Somewhere in 2004 in the barren wastelands of Belgium Whatever It Takes was formed as a side project of the Belgium Deathmetal band Outcast with Hanzer, former Die My Demons and Sad Origin, on vocals. They immediately started to spread their name with oldschool Metalcore in the style of Fury Of 5, Hoods and Cold As Life. Shortly after this they got noticed by Fueled With Hate Records which offered them a record deal and a split with the Kings of Clubz was recorded very short after that. Now that the split single has sold out, Whatever It Takes thought the time was right for their debut album D.H.M

 

The album starts with ’Deathblow’ , which immediately reveals the influences that are mentioned above. Immediately I started to hope that Whatever It Takes can hold this level of aggressiveness and passion that they show during this song. Sadly enough my expectations were a bit too high considering the next few songs. Especially ‘Dashboard Devils’ has the word mediocre in every chord of the song.

 

After this, ‘Kid Gloves Puppy Clown’, another standard Metalcore song terrorizes my ears and several moments later ‘Mister Money Making Mainstream Dog’ comes crashing out of my speakers. Finally another song that was worthwhile waiting for. With uptempo drums this song gives the album the highly needed kick in the ass and still gives a bit of hope for the rest of the album. Luckily there’s more where that came from considering the songs ‘Coldblooded Discharge’ and ‘Whatever It Takes’.

 

Overall it isn’t a bad album and the addition of two vocalist works out very well, but it doesn’t lift the album to another level. Add to this the fact that I’m not completely convinced about the songs on D.H.M and my final score is explained. Although the score isn’t great, I do have the intention to visit one of their shows because like most Metalcore bands, they should be experienced live instead of an album.