Its members may hail from Seattle, but Zeke is far from tepid grunge leftovers and introspective crybabies. Since the band’s inception in 1993, Zeke has produced some of the loudest, most aggressive tunes to ever come from its much-hyped home state, and the band is back with a reformed lineup and a new album on Relapse, “‘Till the Livin’ End.”

The band-now made up of Blind Marky Felchtone on guitar and vocals, Donny Paycheck on drums and Jeff “The Kid” Matz on bass- has come full circle on Relapse with a new lineup, a new record and a sound firmly rooted in rock.

Although Zeke has been touring the country with Superjoint Ritual since March, the band will be making a special appearance at Friends & Co. on April 19 with LoFreq and Charleston’s own Dipshit.

Forming in 1993 in Seattle, Zeke played its first show at Rock City and quickly began building a name for itself on the strength of frenetic live performances and eardrum-shattering volume. After a series of smaller releases, the group was picked up by perennial indie heavyweight Epitaph records in 1998. With the increased distribution of Epitaph, the band’s music could finally spread out of the Northwest and into the rest of the world.

Despite the success of Epitaph releases like the seminal metal-punk amalgam “Kicked in the Teeth” and the ribald “Dirty Sanchez,” the band separated in London in 2002.

“We were just sick and tired, and a lot of our little issues just came to a head,” Paycheck said of the band’s abrupt separation.

The devotion of the group’s fans, however, would bring the band back to life. The behest of fans clamoring for more material prompted the release of “Live and Uncensored,” a raucous live recording culled by Paycheck nearly a year after the band deteriorated.

“I wanted to get this stuff out on my own and was bugged by so many fans that I had to do it,” Paycheck said of “Uncensored.” “I figured if they wanna hear it, they deserved the best stuff we had.”

With the success of “Live and Uncensored,” the group was asked to reform for a single show and Paycheck said he couldn’t resist one more go around with his former band mates. The band had such a good time, he said, Zeke had to return.

The band was subsequently signed to Relapse Records, home of fellow high volume rockers Mastodon, High on Fire and Alabama Thunderpussy, in October 2003. With “‘Till the Livin’ End,” Paycheck said Zeke has returned to the “roots of rock.” And while releases like “Death Alley” and others saw Zeke take a more metallic bent, Paycheck insisted the change was simply a progression from what the band was listening to back then and the music its members feel like making today.

“All the albums change with what we’re into,” he said. “For the last record, we were listening to a lot of Immortal and Turbonegro and other metal. And after a while you just get tired and ask ‘what’s next?'” What was next, apparently, was one of Zeke’s strongest and ballsiest records to date.

The group even landed a gig touring with Superjoint Ritual, the band formed by former Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo and featuring an all-star lineup of underground metal behemoths.

In between shows with Superjoint, the band was asked to headline at Friends, to which Paycheck and company promptly agreed. And although the band may have grown accustomed to playing larger venues, Paycheck said any show, no matter the venue’s size or location, was just another opportunity to bring rock to fans.

“We’ve played everything from stadiums to clubs with 20 people, and when we were invited to play (Friends) we couldn’t pass it up.”