Reviewed - 07/26/04

If You Walk Before You Crawl, You Crawl Before You Die
[At A Loss Recordings]

I suppose my first warning was the comment "for fans of EyeHateGod, Buzzoven, Keelhaul, Meatjack, Drugs, Liquor, beer, etc…" that came with the music. I'm not a big fan of this sort of music, though I do acknowledge its objective worth. But needless to say, Rwake is a band that is surprisingly different from most other metal that I listen to. And I'm always on the lookout for something new. Normally, different = good. But in this case, I am not so sure that this is a band I will be listening to once I have finished reviewing this album.

"If You Walk Before You Crawl You Crawl Before You Die" (a fairly cool album title, albeit somewhat ungainly to type multiple times in the same review) is the second album by the Arkansas sextet Rwake. The music is kind of screamy, and not necessarily in a good way. This is music somewhere between metalcore and sludgecore – the result is thick and dirty, definitely heavy, slightly groovy, and generally same-sounding. I am reminded of Acid Bath, Skinlab, and even Soilent Green, as well as the other aforementioned bands (as much as I know them).

There are some pretty heavy grooves here, but every time the vocals cut in, they ruin it for me. In fact, I had to listen to this album several times just to be able to tune out the screaming enough to begin to appreciate the rest of the music.

There is a bit of melody here as well, most notably with the 43-second "Intro" and the longer "Sleep and Forget Forever," but predominant throughout the album. Unfortunately, layering screaming over acoustic guitars and mandolins just doesn't work, at least here. And even when the guitars whip out the double-distorted harmonies and the like (a la Iron Maiden or In Flames), the music always seems out of character with the vocals. I suppose this fits in with the whole screamo / emo core thing, but as I have already mentioned, I'm not the biggest fan of this. So consider yourself warned.

There are also a lot of sound clips… but unlike those death metal bands who use them to break up the blasting before it becomes too monotonous, on Rwake's album they just seem a little out of place… they are almost too random, rarely making sense in the context of the music. Or worse, they portray an image of stereotypical hypermasculinity: "Any son-of-a-bitch takes a shot at me, I'm gonna kill him and I'm gonna kill his wife, and all his friends, and burn his damn house down." Or "when a man puts a gun to your head, you can do one of two things: you can die, or you can kill him." Or "My first instinct is to beat the hell out of you." Image is usually the farthest thing from my mind when listening to extreme metal, but over-the-top attitude like this is something I can live without. Quoting the recent "Hulk" movie is sort of cool ("Sleep, and Forget Forever"), but I can't help but wonder why.

I kind of want to hear their earlier album... but not really. As it is, one Rwake album is enough for me. But if you find yourself craving music that is heavy, melodic, aggressive, and saturated with emotion, then perhaps "If You Walk Before You Crawl You Crawl Before You Die" is just the album for you.