Discover the electrifying journey of WARGASM, as they break boundaries, challenge conventions, and unleash their visceral and honest debut album ‘Venom’. Read our latest Hype playlist cover feature now.
Words: Ali Shutler.
Wargasm’s debut album ‘Venom’ shudders with angst at every gnarled turn and ferocious twist. “But that’s what a first album should be,” says Sam Matlock. “It should be a ‘fuck you’.”
Since they dropped ‘Post Modern Rhapsody’ in 2019, Wargasm haven’t been shy about saying whatever’s on their mind. Wanting to achieve the primal excitement that comes from playing alt-rock classics at a house party at 3am, the band released a string of snotty, nu-metal-infused tracks before going on a virtual tour with Yungblud. Their first ever headline show was a socially-distanced seated affair at London’s New Cross Inn, and by the time they were properly unleashed onto the world at the Download Pilot 2021, they had an arsenal of tracks made for huge stages.
“It’s also the least industry-friendly, least easily palatable band imaginable,” adds Milkie Way, with the band’s more radio-friendly hits mashing together metal, punk and dance under titles like ‘D.R.I.L.D.O.’, ‘Fukstar’ and ‘Backyard Bastards’. “We’ve seen it with The Last Dinner Party and Scowl as well; I don’t know why people assume bands with women can’t find success,” she continues. “Anyone who’s accusing bands of being industry plants is a miserable fucking cunt,” adds Sam.
In the years that followed, Wargasm toured with Limp Bizkit and Enter Shikari, as well as putting in main stage appearances at Slam Dunk, Bloodstock, Download and Reading & Leeds. They’ve just finished up a tour supporting Slipknot’s Corey Taylor across North America, and before their own UK headline tour, the pair will be opening for Babymetal across Europe. “It doesn’t matter if we’re the poppiest band on the bill or the heaviest. At this point, you get what you fucking get,” grins Sam. “We’re pretty comfortable being Wargasm right now.”
A big part of that confidence comes from ‘Venom’, the pair’s long-awaited debut album. “It’s an opportunity to show people what we’re made of,” says Milkie. “It’s more cohesive than what’s come before. It’s more together and mature. It knows what it is,” she continues.
Still, a week before ‘Venom’’s release, Sam is wrestling with imposter’s syndrome. “I can categorically say it’s the best thing Wargasm has ever done, and I think it’ll be one of the most refreshing things anyone in the alternative community has heard in a few years. I’d be surprised if anyone delivers something as visceral, as honest anytime soon,” he says, “but is it good enough?”
"Anyone who’s accusing bands of being industry plants is a miserable fucking cunt"
— SAM MATLOCK
The pair have always had a guttural reaction to guitar music. Milkie was raised on Motown, soul and pop, with David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, and The Temptations being early favourites, before she discovered Smashing Pumpkins and Bikini Kill. “When I heard women playing slightly out-of-tune guitars and screaming into a microphone, it just did something for me,” she explains. For Sam, it was Nirvana that essentially changed his life. Now, they want ‘Venom’ to do the same for others.
Playing live has helped shift Wargasm’s ambitions. When they released their debut single, their only goal was to release more while not being able to conventionally tour due to the pandemic reshaped the energy of those early tracks. “When you’re playing live, you’re absorbing this wall of energy that’s coming towards you. At a house party, it’s all around you,” says Sam. “Maybe this album is for house parties and arenas,” he continues. “I don’t want a riff that makes me want to do a shot; I want a riff that makes me want to fist pump and run into a circle pit.”
Before returning to the UK, Wargasm will head to a rented house with a studio to continue working on new ideas. In an ideal world, they’d get started with album two immediately, but a brutal touring schedule has put a stop to that. “We’re going to be playing the album in full on the headline run, and I think that will help us understand where we go next,” says Sam, who’s always chasing a certain high with Wargasm. “I still just get drunk and excited about music. I still want to make The Prodigy’s version of the Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’. I don’t know what that means exactly, but I see no reason to not try because it would bring us immense joy.”
“There’s an infinite amount of course material to rip off and make your own, so we’ll keep going,” adds Milkie with a smirk.
There are a handful of politically-charged verses where the band spit blood and fire, but ‘Venom’ isn’t your typical political punk album. Less concerned with taking a stand, it’s more about capturing an energy. “It does feel like we’re born into a generation teetering on the edge of something not so good. It feels like something bad is going to happen,” explains Sam, which feeds into the record’s sense of “fuck you, rebellion, feeling betrayed and us versus them.”
Then there’s tracks like ‘Death Rattle’, which see the band toying with narrative and storytelling rather than a gut reaction to the absolute state of things. “Still, fuck buddies in the apocalypse does still feel relevant,” Sam continues. “Even the fictional scenarios are based on a real-life terror that doesn’t feel too far away.”
“A lot of it has to do with timing,” says Sam of Wargasm’s success. “Every now and again, society links up with the same feeling of lack. If you can speak to that with your music, whether it be through escapism, romanticism, speaking out against it or just being pissed off, it’ll connect with people, as long as you’re being honest.” ■
