Rwake
Voices of Omens
Relapse (2007)
Progressive sludge? That sounds like an oxymoron. When I think of progressive in terms of music I think of Rush being listened to by some nerdy kid wearing a tie-dyed shirt that is playing Dungeons and Dragons in his parents' basement (yeah I stole that image from SLC Punk, whatever). When I think of sludge, I think of some dirty looking band, playing on a half-broken drumset, heavily distorted guitars, and a singer belting out pure hatred and hopelessness in the middle of a swamp. But I really can't think of a better description for Rwake, a band from Arkansas that has just put out its fourth full-length, Voices Of Omens (and first for Relapse, a veritable hub for forward-thinking metal bands). While Rwake's brand of metal is definitely of an "experimental" nature, their low-end, dirging, doom-ish sound easily stands up on its own next to sludge/doom heavyweights such as Eyehategod and Grief. The combination of these two elements might make some automatically compare them to Neurosis and write them off as a clone, but if you listen to them you'll hear that they are far from it. There's just something dirtier and more evil about Rwake. If Neurosis is … Read more
Smoke or Fire
This Sinking Ship
Fat Wreck Chords (2007)
Sophomore slumps are a bitch. Smoke or Fire's debut full-length, Above the City, was a nice, short, potent shot of … Read more
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Some Loud Thunder
Wichita Recordings (2007)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah had a lot of pressure on them for their second album, mainly due to them … Read more
