Album Review: War from a Harlots Mouth - 'Voyeur'

Intangibles in music are a funny thing. What presents well on paper and similarly, what ticks all the boxes doesn’t always ensure brilliance.

War from a Harlots Mouth are a good band. A very good band in fact. Let’s get that out of the way early. Competent musicians, interesting meter changes and stylistic variations unpin these German heavy hitters. However, while the music has always been of a solid level, the sound has never risen to the massive heights a simple ticking of the checklist would easily suggest.

So where is the issue? Well, feeding the analysis is there doesn’t appear to be one. Fitting with the above assertions, the music is defined, the production clear and the energy and effort apparent. It is just the music flows instead of grabs. 

Fourth studio album, and follow-up to 2010’s ‘MMX’, ‘Voyeur’ is a menacing display of aggression and determination. It is familiar and inviting to the observant metal head. Equally, it’s heavy and mixes WFAHM’s traditional song structures.

But, while the music is signature WFAHM, once again it just provides an adequate listen without the listener feeling the full-length rises to great heights. Perhaps it’s harsh and patronising to be so complimentary but also so indifferent at the same time? We can meet half-way though in the collective thinking because ‘Voyeur’ is simply better than so much crap that is infiltrating the genre at the moment, but if we are to go by that feeling inside us, these 13 tracks (15, if you count the bonus material) just don’t create that adrenalin and overall excitement some other albums do.

‘Of Fear and Total Control’ is a fitting moment and ‘Temple’ is technical and showcases the level of class these Europeans possess. As a cursory note, ‘Voyeur’ seems to focus less on the jazzy elements that made predecessors such as ‘Transmetropolitan’ so diverse and instead goes into denser, solely metal territory.

‘To The Villains’ is a blast-fest early and will translate well in a live setting. ‘Scopophobia’ introduces some melody in the vocals giving the tail-end a point of difference.

‘Voyeur’ is a progression and another capable album that puts many of its peers to shame with its level of execution. But there is, unfortunately, still the feeling that this studio album doesn’t move you as much as you’d like.

The more competent you are, the more sternly you are graded. It might be perceived as unfair but that is often the reality. War from a Harlots Mouth develop with ‘Voyeur’. It’s decent and passes in most areas. The full-length just doesn’t offer as much impact as perhaps is expected.

1. Origin

2. Vertigo

3. H(a)unted

4. Terrifier

5. Of Fear and Total Control

6. Temple

7. The Black Lodge

8. Beyond Life and Death

9. To the Villains

10. Krycek

11. Scopophobia

12. Catacombæ

13. Epiphany