On July 22nd, Canada’s WAKE will release their sixth full-length, Thought Form Descent, via Metal Blade Records. For a preview of the album, the new single, “Infinite Inward”,
The video for the previously released single, “Swallow the Light” (directed by Michael Jari Davidson//@MJD_DOP).
Never a band interested in repeating themselves, WAKE has evolved with every release. 2020’s Devouring Ruin made this clearer than ever, hammering the point home with the Confluence EP in the same year, and now they return with Thought Form Descent – their most dynamic, diverse and emotional release to date. “I’d describe the record as a place to reconsider what ‘extreme’ means. The words ‘brutal’, ‘crushing’, ‘devastating’ are overused adjectives for extreme music. We wanted to force people to confront the idea that ‘brutal’ or ‘extreme’ ideas aren’t just blastbeats or angular tritones, or, more importantly, ‘brutal’ elements alongside pointedly passive elements can create their own experience that can channel both and neither.” The result is eight nuanced tracks that run the gamut from relentlessly heavy to exquisitely beautiful – often simultaneously – and instantly grab hold of the listener, demanding their full attention. However, at the same time, they are lushly textured and densely layered, and offer more with every subsequent exposure, unfurling to show hidden depths, and taking WAKE to a whole new level.
To track the album, the band once again collaborated with Dave Otero (Allegaeon, Cattle Decapitation) at Flatline Audio in Denver, CO. “Dave is someone who does something we love – supersedes what people think of him. Sure, he recorded many successful death metal albums, but his ability to understand pop music and its composition, his knowledge of music theory and his willingness to get right into the movement of a song and its chord progressions, not just the riffs, are things that go way beyond ‘death metal’. He can make hard right turns into wildly different sonic territory without batting an eyelash, and he always has an idea during the deviation, too. He contributed a lot to this record.” Having prepared exhaustively in advance, once in the studio the band were able to try new things, play with ideas and rearrange songs, having the time to go down the proverbial rabbit hole and see where it took them. Kevin Hufnagel of Gorguts and Vaura also makes an appearance, playing guitar on “Pareidolia” and “Observer To Master”, the latter track one of the most melodic on the record.
Thought Form Descent track-listing:
01. Infinite Inward
02. Swallow the Light
03. Mourning Dirge (Repose of the Dead)
04. Pareidolia (feat. Kevin Hufnagel of Gorguts and Vaura)
05. Venerate (The Undoing of All)
06. Observer to Master (feat. Kevin Hufnagel of Gorguts and Vaura)
07. Bleeding Eyes of the Watcher
08. The Translation of Deaths
Album artwork by: Samantha Muljat
Upon record release, WAKE will kick off a special 5-show run across Canada that celebrates Thought Form Descent, featuring Bleeding Out, Executioner’s Mask, Atrae Billis, and The Weir as support. See below for all dates:
WAKE Thought Form Descent release shows
w/ Bleeding Out, Executioner’s Mask, Atrae Billis, The Weir
July 22 – Toronto, ON – BSMT 254
July 23 – Montreal, QC – Turbo House
July 24 – Quebec City, QC – L’Anti
Aug. 5 – Edmonton, AB – Starlite Room
Aug. 6 – Calgary, AB – The Palomino
