Wargasm (stylised inall caps and sometimes known asWargasm (UK)) are a Britishelectronic rock duo fromLondon. The band was formed in 2018 bySam Matlock, who had previously performed as part ofDead!, andMilkie Way, who had previously photographed their concerts. The band released several standalone singles before making headlines in 2021 over an incident after a performance atScala. Their 2022 mixtapeExplicit: The Mixxxtape charted at No. 19 on theUK Rock & Metal Albums Chart and appeared onLoudwire's "Best Rock + Metal Debut Albums of 2022", while their 2023 albumVenom charted at No. 88 in theUK Albums Chart.
Critics commonly categorise the band's music aselectro-punk,nu metal, andriot grrrl. The band, their 2022Enter Shikari collaboration "The Void Stares Back",Explicit: The Mixxxtape, andVenom have all been nominated for various awards at the Heavy Music Awards.Alternative Press listed them as a defining part of the 2020s wave of nu metal, andNME listed them as one of 2021's essential emerging artists. The pair also took home Best New Noise at the 2022Kerrang! Awards.
When I decided I wanted to do a new project, I knew I wanted it to have a riot grrrl attitude with female vocals and two characters at play, almost like you were getting two sides to a story and a conversation over the music. And that's exactly what Milkie brought to the party. The idea was for this to be theKeith Flint andCourtney Love collaboration that never was.
Sam Matlock met Milkie Way when she was hired to film his band Dead!.[2] In 2018,[3] after the band disbanded, Matlock approached Way, who by then had taken a job modelling inTokyo, and bonded with her over a shared love ofnu metal acts such asLimp Bizkit.[4] At first the pair began writingpop punk songs[4] and recorded an EP in that style calledSadgasm, which they opted not to release.[5] Following an incident at a party in London that both had attended at Way's suggestion, in which Matlock had managed to wake up an unenthusiastic crowd by playing Limp Bizkit and thenLinkin Park,[6] the band diversified into a combination ofrap andnu metal.[4]
They formed Wargasm in August 2019,[7] taking their name from theL7 song of the same name; the pair used a June 2020 interview to state that the "War" half of their name signified "this kind of angry, visceral red energy" and that the "gasm" half signified "the euphoria that you get when you listen to a song and think [that] this is so fucking hard".[4] Wargasm are listed as "Wargasm (UK)" in several territories due to the existence of other bands from the United States, Finland, Sweden and France.[8] They released their debut single, "Post Modern Rhapsody", in August 2019, before playing their first live performance a few weeks later[9] at atoilet venue.[10] They then released "God of War" that November;[11] it was later used as the theme forNXT UK.[12] In February 2020, they released a cover version of "Lapdance" byN.E.R.D. alongside a music video.[13] Initially aSoundCloud-only release, the track was recorded as an exercise in how to best juggle their vocals[4] after Matlock heard the track at a club, and was the first non-pop punk track they recorded.[5] They then released their own composition, "Gold Gold Gold", later that month.[14]
Shortly beforethe first UK COVID-19 lockdown, they played asocially distanced show with Death Blooms supporting them.[15] They then flew from London to Way's parents' house to write. There, they recorded subsequent singles "Spit", "Rage All Over", and "Backyard Bastards";[16] they released the first of these in June.[17] Later that month, they performed a set for Download TV, that year's virtual derivative ofDownload Festival,[18] which they recorded in their kitchen.[19] That September, they played a set for that year's Heavy Music Awards and released "Backyard Bastards",[20] which they released a music video for the following month.[21] The month after that, they released the single "Rage All Over", which they had written about their own rage at the declining condition of the world.[22] At the start of January 2021,NME listed them as one of their essential emerging artists for the following year.[23]
That April, they released the single "Your Patron Saints", a track about loneliness and isolation they had written after one of the band had a small breakdown in a supermarket,[24] which they followed in June with "Pyro Pyro",[25] which served as the song'sB-side.[26] Later that month, they performed at the 2021 Download Festival Pilot,[27] and then the month after that,Alternative Press listed them as a defining part of the 2020s wave ofnu metal.[28] In August 2021, they announced their debut UK headline tour, with dates booked between 17 and 30 November 2021,[29] and that they would tour withCreeper the month after.[30] Later that August, they released the single "Salma Hayek",[31] performed at the 2021Reading and Leeds Festivals[32] and at ALT+LDN festival,[33] and featured on a remix of Death Blooms' single "Shut Up".[34] The following month, they won "Best UK Breakthrough" at the Heavy Music Awards.[35]
A November 2021 gig atScala was marred by its security guards assaulting Matlock after they had performed, prompting the venue to fire several of its bouncers[36] and set out a number of planned security measures for its subsequent performances.[37] Later that month, the band released "Scratchcard Feeling", a track about continuing to feel lucky despite continued losses.[38] The band then supportedNeck Deep on a UK tour in early 2022.[39] The following month,Rolling Stone reported that Wargasm would be joining Limp Bizkit on their North American "Still Sucks" tour.[40] That May, Matlock and Way announced that they had signed to Slowplay and Republic Records and would release a single, "D.R.I.L.D.O.", and a mixtape,Explicit: The Mixxxtape.[41] The mixtape was namedExplicit due to the presence of swearing and sexual lyrics,[42] and the single "D.R.I.L.D.O." was released later that month.[43] The month after, they performed at that year's Download Festival,[44] at which they were the only band to play the main stage to not be all-male.[45] They then won the New Noise Awards at that year's Kerrang! Awards.[46]
In July, the band released "Fukstar", a rant against the behaviour ofhigh-net-worth individuals.[47] The month after that, they featured onEnter Shikari's "The Void Stares Back",[48] which won Best Single at the 2023 Heavy Music Awards.[49] In September 2022, they releasedExplicit,[50] which included previous singles "Pyro Pyro", "Salma Hayek", "D.R.I.L.D.O" and "Fukstar" and focus track "Super Fiend".[51] The mixtape was nominated for Best Breakthrough Album at the 2023 Heavy Music Awards,[52] appeared on Loudwire's "Best Rock + Metal Debut Albums of 2022",[53] and charted at No. 19 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart.[54] They promotedExplicit by going on the Explicit Tour,[55] which featured dates inManchester,Glasgow,Nottingham, and atO2 Forum Kentish Town.[56] At the end of that year, they toured with Enter Shikari and Limp Bizkit.[57] That December, they released a new video for "Super Fiend" featuring tour footage,[58] followed by a cover of theGirls Aloud song "Something Kinda Ooooh" forAmazon Music.[59] In May 2023, it was announced that Wargasm would supportCorey Taylor on his 2023 CMF2 tour between August and October.[60]
In July 2023, they announced the albumVenom and released the single "Do It So Good".[61] The album took sixteen months to make, with the band using a December 2023Kerrang! interview to blame the discontinuous manner in which it was produced and "labels and distributors, and all these people who don't seem to be able to do their fucking job anymore".[10] Many of the tracks pre-datedExplicit due to the band working on both concurrently.[62] In September, they released "Bang Ya Head", which was written about Matlock's experience of struggling to live on abar salary.[63] Both it andVenom's introduction featuredFred Durst as a result of the banddirect messaging him.[10] They released "Modern Love" in October, a track about technology-induced loneliness,[64] which was followed a few days later by a video[65] and followed by a few days after that by "Molotov", analbum track onHo99o9's mixtapeHo99o9 presents Territory: Turf Talk, Vol. II.[66] Later that month, they releasedVenom,[67] which charted at No. 88 in theUK Albums Chart[54] and was nominated for Best Breakthrough Album at the 2024 Heavy Music Awards.[68]
In May 2024, the band featured onCrossfaith's "God Speed", an ode to hedonism,[69] followed by "Hedonist (Recharged)", an track fromBad Omens'Concrete Jungle [The OST], an expansion pack to their earlier albumThe Death of Peace of Mind.[70] The following month, they appeared onScene Queen's "Girls Gone Wild", a track about misogynistic double standards from her albumHot Singles in Your Area.[71] That July, the band announced a livestream from atank graveyard[72] and released "70% Dead", a collaboration with Corey Taylor which had been recorded while the band were on tour with him.[57] The month after, they supportedKorn atGunnersbury Park alongsideLoathe andSpiritbox[73] and announced their Club Shit tour of intimate venues for October and November.[74] Harpy supported the band for some of these gigs,[75] while theirKomedia gig featured Eville and Karen Dio as support.[76] By October, they had headlined the Cave stage at2000trees festival;[77] that month, they released the singles "Circle Pit" and "Bad Seed", a track previously released in Japan and a track about trolls, alongside a joint music video.[78]
In a January 2020 interview withCrowdsurf & Turf, Way noted that the band's style and visuals were "very influenced by dystopian pop culture monoliths likeBladerunner andAkira, [...] old shittycock rock bands, and punk icons likeJoan Jett andIggy Pop". Matlock used the same interview to note that the band took "huge" sonic influence "from the 00s and a bunch of metal bands", as well as their own punk attitudes, conversations they overheard, and their own personal opinions.[79] The following month, the band used an interview withKerrang! to cite the use of nu-metal tropes byLoathe,Shvpes andPoppy as inspirational,[80] and that August, they cited L7 as an inspiration in an interview withUpset.[4] When asked in an early 2021 interview withFred Perry what songs' lyrics inspired them, Matlock answered "Custer" by Slipknot and Way answered "Smack a Bitch - Remix" byRico Nasty.[81] For "Pyro Pyro", they were inspired by a scene in a documentary aboutGrimes which asserted that she used laser shots from video games and gunshots to construct her music,[25] and for "Salma Hayek", its chorus was inspired byKim Petras[31] and its video was inspired byQuentin Tarantino.[82]
In June 2020,Revolver described the band's works as "a particularlynow mash-up of nu-metal, punk, electronic music, pop, hip-hop and anything else they damn please" [sic],[83] and in September 2020, that publication's Emma Madden described the band's sound as "beefcake nu-metal [...] spike[d] with more lighthearted pop and electronic elements [and] ariot grrrl ethos and charge".[6] The following month,Metal Hammer writer Yasmine Summan described their works as "nihilistic nu metal with electro-punk attitude",[19] and then in December 2020, that publication's Matt Mills described the band as nu-metal and "in-your-face riot grrrl punk".[84] In January 2021,Alternative Press writer Giedrė Matulaitytė described their music as an "eclectic blend of punk/riot grrrl attitude,hardcore energy,grunge pessimism and murky nü-metal groove" best enjoyed while "sipping on some rich blood"[85] andJack Saunders described them aspost-hardcore and a combination ofthe Prodigy andSlipknot.[15] In October 2023, Gregory Adams ofRevolver described their "musical bedrock" as "hard-blitzed house beats and nu-metal swagger".[3]
Reviewing their Download Pilot set,Clash observed "screaming vocals, stadium beats and psychedelic electronic sounds that merge with a punk attitude and a guitar grounding"[86] andNME writer Ali Shutler described what he saw as "cyberpunk".[87] The latter publication's Kyann-Sian Williams wrote of their performance at ALT+LDN that the pair "infuse the raw grit of screamo with Way's punk vocals".[88] Jack Rogers ofRock Sound wrote that "Pyro Pyro" "combusts with blasts of distorted bass and harsh guitars",[26] while Olivia Stock ofRiot described "Salma Hayek" as a combination of "metal, punk, rap, dubstep, and pop".[89] Reviewing a 2022 Neck Deep support slot forLouder Than War, Daniel Tsourekas complimented the contrast between Matlock's "gritty" vocals and Way's "softer yet punk-infused" vocals.[39] James Christopher Monger ofAllMusic wrote that the "electro-punk duo" evoked "Poppy by way of Limp Bizkit" with their "kinetic blend of nu-metal, industrial rock, post-hardcore, EDM, and hip-hop".[90] In October 2023, Dannii Leivers ofMetal Hammer described their post-pop punk works as "a frenetic, kaleidoscopic clash ofdigital hardcore andelectronica with the hooks, heaviness and attitude of nu metal" and the band as "looking like theWikipedia definition of modern rock stars".[91]
^"Wargasm - A Year of War Vinyl".Venn Records. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved25 July 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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