Whores. – War.

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · January 27, 2025

Whores. is a post hardcore/ noise rock/ metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band formed in 2010 and currently consists of Christian Lembach on vocals and guitar, Casey Maxwell on bass, and Douglas Jennings Barrett on drums. The power trio released a couple of EPs including 2011’s Ruiner, and 2013’s Clean. The band then put out their debut album, 2016’s Gold. On April 16th 2024, Whores. released their latest album called War. and it includes ten tracks in thirty three minutes.

“Malinches” rips right into the record with a heavy battery of riffs, grooves, and pent up aggressive. The agro-fueled song has a stomping rhythm of head banging proportions. The music has a dynamic surge from the verse to the chorus with the shouting line “I’ll cut you out!”. Whores. waste no time setting the feel for this album. Their songs are heavy, groove laden with noise rock, and catchy too. “Quitter’s Fight Song” begins with the fuzzy bass and drums and explodes with the guitar riff and the yelling anthem “fight!” repeated throughout before the vocals enter the verse. Christian Lembach’s voice angrily sings the songs in yelling fashion blended with an element of melody too. The excellent bass and drum groove from Casey Maxwell and Douglas Jennings Barrett drive the song on the verses, accompanied by Lembach’s noise rocking guitar screeching. The song has a sledgehammer stomp to the chorus and overall it’s a sonic beat down. “Hieronymus Bosch Was Right” kicks right in with a high octane, adrenalized punk rhythm. The song has a viscous and rebellious anguished direction with a “take no shit” attitude built in.

The fourth track “Hostage Therapy” has a trampling mosh riff hammering down to start. The muted guitar strumming verses detonate into the heavy riffing. The song is brutal but has a catchiness to it also. “Back When I Was A Savage” erupts into a hardcore riff infused with noise rock fury. Whores. have interesting song titles throughout the album and Wars. is a non stop rager of riotous punk with distinguished stoner grooves wrapped in pummeling noise rock. The band has some remnants of industrial sounds injected into their music also. “Sicko” incorporates these features with the swirling guitar noises and the rhythmic drumming involved too. You can’t really pigeonhole this band into one genre because they derive sounds from many.

“The Death Of A Stuntman” is another ripping song that clobbers ahead with full steam. Whores. has a nice formula for propelling the bass and drums in the rhythm, sometimes as a standalone, other times with subtle guitar strumming, and then ascending into a grandiose heavy riff. They are architects of musical dynamics and pile driving rhythms, as displayed on “Every Day Is Leg Day”. War. is a bulldozing prize of fast junctions of riffs and heavy grooves. They are a band that delivers energy on every single song. The final real song on the album is called “Imposter Syndrome”. It’s a slower but heavy explosion of sonic devastation. The band reminds me of old 16, Ken Mode, and the Melvins at times. I also hear some Nail and Pigcharmer era of Throttlerod, with the noise rock and heavy riffing components. The sound quality on War. is top notch, which really enhances the heaviness and aggression of the songs. The final outro entitled “Savage Reprise”, has an electronic backdrop for the narrated album credits. It’s a very clever and unique twist to finish off the recording with.

Whores. are a great band that really delivers a wallop of heavy riff rock glory, a furry of hardcore/ punk aggression, and some angular noise rocking elements with catchy and infectious hooks. I bet this band is a menace in the live setting. Sometimes this is the type of band that is needed for that extra boost of energy and kick in the ass spark of vivacity.