We love whores.
We love Whores. The Atlanta band played in support of Eyehategod at Chapel of Bones in Raleigh, NC on Monday night (09.21.2026). This is where things changed for me. This is where I felt my face melting. That feeling only comes along rarely in music, at least without the aid of fungal accommodations.
Let me get into this a little. (continued after gallery)
Whores. is currently Christian Lembach (vocals/guitar), Donnie Adkinson (drums) and Douglas Jennings Barrett (bass, formerly the band's drummer). They formed in 2010 and usually get filed under noise rock and sludge metal. Honestly, that's a fucking copout. Sure, the labels help explain them to the uninitiated (and I've been the uninitiated). People compare them to Helmet. Cute, but nope. Melvins, maybe. Or maybe they're just Whores.
Before Monday I made a playlist of the bands supporting Eyehategod and started digging in. Their 2024 album War. caught my ear. First it was "Sicko." Then "Quitter's Fight Song" hit me. Two tracks ain't bad. Then "Hostage Therapy" got me. Things kept adding up. But the one that hooked me was "Hieronymus Bosch Was Right." I kept hitting repeat on that track. By the end of the week I had really dug into their catalog. My verdict: yeah, cool band.
Then Monday night happened.
I shoot a lot of shows. I just got done with six in a 10-day run. Usually I go to work and try to enjoy a few songs between shots. Whores. is the first band that made me STOP SHOOTING. Let me repeat that. I STOPPED SHOOTING. By their third song I was like, "Fuck this. I need to go stand at the side of the stage and just watch and listen."
Christian's tones are phenomenal. The albums are awesome, but live is a whole other beast. This band is fucking bonkers live. I've never been that close to anything like it on a stage. The "cool band" from streaming became GODS live.
I haven't stopped playing War. since the show. I run it front to back at least once a day now. It's like a drug. I'm searching for that perfect high I felt Monday night, standing stage left and feeling the music. The album is methadone. It'll get me through, but it ain't the SMACK of seeing Whores. live.
Go see every live show you can. You never know who's going to hit the stage and leave you chasing the dragon for the rest of your audio days.
