Words by Belinda Quick
Photos by Shaun Wilkinson
Special thanks to Destroy All Lines
“Before you leave tomorrow, and there’s not a thing left to say… look me in the face, hold my gaze, and call me by your name” – André Aciman, Call Me by Your Name
Revelling in the ‘spectacular savagery’ of their latest EP release and returning to Australia for their first headline tour, WAGE WAR’s metalcore machismo precedes itself. IT CALLS ME BY NAME the latest in a long line of recordings featuring the band’s infamous blend of brutal breakdowns, brilliantly contrasted melodic malevolence and philosophic lyrics form the Floridians’ magnum opus, and the basis of their most incendiary live performance.
Opening HEAVENSGATE wide, Nazareth Tharratt’s command is clear: “Everyone in this room, raise your fucking fists!” Melbourne’s prodigal sons, return favourites of the Adelaide audience, immediately RAIN down OBLIVION. An act of VIOLENT JOY, the vocalist contrasts his spitfire growls with accolades for fans old and new, the band’s travelling videographer – “Deaf Chris, everyone” – joins the RATKING in the penultimate track. GINSICK and FAWN FLAYED, we end how we began, hands high on demand and in appreciation.
A Bad Moon on the Rise, CCR’s classic cacophony of natural disaster prologues ORTHODOX’s arrival. The Tennessean’s debut visit to Australia just 12 months ago, the furious five wastes little time in blessing this Sacred Place. Adam Easterling’s stare capable of homicide, guitarists Austin Evans & Ben Touchberry’s synchronised circulation of index fingers Searching for a Pulse and a circlepit. The frontman figuratively thumbs the Body Chalk, he menacingly declares: “We’re not here to sing you a chorus, we’re here to ruin your night!”
Moments later, carefully instructing a call-and-response and orchestrating an almost affectionate “bounce, bounce, bounce” with Godless Grace, bassist Shiloh Krebs & drummer Mike White’s rhythm section drives the hellish cadence. The Waiting music more disconcerting than ORTHODOX’s aggressive groove, Evans snarls to the heaving moshpit, “That’s not fucking good enough!” Inciting violence before Wage War even has an opportunity to grace the stage, The Gov threatens to Cave In under Dread Weight.
The atmosphere instantly thickens, as an ominous voiceover clashes with WAGE WAR’s volatile 4×4 groove. The first of the tracks taken from IT CALLS ME BY NAME ‘so sadistic’, the room Alive, Briton Bond prowls front of stage. His commanding voice a beacon breaking through the BLUR of simultaneous saturations of light and shadow, heavy footsteps are mimicked by audience members on the moshpit fringe, punctuating the instrumental breakdowns like punching NAIL5 into the proverbial coffin.
Already a quarter of the way through an expansive 20-song set, rhythm guitarist and clean vocalist Cody Quistad realigns the KARMA of the room with an angelic vocal solo. He and Seth Blake alternatively alleviate Bond’s brooding intensity at crucial moments, breathing oxygen in the relentless off-stage environment. Stephen Kluesener annihilating the drumkit through clenched Teeth recirculates the tornadic tension, as Wage War reaches a new high of performance by going Low.
Pandemonium breaking out for the pre-pandemic favourite, Bond employs people power in choosing the tenth, halfway point track. Perth electing for Relapse, Adelaide embraces Who I Am with passion, before spiralling into a vicious Death Roll. Apocalyptic, the surrounding riot sensorily overwhelms; Gravity proves the only natural force to pull the disassociated and diabolical back to earth. For the acoustic rendition, Quistad reassures: “We’re going to slow it down for one song, and one song only, before getting back to the breakdowns.”
Taking a moment, Bond reemerges to mime the lyrics of his bandmates, retaking the lead to say “Thank you (to) Adelaide, you’ve been great.” Suggesting we may already be about to Circle the Drain of the set, subsequent echoes of such platitudes confirm that’s not the case. The River is filthy, PURIFY ironically even more so, the ‘gallows call’ and the sense of doom remains MAGNETIC; testifying, “This has been the best show we’ve ever played in Australia”, Wage War Stitch together the Manic final moments of the minor set.
The encore completing a syncopated playthrough of 2026’s EP, the venue dark and seething, the Floridians hold their gaze. Domineering until the very end, they’ve “Ade-laid-e it all out on the floor”, so, with ‘not a thing left to say’, Wage War wave goodbye, fittingly with the preternatural Song of the Swamp.
PHOTO GALLERY
HEAVENSGATE
ORTHODOX
