Wage War

On record and on stage, Wage War arrive with the force of a hurricane. Throughout the last decade, the Florida quintet—BritonBond [vocals], Cody Quistad [vocals, guitar, production], Seth Blake [guitar], Chris Gaylord [bass], and Stephen Kluesener[drums]—have quietly picked up steam, organically accumulated an ardent fanbase, incited tastemaker applause, and clawedtheir way to the forefront of heavy music and culture, generating over 1 billion streams and selling out headline tours. WageWar have always played by their own rules, fortifying their position as outliers. 2024’sSTIGMArepresented both a creative andcritical high watermark. In a“4-out-of-5 star”review,KERRANG!declared,“The result is an impressive piece of work – arguablyWage War’s strongest ever.” Revolverhailed it as“genre-obliterating,”andRock Sounddescribed it as“a masterful manifesto ofwhat it means to be a heavy band in 2024.”Fueled by standouts like “MAGNETIC,” “NAIL5,” and “TOMBSTONE,” it cumulativelytallied north of 100 million streams. They didn’t stop there though, kicking off 2026 with the widely praisedIT CALLS ME BYNAMEEP. All of it has just set the stage for their sixth full-length offering,Landfall[Fearless Records]. Akin to a tropical storm,torrential distortion tosses and turns, screams open the clouds, grooves scar the ground, and hooks clear the way for adisarming calm in the center of it all. It’s the sound of five friends not only realizing their potential, but fulfilling it and leaving atrail of blood, sweat, and tears in their wake.

— Rick Florino