Wage War

Wage War is an American metalcore band from Ocala, Florida formed in 2010 under the name Empires. The band signed to Fearless Records in 2015. The band consists of vocalist Briton Bond, rhythm guitarist and clean vocalist Cody Quistad, lead guitarist Seth Blake, bassist Chris Gaylord, and drummer Stephen Kluesener.

This article is about the band. For the act, see Declaration of war.
Wage War
Wage War in 2016
Background information
Also known as
  • Empires
  • War Within
OriginOcala, Florida, U.S.[1][2]
Genres
Years active2010–present
LabelsFearless
Associated acts
Websitewagewarband.com
Members
  • Briton Bond
  • Cody Quistad
  • Seth Blake
  • Chris Gaylord
  • Stephen Kluesener
Past members
  • David Rau
  • Jordan Pierce

Background

Wage War started in 2010 under the name Empires in Ocala, Florida.[2] The band originally consisted of Briton Bond (unclean vocals), Cody Quistad (rhythm guitar/clean vocals), Seth Blake (lead guitar), Jordan Pierce (bass) and David Rau (drums). Rau quit the band to focus on teaching and is now residing as a teacher at West Port High School in the band’s hometown. The band changed their name to Wage War and hired on Chris Gaylord to replace Pierce and Stephen J. Kluesener to replace Rau. As of October 2019, Rau occasionally fills in for Kluesener. In 2015, the band signed to Fearless Records, with a Jeremy McKinnon/Andrew Wade-produced single.[1][5][6][7] After being signed to Fearless, the band released their debut album, Blueprints.[8] Their second album Deadweight was released with Fearless Records on August 4, 2017.

Wage War has done a number of tours, including playing on the entirety of the Vans Warped Tour in 2016, and A Day to Remember's Self Help Festival in 2017. The band has also opened for artists such as August Burns Red, Chelsea Grin, I Prevail, The Amity Affliction, Northlane, Every Time I Die, For Today and Of Mice & Men. The band played with Parkway Drive on their mini June 2017 tour. The band embarked on their first national headliner in the July of 2017, in support of their new album Deadweight. Gideon & Varials joined up as support.[9] The second leg of the tour featured Gideon & Varials once again. Oceans Ate Alaska & Loathe joined up as support.[10]

Wage War played on the final touring portion of the 2018 Vans Warped Tour.

On January 9, 2019, the band released a single titled "Low" through their label Fearless Records. Six months later, on July 9, they released a second single, "Who I Am". Then later that month, on July 30, 2019, the band released two singles, "Prison" and "Me Against Myself". Upon doing this the band unveiled their plans for a third studio album, revealing the album's title, tracklist, and release date. Pressure, their third album, was released on August 30, 2019.

On March 18, 2019, Wage War lost all of their MySpace content from 2016 and earlier in "a server migration gone wrong" from the Empires era (with the exception of The Fall of Kings EP). It was widely reported that over 50 million songs and 12 years worth of content was permanently lost, and there was no backup.[11]

Wage War played on the 25th Anniversary Vans Warped Tour in Atlantic City, New Jersey and in Mountain View, California. The band went on tour throughout the Fall of 2019, in support of their latest album, Pressure. Like Moths to Flames, Polaris and Dayseeker joined up as support for the tour.[12]

On November 13, 2020, the band dropped a new song called "Surrounded", a previously unreleased track from Blueprints, which harks back to their heavier beginnings.[13]

Members

Current

  • Briton Bond – lead vocals (2010–present), additional guitars (2019–present)
  • Seth Blake – lead guitar, backing vocals (2010–present)
  • Cody Quistad – rhythm guitar, clean vocals (2010–present)
  • Chris Gaylord – bass (2013–present), backing vocals (2017–present)
  • Stephen Kluesener – drums (2013–present)

Former

  • Jordan Pierce – bass (2010–2013)
  • David Rau – drums (2010–2013, occasional fill in 2019-present)
Timeline

Discography

Studio albums
Year Title Label Chart peaks
US
[14]		 US
Heat
[15]		 US
Rock
[16]		 US
Hard Rock
[17]		 US
Indie[18]		 AUS
[19]
2015 Blueprints[3][20][21][22] Fearless — 3 43 9 28 —
2017 Deadweight[23] 54 — 8 2 — 45
2019 Pressure[23] 112 — 16 5 — 67

EPs
  • The Fall of Kings (2011)

Singles
  • "Twenty One" (2015)
  • "Alive" (2015)
  • "Youngblood" (2015)
  • "Stitch" (2017)
  • "Don't Let Me Fade Away" (2017)
  • "Witness" (2017)
  • "Johnny Cash (Stripped)" (2018)
  • "Gravity (Stripped)" (2018)
  • "Low" (2019)
  • "Who I Am" (2019)
  • "Prison/Me Against Myself" (2019)
  • "Grave" (2019)
  • "Surrounded" (2020)

References
  1. Chatterjee, Kika (June 15, 2015). "Wage War announce Fearless Records signing with Jeremy McKinnon-produced single". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  2. Yeung, Neil Z. "Biography : Wage War". AllMusic. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  3. Litchfield, Rob (December 10, 2015). "Wage War's Blueprints breaks down Metalcore barriers". The Defender. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  4. Willschick, Aaron (June 20, 2016). "WAGE WAR Are Waging War on Your Ears in Music Video for "The River"". Pure Grain Audio. Retrieved January 16, 2017. The band delivers 11 tracks of uncompromising multi-dimensional hardcore...
  5. "Wage War Signs to Fearless Records". New Noise Magazine. June 15, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  6. Admin (October 23, 2015). "Wage War Shared Intriguing New Single "Youngblood" From Debut Album". Highlight Magazine. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  7. Shultz, Thom (June 16, 2015). "Wage War Signs to Fearless Records". Mind Equals Blown. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  8. Bomber (February 22, 2016). "Wage War premiere 'Youngblood' video clip". Bombshell Zine. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  9. "Wage War Announce U.S. Headlining Tour — The Prelude Press". Thepreludepress.com. 2017-05-30. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  11. Brodkin, Jon (2019-03-18). "Myspace apparently lost 12 years' worth of music, and almost no one noticed". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  12. "Wage War Announce 'Pressure' Album, New Song + Headlining Tour". Loudwire.com. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  13. citylightstam (2020-11-13). "Wage War Unleash Surprisingly Hard New Single 'Surrounded'". Wall Of Sound. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  14. "Wage War Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  15. "Wage War Chart History: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  16. "Wage War Chart History: Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  17. "Wage War Chart History: Hard Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  18. "Wage War Chart History: Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  19. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  20. Mark (November 23, 2015). "Wage War – Blueprints". Loud and Heavy. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  21. Pacheco, Anthony (December 27, 2015). "Wage War – Blueprints Review". Flippen Music. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  22. Tyler H. "Album Review: Wage War – Blueprints". Sound Fiction. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  23. "Wage War | Fearless Records". Fearless Records. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
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