War From A Harlots Mouth
Transmetropolitan
6.5
Here is yet another band combining death/grind and hardcore breakdowns. On their Lifeforce debut, War From A Harlots Mouth have delivered a competent but largely derivative album with a few above-average moments and top-notch production. For me, Despised Icon’s The Ills Of Modern Man set the bar for this style earlier this year and by comparison, Transmetropolitan comes up short.
Let’s start with the positives and the good news is these Germans can certainly play. Taken separately, the death metal, grind, hardcore and non-metallic elements are pulled off adequately, at times even inspired. The lumbering, open breakdown and gang vocals which slowly fade out the last minute of "Heeeey… Let’s Start a Band" is a standout moment. "Fighting Wars With Keyboards" is probably the most intense track on the album, with chugging breakdowns, blast beats galore and genuine hardcore rhythms interchanged effectively. "Mulder" features some effective post-hardcore riffs and melodies juxtaposed against the screamed vocals and abrasive guitars. It’s just a shame the song loses its early momentum and drags on for seven minutes. And the ‘machine gun breakdown’ at the end of "If You Want To Blame Us For Something, Abuse This Song" is one of the cheesiest things I’ve heard all year but admittedly a lot of fun.
As easy as it is to recall my favourite parts on Transmetropolitan, it’s not so easy recalling any favourite songs. As enjoyable as a lot of this, you’ve heard it all before by bands who have the ability to tie their various stylistic influences together far more smoothly. At forty minutes, at least WFAHM have the good sense to keep things short and sweet on this album. And don’t get me wrong, a lot of Transmetropolitan sure tasted good but once it was over I wanted something more substantial. While the musicianship and production values are excellent, War From A Harlots Mouth need at least another album to develop their own sound and ideas. It’ll be interesting to hear what these guys come up with next once the hype over ‘deathcore’ dies down. Good luck to them.
