ALBUM REVIEW: LANDFALL BY WAGE WAR
Reviewed by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
Release date: 9 October 2026
The Florida metalcore band Wage War has a new album, ‘Landfall’, that brings a mix of melody and heavy. The structure of the band, comprising of Briton Bond (lead vocals), Cody Quistad (rhythm guitar, clean vocals), Seth Blake (lead guitar), Chris Gaylord (bass) and Stephen Kluesener (drums), is important in understanding the two different musical styles that have been mashed together – the heavy is growling and the clean is melodic. You could easily think you were listening to two different bands.
The album opens with the title track, ‘Landfall’, and its foreboding US emergency alarm before it erupts into a bludgeoning guitar riff and a huge scream. The deep screams of Briton Bond are contrasted by Cody Quistad’s beautiful clean melodic singing. It sets in motion a gloriously unpredictable listen complete with choir: “as the clouds gather” as “god has forsaken” the future, and there’s “waiting for what’s next” as “the worse is yet to come” as the listener is told to “brace for the landfall”. The following track is ‘Sweet Dreams’ and its beat blast madness as the track balances heavy verses with a soaring, massive, melodic chorus. The track is “not a nightmare” just heavy. The crackling vinyl record sounds and beat blast beats are back in ‘Silk’ with the heavy bass and vocals. It is so aggressive and so heavy. Fans will love it!
The next four songs are absolute highlights. The track ‘Figure 8’ has an amazing electric guitar riff paired with clean vocals pitched high. It is more of a hard pop-punk sound with a terrific melody. “Eternity is a twisted game” to the heavy beats in the middle of the track. Following is ‘God Complex’ with squalling guitar and scratchy sampled voices underscoring “the curse” as the listener is asked to “take me to the other side/and show me what it’s really like”. “Kill me slow” indeed! Then, the guitar riff rings out with gentle drum beats in the rock ballad ‘Stay With Me’ before the harder soundscape cuts in over the top. The vocals and song are almost perfect. The synth use in ‘Silence Has Spoken’ is wonderful as we “break every promise we have made” and “we are cold and broken” as “death” is deserved. This song is another emo-laden rock ballad. The guitar solo is just so, good as is the subtle synth as the track ends. Excellent!
Then, it’s back to the heavy with ‘Way Of Pain’. The drums, vocals, bass and guitars are all huge. The dark vocal fry matches the bass hammering. ‘Red Dot’ follows with skittering drum beats and a thrumming bassline: the rhythm is light and then heavy as the heavy melody wraps around itself, kind of like a cat chasing a red dot. The guitar solo is very cool, as are the bleeps and noises. Short but fun! The spooky and spectral clean vocals start ‘Blindfold’, and it is so beautiful. Lyrically, the song is about the need for freedom as “I wanna know too much” of the “heart shape hollow” as the protagonist cascades into the “dark fall” of “sorrow” as “the hooks in me” hold him. This song is another album highlight.
“Put me down/as hungry as a hellhound” is the lyrical world of ‘Spellbound’, which is full of “sharp teeth”, and ‘’curse” is reflected in the music through drums and guitars. Then, the fan favourite song, the call of Florida, ‘Song Of The Swamp’. It is heavy, hostile and hammering. The blast beats, jagged guitar riffs and unhinged screams are inspired by the swamp’s aggressive landscape. The album closes out with a repeated piano chord in the haunted ‘Silhouette’. The vocal layering is beautiful as it cuts cuts to the clean vocal. ‘‘I never thought I’d be a person afraid of the dark” as the protagonist is “haunted” by a past “ghost” love in the shadows.
The 13 tracks on ‘Landfall’ are a great combination of light and heavy musical assaults on the senses, and music fans will love it. I must admit, the contrast and the leaning into clean vocals and dynamic choruses are great to listen to. Wage War are at their heaviest and most melodic: more impactful from restraint and knowing when to let go.
