Wage War Brings the Violence to New Jersey on the Stigma Tour with Star Studded Lineup

Wage War celebrates the release of their fifth studio album with a full USA Tour featuring breakout bands ERRA, Thrown and Fame On Fire.

Kicking off the evening at the Wellmont Theater was Fame On Fire. Fame On Fire is an American rock band from Palm Beach, Florida that formed in 2013. Currently signed to Hopeless Records the band currently consists of vocalist Bryan Kuznitz, guitarist Blake Saul, bassist Paul Spirou and drummer Alex Roman. Roman will not be with the band on this tour as he and his wife celebrate the birth of their first child. Subbing in for Roman on tour will be Ken Lopz who is the drummer for Miami based metalcore band Further Within. Fame On Fire originally began as a cover band. They recorded metal covers of popular songs from artists such as Ed Sheeran, Lil Uzi Vert and The Weeknd. In 2020 they began releasing original music. Their song “Her Eyes” from their debut album “Levels” reached #1 on SiriusXM Octane. Just a month ago they released their 3rd studio album “The Death Card”. The crowd would be delighted to hear multiple songs from their new record,

Opening for the almighty Wage War meant they had to bring the heavy stuff. They opened with “No Tomorrow (The Death Card)” which hit the crowd with a heavy riff to open the song. Kuznitz graced the crowd with smooth angelic clean vocals until the breakdown where he showed off his impressive harsh screams which make him one of the best multi-talented vocalists in the genre. Right before they would play “Nightmare (The Devil)” a fan would throw a neon yellow bra onto the stage that stood out like a sore thumb. Saul held it up to himself like he was wearing it and sat on top of one of the drum cymbals. Saul and Spirou played upbeat positive sounding riffs and bass lines for this song even though the song is far from having a positive meaning. Lopez fit in perfectly with the band as you could see him putting infinite emotion and passion into drumming. The crowd bounced around in a circle pit the whole set and had a blast crowd surfing and doing other silly activities. Fame On Fire got an incredible ovation for their performance and took a picture of them with the whole crowd before they walked off stage.

The next band taking the stage would turn up the heat. Up next was Thrown. Thrown is a hardcore band coming all the way from Stockholm, Sweden. Currently on the Arising Empire roster, the band currently consists of vocalist Marcus Lundqvist, guitarists Johan Liljeblad and Andreas Malm with Buster Odeholm on drums. Thrown formed in 2019 and had a goal of writing heavy music that was unique compared to the rest of modern metal. They sprint the entire 2020 quarantine writing music and finally in 2021 they began releasing music. In 2022 they released “EXTENDED PAIN” their debut EP and in August of 2024 they released their first studio album “EXCESSIVE GUILT”. A 20 minute barrage of heavy music pushing the boundaries of hardcore and nu-metal. They can be compared to breakout Australian metal band Alpha Wolf since they both have created a fusion of nu metal with certain subgenres of metal. Thrown has amassed over a million monthly listeners on Spotify. They have supported heavyweight metal acts such as Knocked Loose, August Burns Red and Architects mainly overseas. Now they have reached North America again. They supported Invent Animate in 2023 as their first performances in North America and are ready to make a lasting impression on much larger crowds.

The lights went out and the crowd was ambushed with high guitar riffs from Liljeblad and Malm. Riffs that found inspiration from nu-metal but with a modern hardcore twist. Lundqvist ran on stage and began unleashing furious screams that would transition into rapping but with screams. Lundqvist was rap screaming at an unbelievable pace while keeping it fluent and coherent. The pit blew open with people two stepping and throwing their bodies around like ragdolls. It got more insane when Thrown played “on the verge” , a standout song from their recent album. It began with a hip hop beat with drums being played over it. Odeholm dropped bombs on the snares to kick off the song. The pit looked like a scene out of the movie Fight Club. In classic hardcore fashion, moshers were swinging arms and elbows. One fan broke his glasses while another left the floor with a bloody nose. Thrown brought chaos and turmoil one last time for their last song “gray out”. The band demanded the pit to widen for the final breakdown. The whole band brought some of the heaviest music you'll hear in one final breakdown. It took Thrown only 25 minutes to completely flip the room upside down. Best of all. There were still two more bands to play.

THROWN: Merch | Facebook | Instagram | X | TikTok

One of the best aspects of this lineup is each band specializes in a unique subgenre of rock and metal. We've had a band specialize in hard rock and another in nu metal and hardcore, but now it was time for ERRA to bring their twist on progressive metal. ERRA is an American progressive metalcore band from Birmingham, Alabama that formed in 2009. ERRA is signed to UNFD and currently consists of unclean vocalist JT Cavey, guitarist and clean vocalist Jesse Cash, guitarist Clint Tustin, bassist Conor Hesse and drummer Alex Ballew. ERRA fuses the brutality of metalcore with the intricacy of progressive metal in which the band refers to as their own style “melodic ambient”. ERRA has gained notoriety after supporting standout bands such as Bad Omens, As I Lay Dying and Beartooth. ERRA also released an album this year. “Cure” became their sixth studio album which was released on April 5th, 2024. ERRA boasts one of the best vocalist duos in the scene. Cavey is known for his iconic brutal screams while Cash is known for cleans that fans continuously rave about. This wouldn't be ERRA’s first time opening for Wage War. They were direct support to Wage War on their 10 year anniversary show in Orlando, Florida. Wage War fans know what to expect from ERRA so the crowd was only going to get more intense.

ERRA took the stage with a large display of lights on the stage. Some of them are simple light bars, but some larger ones that resemble the Pixar lamp looking directly at you. ERRA opened with the title track to “Cure” The song came in with fast paced kicks and drum work from Ballew and the lights on stage at the same speed he was going creating an intense white light. Accompanying that was catchy riffs from Tustin and Cash. Riffs that made the whole room bounce. The song finished with a slow crushing breakdown with JT jumping in with an extended brutal scream. Later on ERRA played “Drift” a fan favorite track from their 2016 album of the same title. The lights changed from bright white to an array of slow moving rainbows. The visuals were easygoing on the eyes and enjoyable to watch as you sang along. At This point Cavey and Cash called for crowd surfers. People were popping up in the air from all over the crowd. From the back of the crowd to all the way up front people were flying into the air. Security got a huge workout. ERRa has come into their own as performers. Cash was spinning around on stage while Hesse bounced and jumped around from side to side. During all of that you have Tustin on the front riser showing off with impressive guitar solos. ERRA ended the set with “Snowblood” , their usual closing song on tour. Cavey asked the crowd for everything they had. A circle pit formed as the speedy opening riff blared through the speakers. The song ended and plenty of fans were still moshing and crowd surfing as ERRA left the stage to make way for the headliner.

It was time for the band everyone has been waiting for. Stepping up to the plate was Wage War. Wage War is an American metalcore band from Ocala, Florida. Currently signed to Fearless Records the band currently consists of Briton Bond on lead unclean vocals, Seth Blake on lead guitar, Cody Quistad on rhythm guitar and clean vocals, Chris Gaylord on bass and Stephen Kluesner on drums. Wage War formed in 2010 under multiple different band names until agreeing on the current name. The band found their permanent lineup in 2013 and haven't changed since which is rare to see for any band. 2015 was an imperative year for Wage War. The band signed to Fearless Records and worked with fellow Ocala native Jeremey Mckinnon of A Day To Remember on their debut album “Blueprints”. Wage War would go on to release 4 more studio albums. These would be Deadweight (2017), Pressure (2019), Manic (2022) and of course Stigma (2024). Blueprints and Deadweight have been praised as two iconic modern metalcore albums and paved the road for inspiration for dozens of current bands. Wage War appeared on multiple Warped Tours and opened for bands such as I Prevail, Beartooth and even the legendary nu-metal band Slipknot. Wage War currently has over 1.5 million monthly listeners on spotify. Their most streamed song is “Stitch” with over 60 million streams since its release in 2017.

Wage War is known for their pure modern metacore sound. Instrumentals as heavy as could be accompanied by some of the best screams in all of metal from Bond complimented by clean vocals from Quistad. As of late Gaylord has been chipping in on backing vocals. All of this was apparent on their latest album Stigma. The album was released on June 21st, 2024. Stigma is a 10 track record jam packed with bone crushing instrumentals tied in with Bond breaking boundaries with his vocals. Bond has trained tirelessly to have the ability to nail screams as high and low as possible. Now he is even mixing in some clean vocals as of late. On March 21st, 2024 Wage War released “Magnetic” which would be the lead single for Stigma. Magnetic opened the door for many rock and metal fans to be introduced to Wage War. Just a month ago the track hit #1 on Mainstream Rock Airplay which would be the bands first #1 hit. The only other time they appeared on the lost was with their song “Godspeed” which hit #32 in 2022. Magnetic reaches fans through its relatable lyrics and smooth catchy chorus and has amassed over 8 million streams on spotify since its release. The other two singles would be heavyweight tracks “NAIL5” and “TOMBSTONE”. These songs left fans banging their hands until their necks snapped. Wage War’s biggest days are on the horizon and it all starts here with their biggest production and headlining tour yet.

The lights went out and 5 towering screens lit up on stage displaying graphics resembling the album art for Stigma. A simple electronic beat played that led into the beginning of the track “THE SHOW’S ABOUT TO START” which is the first song off Stigma. The band walked on stage and the moment they started playing and Bond yelled the opening line confetti blasted out of multiple cannons and the show had officially started. Confetti rained down and fans had already begun moshing and crowd surfing. Bond hyped up the crowd as they led into our first of many breakdowns tonight. The pit split open as the buildup grew and in a split second Bond and the whole venue yelled “SIDE TO SIDE, WALL TO WALL”. Two sides of the pit ran full force into each other as smoke cannons shot along to the beat of the song. An absolute insane start to the set was just scratching the surface. This show wasn’t just going to be all about the new songs. Wage War dug deep into their discography and played the fan favorites. Next up was the aforementioned hit song “Stitch”. When most people hear Wage War they think of this song. The staple to every Wage War show. The lights went out again and the opening line hit. The whole venue recited the line along with the band and in one unison roar the whole room yelled “PICK IT UP” and Blake on lead guitar introduced the fan favorite riff which featured a whammy bar. Blake makes it look so easy as he appears locked in and focused on stage when playing these incredibly difficult riffs. A track filled with mainly screams means Bond will need some backup. When Gaylord wasn't bouncing around on stage ripping along on the bass, he was at the mic backing up with screams that get better each time the band tours.

Wage War isn't all about heavy songs and screams. Wage War is one of the best in incorporating clean vocals from none other than Cody Quistad. Qusiatd is the main clean vocalist and fans have fallen in love with vocals over the years. He is the focal point of hit song “Circle The Drain” from their 2022 breakout album “Manic”. Quistad has the ability to seamlessly transition to soft low cleans to booming highs that steal the show. Quistad led the way as fans took a moment to sing and vibe along to some of Wage War’s softer tracks. Quistad showed off his talents when he whipped out an acoustic guitar for their first encore song “Johnny Cash”. Quisatd plucked away on the acoustic guitar or the first verse of the song and next verse is when the rest of the band flipped the switch and brought the heavy back. A song about relationships and lost loves had the crowd emotional and singing along as most were able to relate to the powerful lyrics. The lights went out and fans chanted for one more song. The fans began singing happy birthday to Bond as the band mentioned on their social media it was his special day today. Sure enough that got the band to come back out for one more song. Bond and the rest of the band asked for everything the crowd had left. A small beat played and fans knew it was time for Manic. The whole screamed “MANIC” as smoke followed the drum beat as Kluesner smashed away on the drums. Kluesner has been going at it all night. He brings the utmost passion and excitement to drumming. It was a pleasure watching him on the high rise drum kit cymbal smashing along to each song. The crowd screamed along to the breakdown callout and the whole band chugged away on the breakdown. As the song nears its end the fans tried to get as many crowd surfers in the air as possible during the last verse. The smoke cannons blew out the rest of its tank as Wage War saluted one of their best crowds on the tour.

Wage War stunned yet another crowd on the early going of this tour. Wage War will journey across the USA until early November playing over a dozen major cities. Wage War will take their talents over to Europe and the United Kingdom as they will support Papa Roach. Fans eagerly await the return of Wage War to their local cities as the band continues to reach greater heights with each show