (apart of the strong Neurosis influence). For my taste, "Intro/Sleep And Forget Forever" is one of the best songs here and it shows the sensivity that lurks under RWAKE's dark aggressive surface. "You Crawl Before You Die" is another great song with its slow building, complex structures and the group has interwoven some of the heaviest mind-blowing riffs.
Tasteful samples enrich the complete atmosphere of the album, and a heavy doom-laden riff here and there just makes this trip more entertaining and fascinating to the listener. Listening to the album again and again is a real eye-opener, because music can be so much freer when the musicians aren't afraid to combine different styles in an unusal way, and maybe that's the secret about RWAKE. Well, I needed a few spins to get into this musical complexity but then the complete beauty of this album unfolds. An outstanding band and RWAKE are the light of a darker day, if you wish. Highly recommandable!
(KK)