Review: Jack Price
Wage War is a Halloween band for my little tribe. They’re a little spooky, moody, and always a bit surprising. And as my youngest has started to explore heavier music, he loved 2024’s Stigma, specifically tracks like Happy Hunting and NAIL5, his little growls filling the car as we jam together. So when Landfall hit my inbox, I was very excited to give it a spin. However, Wage War seemed to have reduced the industrial approach and deep dives into the metalcore with this one! It’s heavy, gritty and explosive, while maintaining the catchy sing-songy choruses, showing while they have expanded on their formula, their roots still run thick through their music.
Briton Bond has ditched the whispery growls from the previous material, exchanging it for completely unhinged roars and screams. The title track, Landfall, provides a stage to showcase his vocal prowess straight off the bat, verily delivered after the intro of an emergency broadcast tone, followed by twangy downtuned guitars and skittering percussion from Stephen Kluesener. The brutal onslaught follows through the first half of the album, with minor deviation of ruthless metalcore and catchy hooks, infatuating composition and grinding breakdowns. Sweet Dreams and Silk are great examples with the sooner having my favourite chorus of the album. However, the next track, Figure 8, is the first track of the album that breaks the aggressive tempo with its clean vocals from Cody Quistad taking the forefront, supported with minimal backing growls from Briton, and a more technical, traditional metal approach to the guitars.
The mid section of the record packs some punches, starting with two softer tracks being Stay With Me and Silence Has Spoken, taking shots at the heart strings with more dialled back approaches and heartspoken lyrical delivery, Quistad taking the lead once again. And just when we’re good and sobbing, Bond comes in on Way Of Pain to break some fucking faces. The brutality doesn’t stop with the vocals, with matching grinding guitars and rapid percussion to boot, closing with a crushing breakdown.
Landfall is an absolute gem, being both animalisticly raw and mirror finish polished at the same time. Tracks like Red Dot and Spellbound would fit into any powerlifting playlist, while Blindfold suits a more moody vibe. But Silhouette is the perfect contrast to the opening track and a great way end the record – melodic, haunting, ethereal and epic, every ounce of perfection of the album leads to this point. And the final breakdown is ruthless!! Despite their EP releasing earlier this year, Wage War have shown that they can continue to give more without watering down their sound.
LANDFALL – OUT OCTOBER 9
https://wagewar.ffm.to/
