REVIEW: Wage War - Landfall
After the release of the EP IT CALLS ME BY NAME in April of this year, WAGE WAR fans were more than satisfied, but clearly the band weren’t and carried their creative streak onwards. The band's 6th full length album Landfall was announced almost exactly a month before its release, crashing into the scene and causing a stir with such an unexpected release. The album is a 13 track onslaught of the best WAGE WAR have released yet. Having produced the album themselves for the first time, it contains all the DNA of a WAGE WAR project with the band taking as many creative turns as they like.
The Floridian Metalcore quintet have been growing quietly under the radar, raising the bar with every release and performance, opening for the likes of DAYSEEKER and I PREVAIL, to name a few. Also having huge success with their own headline tours selling out show after show, 16 years into their career and they’re just getting started.
The album opens with the pre-released track Landfall, cursing your ears with a loud warning siren, warning you of the brutal bludgeoning riff coming to assault your ears. Blast beats enhance the onslaught while Briton Bond - the unclean vocalist - screams, ripping across the track with his booming growls. Cody Quistad brings in the melody clean vocals, the whiplash between to two being a signature for the WAGE WAR flavour. The breakdown throws the listener through a whirlpool, giving a devastating half time drop before a complete halt that lasts a beat too long making you think the track might be done before slicing you with a few more bars of blast beats for good measure.
Sweet Dreams is another of the pre-released tracks which mixes together all of the bands best traits, holding a feature for each type of fan to bang their heads to. Sonically they draw from all their past work having momentous breakdowns with a catchy vocal chorus, it's one that's bound to be stuck in your head for days.
Silk switches up the tempo of the album, the introduction is gone, now you’re being thrown into the deep end. Briton doesn’t even stop for a breath between the verses, flaunting the range of horrifying textures his pipes can produce. A ripping guitar riff shreds through the landscape of the track, layered distortion along with an industrial beat drops you in madness with no map.
The 4th track in the album, Figure 8, opens with an echoing guitar, in ways being the antithesis of the last track. Silk being led by Briton with his unclean vocals and screams this track leads with Cody’s melodic vocals. Despite being so different from the last track it never sways or sounds like a different artist, the band have truly curated their own signature sound and aren't afraid to stray from the norm all while being skilled enough to not lose said sound.
Everything in the album before is phenomenal, but God Complex is truly a gem hidden in the middle of this record. It’s got a unique seductive tone as the melody dances with screeching instrumentals, a snare tuned to the heavens pierces your ear drums, disgusting drum fills and blast beats will not let you rest for even a moment. The track ends abruptly but leaves a lasting impression. If we had to choose one track from this album to recommend, it's definitely God Complex.
Stay With Me takes us to the other end of the spectrum, the song tugs at the emotions the band can portray, opening with the lyrics “I never wanted you to see all the darkest parts of me”. Briton and Cody switching back and forth flaunting their vocal abilities, a hopeful undertone runs underneath the yearning of the lyrics. This is the kind of track where you can picture a room with their phone lights up swaying back and forth while singing the lyrics from the opioids of their souls.
The next track brings in more of an electronic sound, the overtuned vocals creating a completely different texture to the rest of the album immediately catching your ears. Silence Has Spoken is the first track to front and centre a full guitar solo, drawing all your attention towards it. It also really stretches Cody's vocals right to the top of his full chest range rather than slipping into falsetto he sings with a gritty scream, an impressive technique to note.
Way Of Pain once again drops you into the depths of metal hell. Despite only being eight tracks in the back and forth of the track listing might seem all over the place but its a genius balance between the bands different sounds, no section of the album feels like slump or drag, it truly keeps the listener interested at every turn. Briton brings his goblin-like vocal tone to the track, highlighting another technique not seen much in the rest of the album.
Red Dot is the shortened song on the record but it jumps in making a huge impression with a vinyl screech beat like those seen in the nu-metal genre. It’s fast paced packed with electronic beats and a dragging drum beat syncopates, it's a track that will easily get a crowd off their feet and into the mosh pit.
Blindfold and Song Of The Swamp, tracks 10 and 12 respectively, were previously released on their EP earlier this year, they fit perfectly into the track list here and you can very much see how all these tracks were written within the same creative spark. Between those two lies Spellbound, which is possibly the catchiest in the run of this record. It starts low with a haunting instrumental, a perfect track for an October release, it’s dark, spooky and is littered with references to various creatures and ghouls.
The last on the album is Silhouette, the track with the longest runtime being just short of five minutes. Again, the bands ability to curate the tracklist for this album needs to be applauded, this is the perfect ending track. It starts low and spacious before sending the listener falling and spiralling through the chorus, it's raw and emotional but of course doesn’t let you leave the record without one more disastrous breakdown. Echoing out into the aether and leaving you as the listener in silence, with a head full of thoughts and the replay button calling your name.
WAGE WAR have had a hell of a year not even factoring in their new album release. With a huge tour lined up ahead of them, they'll be playing various shows across the UK as well as just being announced for our very own Slam Dunk Festival next year - be sure to keep your eyes peeled for when they’re near you!
Score: 10/10
Landfall will be released on 9th October 2026 via Fearless.
Words: Amy Smyth
Photos: Errick Easterday
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