WAGE WAR - PRESSURE - ALBUM REVIEW WAGE WAR - PRESSURE - ALBUM REVIEW 10 WAGE WAR - PRESSURE - ALBUM REVIEW 10 WAGE WAR - PRESSURE - ALBUM REVIEW 10 WAGE WAR - PRESSURE - ALBUM REVIEW 10 WAGE WAR - PRESSURE - ALBUM REVIEW 10 2019-08-30 10 Overall Score Reader Rating: ( 70 Votes) 4.3

Wage War are no strangers to the world of Metalcore and Hardcore. Since their debut in 2015, they have been a constant rising force within the genre. After two albums that have hit an insane level of both fan and critical acclaim, the hype for Wage War’s third album Pressure is deservedly one of the most anticipated Metalcore releases of the year, as shown by the album singles hitting a cumulative 10,000,000+ streams on Spotify alone.

Starting out the album is Who I am. Without hesitation listeners are shown exactly what makes Wage War so special, mixing a blend of riffs heavier than most breakdowns, excellent vocals, both gutturals and cleans with unfaltering aggression while showing evolution as musicians in the process. This carries over to the second track, and one of the 4 singles of the release, Prison.

Track 3, Grave, has a much larger focus on clean vocals throughout the track while mixing in a more electronic instrumental line to help carry the track alongside the guitar work. Ghost brings a range of djent riffs and technical guitar while Me Against Myselfstands out thanks to more mainstream sound it brings to the album, with a mix catchy hooks and a groove-filled bass line keeping the song flowing tidily. Hurt follows a similar pattern to the previous track before we move onto one of the strongest songs off the entire release.

Low was the first single released for Pressure and perfectly encapsulates everything that makes Wage War such a powerhouse within the genre thanks to the mixing of insane vocal performances with some of the best musicianship I’ve heard this year from a Metalcore band in years. Track 8, The Line gives listeners a minute to breathe after the previous track while keeping the aggression and anger before we move onto the final track of the release, Fury, which from start to finish can be described easily as just pure, unadulterated anger.

From start to finish, Pressure perfectly encapsulates the growth of Wage War as musicians. Bringing in elements of Blueprints (2015) and Deadweight(2017) while managing to be experimental and sounding like a fresh release in what has become an insanely saturated genre. Pressure has the potential to skyrocket Wage War to the same level and renown as the genres best and I genuinely cannot recommend this album enough.

Review: Daniel Stapleton

‘Pressure’ track listing:

1. Who I Am

2. Prison

3. Grave

4. Ghost

5. Me Against Myself

6. Hurt

7. Low

8. The Line

9. Fury

10. Forget My Name

11. Take The Fight

12. Will We Ever Learn

UK and EU WAGE WAR headline dates 2020

7 Jan – Bristol, The Fleece (UK)

8 Jan – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms (UK)

10Jan – Manchester, Rebellion (UK)

11 Jan – Dublin, Academy Green Room (IE)

12 Jan – Glasgow, G2 (UK)

13 Jan – Newcastle, Think Tank? (UK)

15 Jan – Leeds, The Key Club (UK)

16 Jan – Birmingham, O2 Institute 2 (UK)

17 Jan – London, O2 Academy Islington (UK)

18 Jan -Southampton, The Loft (UK)

20 Jan – Amsterdam, Melkweg OZ (NL)

21 Jan – Paris, Backstage by The Mill (FR)

23 Jan – Cologne, Gloria (DE)

24 Jan – Hamburg, Gruenspan (DE)

26 Jan – Munich ,Technikum (DE)

27 Jan – Frankfurt, Batschkapp (DE)

28 Jan – Antwerp, Trix (BE)

WAGE WAR are:

Briton Bond – lead vocals

Cody Quistad – rhythm guitar, vocals

Seth Blake – lead guitar

Chris Gaylord – bass

Stephen Kluesener – drums

The band have already announced a huge UK and EU tour for early 2020, with a full list of the dates below – on sale now from http://wagewarband.com