By: James Southworth
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
I still remember the reaction I had when I first heard Wage War's lead single "Twenty One". I was absolutely blown away. It sounded like metalcore from the 2000s had come back to life in a refreshing new way. That was the reaction of many other people as well, which is why the band's debut album "Blueprints" exploded onto the scene, and deservedly so. The album was great, and had jam after jam on it. It also wasn't without some thoughtful lyrical content, such as "Youngblood"'s honest discussion about suicide. In my opinion, the band really showed what they were capable of in full on their sophomore effort "Deadweight". This album honed in their sound and made it more intense, but also more catchy. It also had a powerful arc of finding one's identity in dark times. I really like almost every track on the album, and even the one slight negative ("Indestructible") isn't awful. So, I was excited to see what Wage War would deliver on their newest album, even if I didn't feel that the two singles, "Low" and "Who I Am", were necessarily their top tier material. So what do we get on "Pressure"? Well... let's talk about it.
The opening track is also the second single, "Who I Am". Like I mentioned in my introductory paragraph, I didn't necessarily consider this a superb Wage War track, but I still enjoy it for what it is. The catchiness of the chorus is definitely what kept me coming back to this song, though I probably won't be returning to it too much in the future. I enjoy the breakdown as well. Everything about this song is what you come to expect in general from Wage War. It is a little formulaic, but you could do with a worse formula. The sentiments I have about "Who I Am" generally apply to the follow-up track "Prison". Once again, the song isn't bad, but it does feel oddly familiar to me. There's not much about the song that stands out, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't fun. The guitar riffing here is great, and the chorus does have an addictive quality about it. The first major highlight of the album ends up being "Ghost", which sounds like Wage War but is also completely fresh for them. I also appreciate that clean vocalist Cory Quinstad gets to show off his vocal abilities here. Briton Bond's screams are also really aggressive, and the guitar riffs and drumming cut deep. The band all feel really tight on this song, and it ends up being a really good track for that reason. The best song on the album is also the lead single: "Low". Once again, I did mention that I don't consider this track one of the top tier Wage War songs. That should show you my feelings about the rest of the album if this is the song I consider the best. The song has continued to grow on me with continued listens, so who knows, maybe I will consider it one the band's best cuts in the future. The guitar riff in this song definitely brings the band Architects to mind, particularly their song "Doomsday". This isn't a bad thing, though, and the rest of the song sounds like seminal Wage War material. What really lifts the song is the chorus, which is quite beautiful, and is easily Cory's best vocal performance on the whole album. "The Line" sees the band getting a little bit chaotic in the musical department; I do wish it was a little more energetic vocally. Still, some of the cool infusion of electronics here makes this song shine. Unfortunately, after this there aren't too many highlights, save for maybe "Will We Ever Learn".
I don't know if you could tell, but my praises for this album are mostly lukewarm. That's because a big portion of this album really falls short for Wage War. The lead singles for this album actually ended up being quite deceptive. For the most part, this is not a metalcore album. Instead, it's a rock album. Now normally, this wouldn't be a bad thing for me. Rock/hard rock is my favorite genre, and it has been for quite some time. The problem is, Wage War's rock here is clearly geared for the radio, as it is pretty generic in the musical department, and can be weak in the lyrical department as well. Nowhere is this more apparent than "Grave", which is perhaps the worst song Wage War has done to date. I don't necessarily hate the song, but I definitely have a strong distaste for it. "Pressure" has a surprising amount of electronic elements as well, and they are pretty awkward. I thought that if a band could do rock well, it could be Wage War. After all, Cory is a good clean vocalist, and some screams from Briton could help bring a degree of intensity to it. But "Grave" is representative of what most of the rock cuts are like from this album: dull and forgettable. Cory takes the lead on these songs, but he doesn't even sound that invested vocally most of the time. He rarely gets to stretch his vocal range on this album, keeping the songs safe and predictable. Evidence of this can be seen clearly on "Me Against Myself", which sounds almost too similar to Beartooth's "Disease" in some places. The chorus of the song has a melody that is easy to predict once you get what it's going for, and the song is far too reliant on its weak chorus. Also, there are some random screams from Briton placed in the song, and they don't work at all. "Hurt" may be the most by the numbers rock ballad I've heard all year, from the "sad" lyrics to the chorus that sounds like so many other rock ballads out there. "Fury" tries to ramp up the intensity on the album, but comes across as cheesy in the lyrical department ("When there's a war in you/One judgement, no jury/I am, I am the fury"). "Forget My Name" feels like it's trying to build up to something, but never gets there. The song feels unfinished, as it's all buildup and no true climax. "Take The Fight" comes and goes, leaving no impact on me at all.
Though my rating for this album isn't super low, I still consider it low for a band like Wage War. I was not expecting a disappointment like this from them. This is the band that brought some fresh air to the metalcore scene. This is the band that has unforgettable songs like "Stitch", "Twenty One", and "Witness". This album doesn't reflect Wage War's talents for the most part. It's not the worst rock album out there, but it is one that is pretty forgettable for the most part. There are some highlights, but I don't think any of the songs here (save for maybe "Low" and "Ghost") come close to what the band is capable of. I really hope this album was just a band trying some different things out. If they want to go the rock direction, that's fine. However, I think there need to be more songs than just generic, radio-ready cuts. Hopefully, there will be better next time. This album is easily my biggest disappointment of the year thus far.
Favorite Songs: "Low", "Ghost", "The Line", "Who I Am"
Least Favorite Songs: "Grave", "Me Against Myself", "Hurt", "Forget My Name"
No comments:
Post a Comment