Whatever End – A Birth Of Loss

Genre: Doom/Progressive Death Metal
Country: Greece
Label: Self-released
Year: 2017

Whatever End, after 10 years as a band and going through enough line-up changes, come to establish themselves in the Greek underground scene with their first official full-length work, “A Birth of Loss”. By being not a major expert on this very side of extreme music, I have to say that this record makes a major impression from the start and reflects all the hard work behind it. We’re dealing with a perfect blend of doom metal following Candlemass’ footsteps; fast riffing like Opeth (once) paved the way to and Therion’s unique theatricality, where the vocals play a key role, all filtered through a “heavy metal” sieve and classical culture. Beyond the heavy parts of the album, the band doesn’t seem to be afraid showcasing its more sensitive side at times, especially at the bonus acoustic version of “Evershift”. I have some objections on the album’s production style as a fan of raw sound, but I’m not educated enough on the genre and cannot comment much on its technological backing. Maybe smaller songs could make my listening experience more enjoyable, as well. In general, it’s a metal record that’s definitely worthy of your time and attention.

4/6