Biography
This inventive, experimental, and eclectic metalcore outfit from Liverpool blends death metal's brutality with its progressive variant, at times shifting toward ambient, synth-driven sections textured by shoegaze influences. Their dynamic range first emerged on the concept-driven debut The Cold Sun in 2017 and reached fuller expression with the widely praised I Let it in and It Took Everything in 2020, by which time the group had earned frequent nods in newcomer categories, including at the 2018 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.
Although vocalist Kadeem France and vocalist/guitarist Erik Bickerstaffe had already spent two to three years collaborating in earlier Liverpool projects such as Our Imbalance, the pair did not adopt the name Loathe until 2014. Bickerstaffe handled clean vocals exclusively at first, yet France began adding his own clean parts by 2017; both had delivered unclean death growls from the start, supported by Connor Sweeney on rhythm guitar, Sean Radcliffe on drums, and Shayne Smith on bass.
A 2015 appearance at Manchester's Deadbolt Festival preceded their independently funded debut EP, Prepare Consume Proceed. To cultivate an enigmatic image, France performed early shows in a horror mask while the group performed under three-digit aliases and withheld any details about their background. After SharpTone Records, an imprint connected to Nuclear Blast, reissued the EP, they dropped this theatrical approach for straightforward presentation. Most of 2016 involved U.K. dates supporting Birmingham's Oceans Ate Alaska and fellow Liverpool act Carcer City, while early 2017 found them on the road with Harrogate's melodic hardcore band Blood Youth.
Matt McLennan produced their first full-length, The Cold Sun, which was tracked in Atlanta, Georgia, and issued in June 2017. Subsequent support runs came alongside Harbinger and Bury Tomorrow, and early the following year they shared a split EP with Cardiff post-hardcore outfit Holding Absence. Following a Download Festival slot, Smith departed to pursue tattooing and was succeeded by Holding Absence bassist Feisal El-Khazragi, who also supplies backing unclean vocals. The balance of 2018 was spent touring, though Bickerstaffe produced material for God Complex and France contributed vocals to Of Legions' hardcore track "Vision of Misery."
In September 2019, just ahead of their debut performance in China, the band released the tracks "Gored" and "New Face in the Dark," the first excerpts from February 2020's I Let it in and It Took Everything. That album moves fluidly across death metal, emo, soundtrack-inspired electronics, and shoegaze.
Although vocalist Kadeem France and vocalist/guitarist Erik Bickerstaffe had already spent two to three years collaborating in earlier Liverpool projects such as Our Imbalance, the pair did not adopt the name Loathe until 2014. Bickerstaffe handled clean vocals exclusively at first, yet France began adding his own clean parts by 2017; both had delivered unclean death growls from the start, supported by Connor Sweeney on rhythm guitar, Sean Radcliffe on drums, and Shayne Smith on bass.
A 2015 appearance at Manchester's Deadbolt Festival preceded their independently funded debut EP, Prepare Consume Proceed. To cultivate an enigmatic image, France performed early shows in a horror mask while the group performed under three-digit aliases and withheld any details about their background. After SharpTone Records, an imprint connected to Nuclear Blast, reissued the EP, they dropped this theatrical approach for straightforward presentation. Most of 2016 involved U.K. dates supporting Birmingham's Oceans Ate Alaska and fellow Liverpool act Carcer City, while early 2017 found them on the road with Harrogate's melodic hardcore band Blood Youth.
Matt McLennan produced their first full-length, The Cold Sun, which was tracked in Atlanta, Georgia, and issued in June 2017. Subsequent support runs came alongside Harbinger and Bury Tomorrow, and early the following year they shared a split EP with Cardiff post-hardcore outfit Holding Absence. Following a Download Festival slot, Smith departed to pursue tattooing and was succeeded by Holding Absence bassist Feisal El-Khazragi, who also supplies backing unclean vocals. The balance of 2018 was spent touring, though Bickerstaffe produced material for God Complex and France contributed vocals to Of Legions' hardcore track "Vision of Misery."
In September 2019, just ahead of their debut performance in China, the band released the tracks "Gored" and "New Face in the Dark," the first excerpts from February 2020's I Let it in and It Took Everything. That album moves fluidly across death metal, emo, soundtrack-inspired electronics, and shoegaze.
Singles
