Wage War's Cody Quistad and Briton Bond guide us step by step through the making of their upcoming fifth studio album ‘Stigma’, out June 21 via Fearless Records.
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Read Wage War, ‘Stigma’ | The Album Story below:
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Within the ever-expanding modern metalcore universe, Wage War have always focused on making sure their noses were just in front of the rest of the baying pack. Finding new ways to deliver savagery and sincerity, wrapped in as much souring melody as crushing heaviness, they’ve spent the last decade perfecting their sound to the finest detail. But when you have mastered this particular art form and you’re figuring out what you want your fifth full-length to represent, where do you turn?
“Within the heavy music space in general, there’s only so far people can go,” guitarist/vocalist Cody Quistad admits. “But now is such a unique time in music in general, not just in heavy music. Every genre has people doing things differently, and everybody has such different tastes. So, the goal for this album was to answer the questions of who and what Wage War is within that.”
“I feel like [2021 album] ‘Manic’ developed a lot of identity for the band, and we started doing things that scared us. We weren’t sure if anybody would like it at the time. This time, we harnessed and ran with that energy with every song.”
And that’s where ‘Stigma’ was born. Ten songs that feel like a vast smorgasbord of everything Wage War has done before but channelled through a whole array of different lenses. Taking as many cues from throbbing industrial chrome as it does glitchy EDM euphoria, it transcends the walls of metal without straying too far from what defined the band in the first place. It is groove-laden, gorgeously constructed and gripping from fuzzy beginnings to free-flowing conclusions, a masterful manifesto of what it means to be a heavy band in 2024.
“We have this new freedom that feels like we can do things we want to and follow our gut at the same time,” Cody continues. “Mix that with our sense of quality control, where we are always searching for a level of excellence, and we feel like we have something special. We have ten songs, and they are all completely different. Ten different versions of Wage War. All separately Wage War but all together Wage War, and that feels pretty amazing.”
To delve into the confidence and cohesion that allowed them to create without limits, Rock Sound sat down with Cody and vocalist Briton Bond to find out what it means to make history the Wage War way…
THE SOUND
Back when the band were making ‘Manic’, there was a moment when Cody brought what would become the bludgeoning title track to the table. As Cody recalls, bassist Chris Gaylord exclaimed, ‘This is sick, what’s this for?’ for that excitement to transform into trepidation when Cody stated that this hip-hop-leaning beat was for the band. This shift in what could and couldn’t be something that works for Wage War catalysed the openness that can now be found on ‘Stigma’. Since its release, ‘Manic’ has become the band’s biggest song, and the hope is now that the same risk-taking can produce similar results with this new batch. More than anything, it triggered a vital reminder of how much fun it should be to craft songs as a unit.
“I feel like when we were in the studio, we were always just so excited to try new stuff,” Briton remembers. “With there being so many different styles for us to now pull from, it was really cool to have something different to do every day. It’s so easy to get burned out when you’re following the same mould again and again. It made it so much more fun to record.”
And you can feel that fun falling out of every moment on the record. There’s the tribal bounce of ‘SELF SACRIFICE’ rubbing shoulders with the crystalline fluidity of ‘BLUR’, the arena-ready cries of ‘HELLBENT’ trading blows with galloping blips of ‘HAPPY HUNTING’. You even have one of the band’s heaviest moments to date in the form of ‘TOMBSTONE’, a track that keeps diving deeper and deeper into the abyss with every frantic blast beat and bone-snapping breakdown. Throwing off the shackles in such a way has allowed every element to feel naturally produced rather than forced into place just for the sake of it. Much of this comes from an understanding that everybody listening will have a different interpretation of what they think Wage War should be. So rather than chasing what others may think they should be, this is the sound of them doing what feels right for them from start to finish.
“When we put out ‘Magnetic’ first, the comment sections were like, ‘I can’t believe this is how this band sounds’ like people haven’t seen how we have operated for the last four records,” Cody laughs. “One song doesn’t define this band. It also works the other way; people were saying, ‘Is Cody not singing on this record, then?’ after hearing the heavier tracks. We love so much music and we just want to reflect that. Every moment needed to feel right for us, and we did a good job of making that true.”
THE COLLABORATORS
When finding confidence in the chaos, you need somebody behind the desk who knows how to pull the best out of you. That’s where Drew Fulk comes into play for Wage War. With ‘Stigma’ being the third album they have worked on together, their relationship transcends being professional.
“He’s become more of a friend than anything else, and that’s exactly what you want from a producer,” Cody explains. “I feel like he is a genius and has his finger on the pulse. People talk about legendary rock producers like Rick Rubin. Drew is in that conversation. We will look back in ten to 20 years and see how true that is. He’s such a good dude who cares so much. He is my creative counterpart.”
Working back-to-back with Cody on production meant there was as much input from inside the band’s walls as from outside. Also, with Drew working with the likes of Kevin Gates, Highly Suspect and CORPSE, to name a few, over the last several years, his expertise and understanding stretch further afield from the rock game than many of his counterparts. This equates to a perfect balance of push and pull, taking Wage War in wild new directions without losing their well-earned identity. A pair of voices that want the best for the band and know how to work together to get it.
“Having Drew in the room is always so good for our songs,” Briton add. “Cody will come with a demo, and Drew will see a whole different side of it. It goes from a song I thought was a 10/10 to a 12. He helps us to step out of the box, especially with me vocally. He works with so many different artists as well, from hip-hop to pop to metal; he doesn’t get burned up from doing the same thing all of the time. It’s also cool to have a producer asking how stuff is going down live rather than it just being another job. He really cares.”
THE LYRICS
As Cody describes it, a cornerstone of what Wage War base their lyrical output around is the human condition. It has allowed them to carve out a very personal and prominent niche for themselves within their circles, managing to exorcise every demon that dares to bare its teeth at them whilst simultaneously helping others come to terms with their own vices. That’s no different on ‘Stigma’, with plenty of tales of heartbreak, anxiety and overcoming struggle at its core. But much like in a musical sense, nothing was off the table this time around.
That’s where you get songs like ‘IN MY BLOOD’, an ode to their home state of Florida, with sounds of the swamp added into the breakdowns for good measure. It’s how the descriptive power of ‘THE SHOW’S ABOUT TO START’, a celebration of how live music makes the hairs stand on end, comes to exist. But most importantly, it’s how the likes of ‘NAIL5’, an actual you’re-in-or-in-the-way battering ram, get added to the pile, providing one of the most bold and brash statements the band have put out.
“The whole chorus of that song is basically us saying, ‘This is who we are on our fifth record’,” Cody states proudly. “It’s for the people who are upset about us not delivering in whatever way they want us to. You can hate all you want, but we will keep doing us. This is going to keep on working. I also feel like just how heavy that last breakdown is is the biggest middle finger on the record.”
The band should be incredibly proud of standing up for what they believe in such a bristled manner. Of course, being in the public eye leaves you open for critique and criticism, but that shouldn’t stop you from doing what makes you shine. When you have left a part of yourself in a song, something that you may have thought you couldn’t get out any other way, to hear it isn’t enough must be devastating. So placing this fork in the road, of letting everybody know that Wage War will never be anything less than what Wage War believe it to be, feels like a significant marker for the future.
“I feel like all of the lyrics on our records are personals come from personal stories,” Briton comments. “I then see comments where people are asking us to write other songs that are like ‘The River’. Yeah, sonically, that would be sick, but that song was written because of somebody having their heart shattered. The pain fell out of us into it being that kind of song.”
“With this record there are so many other emotions because that’s what everyone felt in those moments. But you can’t just create those moments out of thin air. ‘Manic’, for example, was a lot more mental health-based as we were in the middle of the pandemic, and our headspace wasn’t as good. On this record, our headspace was much better. Now, we are seeing the world from a different perspective. Things are good, but life still hurts, and that’s where we continue to write from.”
THE TITLE AND ARTWORK
This is the first time Wage War have released a record with artwork that wasn’t digitally designed. So you know it’s going to mean a lot. The photo that makes up the cover shows five nails sitting in a puddle surrounded by a large chain. The five nails on the surface represent this being the band’s fifth album, yet it can also represent the band’s five members. The most important aspect is the gap seen within the chain. It is an opening, a chance to escape from whatever restraints have been placed on those nails, and as an extension on the band.
The breaking of the chain relates to the breaking of the stigma, a word that often has negative connotations attached to it. That sense of freedom, of not being held back by anyone or anything, defines this record and also defines the attitude that the band will carry into everything they do from now on. And by being able to turn that feeling into an image, it makes it all the more real.
“The idea of this record for us, and we hope for others, is that we hope it transcends the box, or in this case, the chain that we are in,” Cody comments. “That’s why the chain is broken. The artwork and the title represent us going for it by any means. We threw the kitchen sink at this. We made a record full of everything we love that feels unique to heavy music. So many bands are doing cool stuff in heavy music, doing it their own way and blazing their own trail. That’s what ‘Stigma’ is doing for us.”
THE FUTURE
As they look to the future, things will keep getting bigger and bigger for Wage War. They’ve already spent 2024 playing some of their most-packed shows ever on a headline run across the US. They are also now close friends with Slipknot after becoming well-established in the world of Knotfest, most recently being a part of the roadshow over in Australia. So in terms of the pairs of eyes turning and facing their way, that’s not looking like it will slow down anytime soon with the scale of what ‘STIGMA’ represents for them musically.
Yet, in even larger terms, the mindset that this album has provided the band is something that can’t be bought. It only comes from grit and determination to do what feels right to you in the moment and reaping the rewards when the universe agrees. Breaking away from whatever was expected of them in the past has meant that wherever they go next will be even more intriguing. The world is at their fingertips, and they have no intention of letting such an opportunity slip through.
“It feels so freeing to be here,” Briton concludes. “Switching it up and pushing those boundaries has got us to this place. We can write whatever we want to write. We have not written these songs out of the blue, either. It’s from us writing what Wage War is but pushing it. It’s us not being afraid to put it out. It’s super exciting.”
“We know our fanbase trusts us enough to make it to a certain level of excellence,” Cody adds. “I know they know we won’t let them down, but more than ever, we know we have delivered. I remember making [2015 album] ‘Blueprints’ and being afraid to put any sort of programming in there that wasn’t breakdowns and screaming. Now there is so much to digest in what we are making. It really is a ride.”
