Wage War will hit the road later this year across America. The band announced Monday, it is scheduled to launch its latest tour Sept. 26 in St. Paul, MN and to run through Nov. 3 in Atlanta, GA. Erra, Thrown, Pop Evil, and Fame on Fire are scheduled to join the tour at various stops on the tour, which will run across various regions of the nation and will follow a recently completed tour alongside Nothing More, Veil of Maya and Sleep Theory on Nothing More’s latest headlining run.
The new tour, by the way, is in support of the band’s brand-new album, Stigma. The 10-song record dropped Friday through Fearless Records, coming more than two years after the release of the band’s then latest album, Manic. This latest offering from the band (the group’s fifth album) is another solid work from the group. This is due to its musical and lyrical content. The most notable change that audiences will note in the record’s musical content is more integration of electronics into its body. Lyrically, the record offers its own share of interest, too. The most notable example of how those two elements make the album stand out rests in the latest single, ‘Blur.’ It will be examined shortly. ‘In My Blood,’ the album’s penultimate entry, is another example of how the clear change in sound and style and the lyrical content work together to make the album engaging and entertaining. It will be discussed a little later. ‘Self-Sacrifice,’ which comes early in the album’s run, is yet another example of how the album’s overall content makes it so strong. It will also be examined later. All three songs do their own part to make Stigma a solid new offering from Wage War. When they are considered along with the album’s other songs (including the other three singles released so far), the whole makes this record among the best of 2024’s top new hard rock and metal albums.
Stigma, the latest album from Wage War, is a record that sees great musical change from the band and serves well to help cement the band’s place among the current sea of hard rock and metal community. That is due to its musical content (which shows a clear change of direction from the band) and its lyrical themes. One of the songs that serves well to make that clear is the album’s latest single, ‘Blur.’ Musically speaking, the song is easily likened to works from Linkin Park. This is evidenced through the use of the emotionally charged keyboard line that runs through the body of the three-minute opus and how it couples with the equally emotional vocal delivery in the choruses. The heaviness of the guitars alongside those elements in the chorus add even more comparison and make it easily a radio ready work for any active rock radio station. While the band premiered the new single and its video this week. It would seem no explanation for the lyrical theme has been provided about that topic. In examining the lyrics, the theme can be inferred to focus on the all-too-familiar topic of mental health. This as front man Briton Bond sings, “How I got here/I don’t remember now/I put the pieces back together again/Is every mirror broken in this house/’Cause I can’t see myself when I’m looking in/I’m so insecure/My vision’s faded/I just make things worse/I just make thing worse/always so dilated/It’s what I deserve/I don’t try to change it/Even though I hate it/Feels like it’s all a blur/It’s only getting worse/And I know it’s killing me/But I still don’t wanna see.” That feeling of self-doubt and dislike is a common symptom of depression and anxiety, so both are being seemingly addressed here. Considering the stigma (there is that word already) that to this day remains around mental health, it makes this content all the more relevant and sure to resonate with listeners. That seeming message is heightened even more in the song’s second verse, which finds Bond singing, “These walls are closing in around the room/I’m always looking for a new way out/I can never seem to see it through/Feels like I’m upside down.” The mention of the “room” is a metaphor for being trapped in one’s own mind. It is a familiar metaphor at that. All things considered the seeming familiar matter addressed here works with the song’s musical arrangement to make it a favorite among audiences.
Another track included in this album that is sure to resonate with listeners, thanks to its overall content, comes much later in the album’s run in the form of ‘In My Blood.’ The album’s penultimate entry, its musical arrangement is far heavier than that featured in ‘Blur.’ As a matter of fact, the incorporation of the more electronic leanings here gives the arrangement a clear industrial vibe. The wall of sound approach taken to the industrial type arrangement and the death metal style vocals therein makes this work its own impressive addition to the album.
The intensity in the song’s musical arrangement is especially notable because of the song’s lyrical theme. The theme here certainly does not seem to call for something so intense. That is because it comes across as being so introspective in a positive way, recalling the positive effect of the subject’s father on himself as a now man. This as Bond screams, “I was born in the holler between the moss and the sand/Learned that all good things are earned/And learned to live off the land/I close my eyes and hear those words/From my old man/Never start what you can’t finish/With your own two hands/There’s something in the water/And it burns like the sun/Because it’s in my blood/Running through the river/Let it flow like a flood.” This honestly sounds more like something one might expect to hear in a blues or even country music song; maybe even in a song from so many older, more experienced bands that rose to fame decades ago (E.g. The Allman Brothers Band, The Doobie Brothers, etc.). So to receive such a positive, uplifting tale here alongside such an intense musical arrangement is intriguing but still uplifting. The story continues as Bond sings in the song’s second verse, “Some say it’s petty/But I think he said it best/I don’t back down/Say it with your chest/When it’s high noon in Florida/Even the devil gets hot/There’s a reason he’s in Georgia and not in the swamp.” Again here is a fun little story that just does not seem like it would fit with the song’s musical arrangement, but oh well. That massive contrast is enough to make the song interesting in its own right.
One more example of how this album’s overall content makes it stand out comes early in its run in the form of ‘Self-Sacrifice.’ The record’s second track, it clocks in at just under three minutes and is, like ‘In My Blood’ a very intense industrial type composition thanks to its even more powerful incorporation of electronics. In the case of this song, the intense arrangement is more fitting as the song seems to take on fake people. This as Bond screams from the deepest reaches of his inner self, “Sunk your teeth into me/Just to see how much I’d bleed/Oh the irony/’Cause you said you’d die for me/I turned around and felt the fangs/marked on the neck but missed the veins/Oh the irony/’Cause you said you’d die for me/And now you’ll die for me/Nowhere to run/Nowhere to hide/You made your choice/I cut the ties/Sever the head/The serpent will die/Nowhere to run/Nowhere to hide/You made your choice/I cut the ties/Off with the tongue/Cut out the lies/Kneel to the knife/self-sacrifice.” If this is not a blatant call to those fake people out there who love to lie to others and be those snakes, it is anyone’s guess what is that statement. It is certain to resonate with so many listeners, especially as it is paired with the fire in the song’s musical arrangement. When it is considered alongside the other songs examined here and that trio along with the rest of the album’s entries, the whole therein makes Stigma overall a strong new offering from Wage War that audiences are certain to appreciate.
Stigma, the latest album from Wage War, is a solid new offering from the band that is certain to stick with longtime audiences and those who may be less familiar with the band’s body of work, too. That is due to the record’s musical and lyrical content alike. All three of the songs examined here make that clear. When they are considered along with the rest of the album’s entries, the whole therein makes the album overall one more of the best of this year’s top new hard rock and metal albums.
Stigma is available now. More information on the album is available along with all of Wage War’s latest news at:
Website: https://wagewarband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wagewar
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wagewar
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