Molotov Solution/War From A Harlots MouthThis was originally released in August of 2006 and War From A Harlots Mouth (Berlin, Germany) has since signed to Lifeforce Records. Their only previous release was an EP titled "Falling Upstairs". They play a hybrid style of grindcore that draws inspiration from hardcore, death metal, jazz, etc.
Like their label mates, Misericordiam, Molotov Solution also comes from the city of sin, Las Vegas. To my knowledge this is their first proper release, though they will be releasing a full length due out in the coming months on Twelve Gauge. These guys fall a bit more towards the deathcore genre but they do step outside of that box to incorporate some brief little jazzed out sections.
Molotov Solution starts the CD off with 4 songs. The first song "The Myth of Human Progress" starts off with some weird guitar feedback with whirling effects until they jump right into a chunky riff with both low and high vocals. The middle of song has an awesome breakdown that gets heavier and heavier, the churning double bass really outlines it. Right afterwards they throw in a brief little jazzy section until they jump back into slow deathcore styled riffing. The second song, "Prescription Genocide" has an almost Exhumed feel during the first minute, then the band slows it down to a steady chug until the 1:30 mark where they use a riff that sounds like the Fourth Plague Flies era of A Life Once Lost. The third song ,"Mayor Oscar Goodman's Thumb Fetish" is a interlude that first starts off with some eerie melodies and then turns into a nice little hip hop break (which most will hate, but fuck em)with scratch and vocal samples. The final song "National Arrogance And The Hypocrisy of Torture" starts off in a blaze of grind until they jump into a start and stop riff and then at the 35 second mark they enter something that came off of Cephalic Carnage's "Exploiting Dysfunction". Midway through the song the band goes into another churning deathmetal riff until they jump into another chunky breakdown to close the song off.
War From A Harlots Mouth is definitely an enjoyable listen. "Uptown Girl..", which also appeared on their old EP has a riff at the 1:20 mark that sounds like it was taken straight off of Poison The Well's "Opposite of December", even with the spoken singing. It sounds pretty fucking awesome too. "The End Time Message Pt. I" starts off frantically with a short picking pattern for 20 seconds, they then jump into a slick breakdown only until they slow it up with a cool slow part with some more well placed spoken singing. They then thrown in a cool breakdown with deep gutturals over a hammer on run. "Keeping It Up" Is a short one minute song that is built around hardcore shouts and drumming. The final song "The End Time Message Pt.2" starts off with dizzying guitars while the vocalist utilizes both grunts and shrieks. They then jump into a strictly instrumental melodic part that ends not only the bands half but the album itself.
It's so funny that the elitist bash on metalcore/deathcore/grindcore etc., and would be perfectly content with listening to the same Youth of Today cover band but time and time again I encounter more bands of the said genres who have much more social/political driven lyrics. Molotov Solution writes some awesome lyrics, "The Myth of Human Progress" is about the how the government expects us to give up our "liberties" for our "freedom". The next song "Prescription Genocide" is about how our government is much more content on creating illnesses to sell drugs then to keep its population healthy. The final song "National Arrogance and The Hypocrisy of Torture", which is about how the US wanted to take Saddam out of power for torturing people yet our troops went in there with orders from our commander in chief and did the same thing. Yeah remember those pictures of our troops standing next to tortured victims?
War From A Harlots Mouth is a little too typical in the lyric department. The first song "Uptown Girl..." is about the burden of love. The next song "The End Time Message Part I" and its conclusion "The End Time Message Part II" seems to about some song about creating your own downfalls but it's hard to tell because all of the typos, it's like reading a dairy of a 1st grader.
Both bands provide quality recordings. Molotov Solution's side will easily put a hurtin on your stereo. The guitar tone is abrasive and loud as hell, really adds an edge to the breakdowns. The bass tone is thick and has pretty good presence, though a little more wouldn't have hurt. I love the drum tone, the snare sounds sweet, the kick is vicious as hell. Great vocal placement as well as good volume. War From A Harlots Mouth's recording is also quite good. The drummer's snare has a nice ping, and the tom toms sound great. The guitars sound awesome and the tone is extremely versatile, whether it's heavy distortion needed for a breakdown or some nice brightness for the melodic parts it's there. The bass tone sounds great too.
The layout is pretty cool but it is a bit on the "overdone" side. It's got a contrasted background filled with different shades of brown and green. It's got a guy in the suit with a skull that has blood permeating out of it with syringes forming a circle around him. The booklet is two panels and displays the lyrics over the contrasted background used throughout the rest of the album. My biggest gripe is there seems to be way too many typos in WFAHM's lyrics, half of the time it doesn't even make sense.
Rating: 3.9/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: The Myth of Human Progress (MS) and Uptown Girl, Uptown Girl, I Had A Crush On You, Oh Uptown Girl (WFAHM)
Synopsis: I liked what both bands have to offer, I'm leaning more towards Molotov Solution because of their lyrics and awesome combination of low and high vocals. War From A Harlots Mouth is no slouch either, they inject a bit more hardcore into their writing which makes for a nice mix, though I would like them to incorporate into one song rather than just having one song that sounds different from the next. But yeah I suggest you check out both bands Myspace to see for yourself: Molotov Solution & War From A Harlots Mouth If you like what you hear make the purchase from the label: Twelve Gauge Records