The Murder And The Harlot - 2011 These Hands Wrote the Bastard in Me

Band : The Murder And The Harlot

Album : These Hands Wrote the Bastard in Me
Release Year : 2011
Genre : Metalcore / Post-Hardcore / Progressive

Tracklist :

1. Designed By The Devil, Powered By The Dead
2. The Graveyard Shift
3. Hey man
4. Dogmeat
5. A Plague And The Mixture Of…
6. The Difference Between
7. 10 Times The Wake
8. Realization: Answers
9. Porcelain 

These Hands Wrote the Bastard in Me is crisp, polished, and no-filler metalcore, and while I could levy the criticism that it’s not really pushing any boundaries, it does what it sets out to do extremely well, which is good enough for four stars in my book. The album reminds me quite a bit of To Speak Of Wolves’ Myself < Letting Go, not just in terms of some sonic similarities, but in the sense that each record has an aura of confidence and precision not commonly found on most debuts. And though like TSOW there is a presence of clean parts that don’t always work, when they do, they prove to be quite effective (the buried clean vocals, the delay effects, and the several melodic passages of “The Graveyard Shift,” for one).
While there is that contemporary metalcore template The Murder and the Harlot generally abide by, there are some progressive inclinations, such as in the aforementioned “The Graveyard Shift,” that complement the melodicism quite nicely, and their August Burns Red impression in places is, well, not out of place. “Hey Man” runs its attack through Norma Jean territory while delivering some of the most violent breakdowns these headphones have withstood in recent memory, and “10 Times The Wake” is a metalcore monstrosity, not only pounding away with unabated fury, but remarkably pulling off a clean part that would be saccharine in most other bands’ hands. “Realization: Answers” has another good clean part and some delectable gang vocals, and “Porcelain” re-visits the Norma Jean comparison and features a female guest vocal that locks down the song’s outro and ends the album on a strong note.

Outside of the occasional misguided emo sections that stretch the boundaries of credibility (the chorus of “A Plague And The Mixture Of…” is one of the worst culprits), and the fairly trite band name, there really isn’t anything to gripe about with the execution of this record. The band pretty clearly exudes passion, they’re a tight unit, the screams are spot-on, and even the somewhat over-used electronic bass-drops don’t really bother me. This will most certainly not be the first time, nor the last, this statement will be made about a band, particularly in metalcore, but once these guys develop more of a distinctive sound and personality, and eliminate those few parts that sound a tad too uncomfortably Hot Topic from their repertoire—essentially when the band matures a bit more—they’ll really be a force in the scene. These Hands Wrote the Bastard in Me is a very strong debut and a great place to start. -decoymusic

 

 

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