Genre: Gothic doom metal
Origin: Belarus
Released: 2008
Website: Diathra
Label: Stygian Crypt Productions
Uploaded: 18.06.10

I can enjoy a good doom metal album, but gothic doom not so much. And it gets even harder for me to deal with as it turns out My endless sorrow, the sophomore album of Diathra, is so much of a gothic doom metal album as it’s gothic metal that occasionally go slow enough to be labeled as ‘doom’. To be perfectly honest I know so little about this style of music that pretty much the only band I know of is Lacuna Coil, so it’s safe to say I’m far from being the right guy to judge.
But I suppose Diathra at times remind me a little of Lacuna Coil, in particular Dreams of fire which has that interaction between clean female vocals and growling male vocals that I’ve heard said band use a couple of times. But that’s as far as I’d go for comparison. The female vocals are fairly strong. She can certainly hold a note and deliver emotions through here singing, but unfortunately it never grabs my attention. While I might not appreciate gothic music I can still appreciate a powerful voice. But this time around I just don’t feel it overpower my inner essence, and thus stops short of really captivating. And while on the subject of vocals I’d also like to add that the male growls truly lacks soul, which is a damn shame as it takes away from the musical effect rather than enhancing it.
I can’t say there is any given moment where I feel myself compelled by the music, but I’m pretty sure it’s due to my harboured skepticism towards the genre. While I think a general fan of the style will like Diathra, they fail in convincing me with amazing riffs, wicked song structures or anything to that matter of effect. The drum patterns are rather repetitive, which it doesn’t have to be just because it’s slow music, and the riffing never stands out enough to speak to me. It sounds much like any other goth metal band to me. But I’ll give them credit for the sparse and hence utterly effective use of the keyboard.

Tracklist:
01. Autumn
02. How many times
03. Dreams of fire
04. My autumnal images
05. I feel…
06. Mysterious season
07. I am sorry
08. My universe
09. The light of the diamond theatre
10. Willow