Whores., true to their blunt name, play straight, to-the-point noise rock with a bit of sludge in it. Not overly artsy or unhinged, their past work excelled due to their fine, honed songcraft and ability to make everything — from a vocal line, a riff, or a drum beat — stick inside your skull for days. Eight years after their last album, War. hits the scene with little announcement or fanfare.
The TL;DR is that I don’t like War. as much as its predecessor. I do not like it as much as Clean., either. I wholeheartedly recommend anyone new to this band to get it and give it a shot.
Let’s start from the beginning. Whores. started out as a sludge metal band with a minor in noise rock; songs such as “Tell Me Something Scientific” fuzzed and sizzled slowly. Drumming was languid and unhurried, every strum of the guitar seemed to last forever. For a punky noise rock band, Whores. utilized empty space more masterfully than most post-rock bands.
Every release since then, the sludge has been gradually reduced in favour of a stronger AmRep noise rock influence and more vocal hooks. War. continues this trend by speeding up the pace further; the drums never go below rock speeds, and the guitar is playing almost all riffs (as opposed to adding texture). The drumming is also much busier; faster speed, more fills, all the time. The only thing unchanged is Lembach‘s vitriolic bark, which somehow seems to have suffered little despite eight years of touring and yelling his lungs out. The man is old enough to be my dad, and doing that yell while still hitting notes can’t be easy.
While none of these changes are “bad” changes, War., despite its name conjuring up images of severed limbs and smoking homes, is Whores.‘ most fun and rocking album. War. is more rowdy and savage, and it fits the mood of stumbling out of the bar more than the vomiting on yourself you do later in your own apartment at 4 am. If you’re into that, War. won’t lead you amiss. It’s a great noise rock album that I can see being in my yearly best-of list, and it’s a solid achievement that’s far ahead of most of the new noise rock pack. As a long-time fan, however, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed in the lack of slower, sludgy hatred.
Addendum: they’re on tour right now despite drummer Douglas currently also undergoing treatment for cancer. As with most professional musicians who aren’t filthy stinking rich, he has no insurance to cover the costs.
Donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/join-us-in-supporting-douglas-barretts-recovery
