When you switch on STIGMA, the first thing you’ll hear is this grinding, grimy bass thrum punched out by a surprisingly sturdy drum line. It’s not really like anything that Wage War have done before, so much so that your little brain-cogs might get to whirrin’. “Could it be? Are Wage War actually…doing something new?!”
Ah, well, hold your horses there, champ. ‘New’ is a very subjective term as it is, and in the context of metalcore, it’s basically had all meaning flayed out of it. Expecting legitimate newness from a band like Wage War is the very definition of a lost cause, not helped by it being almost totally absent from their repertoire up to now. But where Deadweight in 2017 could blow some doors open based on hulking size alone, 2019’s Pressure and 2021’s Manic put forth the horrendous inconsistency that’s cut them off at the knees ever since. At one moment, they’re thundering nu-metalcore goliaths; at another, they’re sanitised melody-merchants just a couple of steps away from The Amity Affliction. It’s a frankly incredible dichotomy to not only ride, but see actual returns from. Wage War aren’t huge, but they’re big enough.
So right from the jump, to see STIGMA producing a bit of an interesting situation is more than anyone would likely expect. Maybe this is where Wage War consolidate what they have into something truly them, with maybe even avenues opened to be a bit more daring. It’d be appropriate for a band who, at their best, can crush in a way that a lot of modern metalcore aims for but tends to fall vastly short of. If nothing else, that’s still true of STIGMA. They know their way around a mosh-call, do Wage War, and SELF SACRIFICE and IN MY BLOOD are frankly stellar at putting the ferocity of Briton Bond—with the simultaneous gnash and smash of bear and bear trap—to good use. Add on some pulsating lockstep bomb-drops in THE SHOW’S ABOUT TO START and HAPPY HUNTING, and STIGMA might have some of Wage War’s most impactful isolated cuts to date.
The key word is ‘isolated’. Said moments might lift STIGMA’s average stock as a whole, but they sadly aren’t all that’s here. Instead, Wage War are back to their usual tricks, in fostering the disconnect between metalcore styles that feels incongruous properly effective. Magnetic might have Cody Quistad’s impassioned hook to keep it alight, but sandwiched between a pair of much darker, denser cuts sends its washier production practically leaping out. Granted, when one of those is NAIL5 with its croaky, wannabe-edgelord delivery indicative of so many over-the-hill emo-rappers, at least it’s not too far from another example of Wage War’s scatterbrained stylism. Even if STIGMA is overall better at avoiding it, there’s still a palpable sense of being bogged down by trying to be too much, and not achieving a lot at all. Five albums in, Wage War should’ve learned to avoid that.
What’s so insanely frustrating is, sometimes, they feel like they have. When they pivot heavier and lean into some of the menace they can produce, they can tantalisingly close to fully clicking. Even the smallest moments can stick out here; they do throw in some very minor sound palettes, like the bell chimes on SELF SACRIFICE and the swampy field recordings on IN MY BLOOD, and while neither are game-changing, they put some brief focus on atmosphere for the first time ever. But it’s either a lack of confidence or lack of conviction that stops Wage War going deeper than that. Therefore, there’s still so much abusing the most typical metalcore thematic template, or trafficking in its colourless, impactless throes. And that hurts Wage War, and makes the instances of pulling away from that seem more strained than they should. Break those songs off and it feels like a natural picture of a band who could powder a human skull on even their worst day. Put them in the context of an album, and the watered-down concessions and shaky steps distract with how limply they hang off them.
All of that comes with the awareness that STIGMA is still an alright album. Compared to Wage War’s last couple, it’s a genuine leap up, rescued by its best parts and the attention they can draw. It’s not great, though, and the chronic shortcomings of this band are still the primary culprit for that. It’s an issue that’s afflicted Wage War for a while, and now that it actively seems to be impeding the reach towards something far better, that’s a bit more annoying to witness. Still, if metalcore in the modern age has taught us anything, it’s that you take what you can get. In the case of STIGMA, you get a few glimpses towards a bolder beatdown that’d be great to see play out in full. Maybe then some considerable excitement around Wage War can be properly justified.
For fans of: Fit For A King, Like Moths To Flames, I Prevail
‘STIGMA’ by Wage War is released on 21st June on Fearless Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
