Review Summary: "This is what it's like to be alive."
Production quality and metal never seem to be on the same page. Conventional logic would lead an outsider to believe increased quality in music construction would be inherently better for a genre and music in general. It appears, in concept, to be a clear and immediate improvement. Yet, especially in recent times, there has been a pushback against squeaky-clean production and a revival in the raw, old-school metal sound characterized by haziness and unrestrained heaviness--cleanliness be damned. Bands opt to use new studio technology to enhance this type of recording rather than changing course for what one might believe is a better option. The allure of this style of metal isn’t rocket science: it harkens back to the roots of the musical classification, where pure emotion and passion materialized into hard-hitting riffs and unbridled aggression. When pulled off correctly, this seemingly imperfect production can be very effective in highlighting the strengths of a group.
For most of the world, Harlots is nowhere close to being the go-to name to throw around when one debates this sort of metal sound. The Ohio metalcore set, disbanded for almost 10 years now, mainly stand to be lost in time along with many other short-lived acts that erupted in the scene’s rise in popularity during the early 2000s. However, in their short timespan as a band, they managed to leave a lasting effect on anyone privileged enough to hear the intricate and engaging music they created. Combining elements of post-metal, ambiance and subtle electronics with chaotic metalcore guitars, Harlots brought forth a take on the genre that still remains special and unique to this day. The group’s first album together,
The Woman You Saw is the Great City that Rules Over the Kings of the Earth--a title that by itself already testifies to the band’s unique flair--perfectly encompasses the objective Harlots had when crating their music and stands as an underground staple of the metalcore genre, and no doubt a textbook example of the effectiveness of raw production quality.
The album, in the words of drummer and core Harlots member Jeff Lohrber, deals with “the destruction of society… on a personal level as well as society as a whole,” simultaneously dealing with the duality of the positive experiences and negative experiences we have in our lives. It’s a monumental concept to put accurately into sound, but Harlots manage to transcribe emotions into music seamlessly. You can hear this punishing chaos inside every riff that rampages in the contents of this album, from the opening of “Babylon the Great” to the insanity of “She Will be Consumed By Fire.” The band navigates through intricate melodies with ease, cycling through new passages and guitar parts like it’s second nature. Their songwriting skills extend to their post-metal passages, displaying a control over melody and sophistication that could rival modern acts like Amia Venera Landscape. The confusion and disorder lives within the dissonant electronics on “Mystery,” which reoccur throughout the album multiple times as though solidifying the journey of the listener through the album, and by extension Harlots’ take on the complexity of existence.
What holds everything together, however, is the thick atmosphere presented by the raw, bare-bones production applied to the music. A haze, like a thick cloud, surrounds the band’s sound, with the guitars sounding crunchy and jarring against the almost serene fogginess. Piercing from beneath it all are the straightforward, aggressive vocals, akin to a distant voice calling from a cavernous abyss. In some cases, such as the clean vocals on “Balancing the Limbs of Question,” one can barely hear the distant singing, eerily repeating “these are the paths that we created.” Combined with the harsh electronic work appearing in-between tracks, one truly begins to embrace the realm Harlots have crafted over each song. Every detail seems so precise and calculated, delicately weaved underneath the abrasive heaviness of the guitars and the uncompromising, unclean production quality. Ultimately, this album’s sound, outwardly impure to the average listener, works directly for Harlots’ mission by making
The Woman You Saw…--Lohrber asks the audience, “Is there a reason that we can’t find this [the beginning and end of societies] as beautiful as the creation of everything?” The relationship between beauty and collapse dominates the album and is manifested inside every detail of the album, great and small.
All things considered, it should come as no surprise when the last track, “Widower,” unceremoniously closes the album with static and electrical discord. The final song, as with the entire release, manages to capture the absolute delirium, anger, sadness, and questioning attitudes we experience throughout life. Like societies across history, emotions enter and fade away with time, often times without any closure or formality. Harlots throw down the metaphorical guillotine, bringing down the curtain on
The Woman You Saw..., and let the listener sit still, the album’s many moods circling around their head. In the span of nearly forty minutes, Harlots create an incontestably whole and complete release that juggles some of the more open and difficult topics among humanity. It is an awe-inspiring album that revels in pandemonium and thrives on the true, brilliant passion that ignited metalcore and metal as a whole at the very beginning of its creation. The impression left in the wake of this ambitious album is one you won’t soon forget.
