As fans continue to recover from 2020's excellent Devouring Ruin — Exclaim! fave and precursor to the Confluence EP — Calgary-bred extreme metal outfit WAKE have returned with plans for their sixth studio album, Thought Form Descent. It's due July 22 via Metal Blade Records, and today, we're getting a preview with new single "Swallow the Light."
Without the option to tour behind their 2020 records, the band got straight back into recording, with such short breaks affecting their method and breeding innovation. "It was definitely on everyone's mind that we needed some new elements. It was never clear how or why, but I think the idea of repeating the same ideas again, within the same calendar year, was just too boring to consider," the band explained in a statement.
They added: "There was a distinct effort to force the issue and disrupt our process. It was time for ultimatums. There were a fair few slowdowns and puzzling moments to overcome as we adjusted from what felt natural to what we suspected, objectively, was better."
The resulting effort is described as "a sort of labyrinth within the mind and manifesting it into physical reality, and descending into it."
Explore the labyrinth in the player for "Swallow the Light" below, where you'll also find the album's tracklisting and WAKE's upcoming North American May tour schedule with Misery Index, Origin and Wolf King.
Thought Form Descent:
1. Infinite Inward
2. Swallow the Light
3. Mourning Dirge (Repose of the Dead)
4. Pareidolia (feat. Kevin Hufnagel of Gorguts)
5. Venerate (The Undoing of All)
6. Observer to Master (feat. Kevin Hufnagel of Gorguts)
7. Bleeding Eyes of the Watcher
8. The Translation of Deaths
WAKE 2022 Tour Dates:
05/06 Chicago, IL - Cobra Lounge
05/07 Indianapolis, IN - Emerson Theater
05/08 Detroit, MI - Sanctuary
05/09 Toronto, ON - Velvet Underground
05/10 Ottawa, ON - Mavericks
05/11 Montreal, QC - Foufounes Electriques
05/12 Quebec City, QC - La Source De La Martiniere
05/13 Boston, MA - Sonia
05/14 Brooklyn, NY - Saint Vitus
05/15 Clifton, NJ - Dingbatz
05/16 Greensboro, NC - The Blind Tiger
05/17 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade (HELL)
05/18 Tampa, FL - Brass Mug
05/19 New Orleans, LA - Banks Street Bar
05/20 Houston, TX - Acadia
05/21 Dallas, TX - Amplified
05/22 Austin, TX - Come and Take It
05/24 Denver, CO - Hi-dive *
05/25 Salt Lake City, UT - Aces High Saloon *
* solo show
Without the option to tour behind their 2020 records, the band got straight back into recording, with such short breaks affecting their method and breeding innovation. "It was definitely on everyone's mind that we needed some new elements. It was never clear how or why, but I think the idea of repeating the same ideas again, within the same calendar year, was just too boring to consider," the band explained in a statement.
They added: "There was a distinct effort to force the issue and disrupt our process. It was time for ultimatums. There were a fair few slowdowns and puzzling moments to overcome as we adjusted from what felt natural to what we suspected, objectively, was better."
The resulting effort is described as "a sort of labyrinth within the mind and manifesting it into physical reality, and descending into it."
Explore the labyrinth in the player for "Swallow the Light" below, where you'll also find the album's tracklisting and WAKE's upcoming North American May tour schedule with Misery Index, Origin and Wolf King.
Thought Form Descent:
1. Infinite Inward
2. Swallow the Light
3. Mourning Dirge (Repose of the Dead)
4. Pareidolia (feat. Kevin Hufnagel of Gorguts)
5. Venerate (The Undoing of All)
6. Observer to Master (feat. Kevin Hufnagel of Gorguts)
7. Bleeding Eyes of the Watcher
8. The Translation of Deaths
WAKE 2022 Tour Dates:
05/06 Chicago, IL - Cobra Lounge
05/07 Indianapolis, IN - Emerson Theater
05/08 Detroit, MI - Sanctuary
05/09 Toronto, ON - Velvet Underground
05/10 Ottawa, ON - Mavericks
05/11 Montreal, QC - Foufounes Electriques
05/12 Quebec City, QC - La Source De La Martiniere
05/13 Boston, MA - Sonia
05/14 Brooklyn, NY - Saint Vitus
05/15 Clifton, NJ - Dingbatz
05/16 Greensboro, NC - The Blind Tiger
05/17 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade (HELL)
05/18 Tampa, FL - Brass Mug
05/19 New Orleans, LA - Banks Street Bar
05/20 Houston, TX - Acadia
05/21 Dallas, TX - Amplified
05/22 Austin, TX - Come and Take It
05/24 Denver, CO - Hi-dive *
05/25 Salt Lake City, UT - Aces High Saloon *
* solo show