Up till now, I have refrained from complaining about downloaded albums, but this one was particularly hard work. The album’s called “In Shoals” but my experience of it was not one continuous whole, but of 11 disparate tracks which I listened to over a period of time. But then how do you find continuity when the track titles range from “Briefing Security Werewolves on Red Alert” and “Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Errorism”?
War from a Harlot’s Mouth (let me refer to them as WFAHM) don’t claim to be simple and make the claim that many make when they state that they are a band, but not one which adheres to a conventionally known style. Sometimes this claim is hard to reconcile. With WFAHM it’s true. The interest of this album lies in its ferocity, its gloom and its discordance. The opener “They Come in Shoals” is straight out of the blocks with a man beating hell out of his skins, the vocalist roaring down my throat, discordant guitars, yet movement. It’s quite ugly really. There’s nothing fluid about it. It’s Hardcore but then decides to slow down to doominess. It all ends in chaos. Not bad for just under 4 minutes. “No High Five for Coward” features more avant-garde Mathcore discordancy with screaming, and it works. It’s harsh, but yet has a good rhythm, pace and balance. Interesting. By “Crooks at Your Door”, growled desperation intermingles with slowed down crunchy metal. WFAHM are throwing out the rule book with this aural assault. I then realised as I listened to the instrumental and mellow “Justice from the Lips of the Highest Bidder” that there is a strong jazz feel about it. There’s a kind of spaced out sound in the background. This was bizarre, but once again intriguing. “Copyriot” did nothing for me, I have to say, but with “The Certain Nothing”, dark chaos descends before heading off into a repetitive jazzy riff, very much like Ephel Duath. The Hardcore vocalist is suffering. It then takes a much heavier twist before slowing down to a funereal pace with that discordant guitar determining the mood as usual. Chaotic Metalcore starts off “”Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Errorism”. This one slows down, becomes jazzier and finishes almost normally, if such a word could exist in the Metalcore, Jazz and everything else riot that characterises the work of WFAHM. “What Happens in the District (Paper Agents)” starts with unadulterated heaviness and hatred, but goes soft and dreamy, like a hazy summer’s day. Open-mindedness is the key to this album, and I’m loving it. Harsh screams and plaintive chords on “Stays in the District (I’m the Black Sheep of her Country)” could have brought this album to a gloomy end, but instead it gets bleaker and gloomier still with the 8 minute “Scully” – invoking the mysterious atmosphere of the X files, perhaps? “Scully” conveys the image of marching into battle and a terrible fate. It’s slow, maggot-infested and not just bleak, but apocalyptically bleak, very much along the lines in atmosphere and style of Cult of Luna.
“In Shoals” is the second full release from the German band WFAHM. It’s by no means easy to listen to, but it’s engaging with its brutality and constantly changing soundscape. In the end, the lack of continuity I experienced when listening to it didn’t matter. What I do know is that it was well worth the effort. “In Shoals” is a very interesting album.
http://www.myspace.com/warfromaharlotsmouth
http://www.lifeforcerecords.com
