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War Music Image
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 8 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 16 Ratings

  • Summary: The fifth full-length studio release for the Swedish hardcore punk band was produced by Martin Ehrencrona.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Oct 18, 2019
    100
    Musically, the band sounds as tight as ever, matching Lyxzén’s dynamic vocals with monstrous riffs and rhythm all through War Music. ... With War Music, Refused have delivered a rousing call to arms, and perhaps a call to their punk-rock peers to join the fight.
  2. 100
    War Music is the best album Refused have ever made. It has more in common with the violent swing of a sledgehammer than any punk record we’ve heard this year.
  3. Kerrang!
    Oct 18, 2019
    80
    Impassioned and intense, packed with killer riffs, compressed, barely-controlled energy and a driving sense of momentum. [19 Oct 2019, p.53]
  4. Oct 18, 2019
    80
    An invigorating listen that flirts with the eclecticism of their 1998 album, ‘War Music’ continues to set Refused apart from the pack.
  5. Oct 21, 2019
    80
    Ultimately, War Music doesn't sound especially innovative, particularly stacked up against their 1998 masterpiece The Shape of Punk to Come. But it speaks to a world still wrestling with problems that have divided society for centuries, and Refused aren't rehashing old arguments so much as they're launching one more campaign in a war they cannot bear to surrender.
  6. 80
    You can tell these are songs that could come straight from the minds of Davey Havok and Jade Puget. I would admit sometimes they kill momentum of the album and one or two tracks do blend in and feel repetitive but the lyrics, messages and overall political edge compensate for these shortcomings.
  7. Classic Rock Magazine
    Oct 18, 2019
    70
    It may not match the mind-melting complexity or bold inventiveness of their finest hour, but War Music solidly demonstrates that Refused's passion remains undimmed. [Nov 2019, p.82]

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of
  2. Mixed: 0 out of
  3. Negative: 0 out of