What’s going on Butcher Crew?! It’s your Master Butcher, The Saw and I am here to highlight one of my favorite metalcore bands when I was in high school! I first saw Wage War at the 2016 Warped Tour! I was 17 at the time, and I primarily went to that Warped Tour to see Whitechapel (shocking right?). While I was waiting for Whitechapel to come on, Wage War was playing before them. I ended up staying for Wage War’s set and I am glad that I did! They blew me away with their energy, enthusiasm, and love of what they are doing.
After their set, I met the band at their merch booth and they are such nice guys! They are grateful for their fans, and you can tell that they genially mean that when you get the chance to talk to them. After Warped Tour, I started listening to more Wage War, and I have seen them countless times! They have one of the best live performances that I have ever seen!
Wage War is an American metalcore band from Ocala, Florida that formed in 2010. Before their name was Wage War, they went under the name Empires. In 2013 they changed the band name to Wage War and signed to Fearless Records in 2015. The guys in Wage War have been on numerous tours, including playing on the entirety of Warped tour in 2016, A Day to Remember’s Self Help Festival in 2017. The band has also opened up for bands such as August Burns Red, Chelsea Grin, I Prevail, For Today, and Of Mice & Men.
On March 18, 2019, Wage War lost all of their MySpace content form 2016 and earlier from their Empires era (except for their EP, The Fall of Kings). It was reported that over 50 million songs and 12 years’ worth of content were permanently lost with no backup.
The band has released 3 studio albums. Their first album, Blueprints, is my absolute favorite. They had that metalcore sound that I think is the best . Their songs had fantastic riffs that complimented the clean vocals and growls beautifully. Their first record was heavy and groovy, two of my favorite things! Their second album was also really good! There are softer songs, here, on their sophomore album but overall, it was also a great record. I wasn’t a big fan of their third album simply because it didn’t have that edge that the first two albums had. It seemed like on their latest album they were going for a more “hard rock,” rather than metalcore, sound; perhaps, to reach more potential fans outside the extreme genre. The album sounds awesome, but it’s not my cup of tea. I love seeing bands evolve and try different things in their music, and nearly all bands intentionally evolve and grow. Sometimes a band’s newest fans love the “new" sound, often their original fans wont make the jump with them. Concerning Wage War, I will stick with the first two albums.
Discography:
The Fall of Kings (Empires) (EP) (2011)
Blueprints (2015)
Deadweight (2017)
Pressure (2019)
Members:
Briton Bond (lead vocalist)
Seth Blake (lead guitar)
Cody Quistad (rhythm guitar, clean vocals)
Chris Gaylord (bass)
Stephen Kluesener (drums)
Favorite Songs:
The River, Spineless, Alive, Stitch, Gravity, and Johnny Cash.
What are your favorite Wage War songs? Have you seen them live? What do you think of their change in direction?
Stay Metal,
THE SAW