Liverpool’s nu-metalcore band Loathe embarked on their first headline tour of the UK since 2021, selling out London’s Electric Brixton in mere minutes. Though their biggest tour yet, they easily could have punched bigger and played a larger venue, but the charm of seeing such a band in a relatively small venue, given their demand, is unmatched. In a room of primarily younger metal fans, Loathe demonstrated the power of the next wave of heavy music.
The venue was already busy when Love Is Noise opened proceedings, mainly due to the downpour outside. From the start, vocalist Cameron Humphrey was filled with energy, encouraging the audience to jump around and open mosh pits. However, despite a huge pit in the centre of the room, it remained empty for the most part, which was odd given how heavy the music was. There was lots of jumping on the spot and light headbanging to Love Is Noise’s bassy, drum-led metalcore. The crowd took time to build up momentum, but the floor eventually descended into pits with crowdsurfers and plenty getting involved by the time the first set of the night had concluded.
Walking onto the bass that reverberated through the floor and shook bones, Zetra seemed otherworldly, resplendent in alien-like makeup and costumes. Between the duo stood a screen set up to look like a portal into some sort of void. With a more ethereal and dreamy sound than the previous band, the crowd, which had been worked up to a high, relaxed back down once more, so it was an odd choice of running order amongst the support artists. With recorded drums and bass instead of a live band and songs that all seemed to sound the same, Zetra’s sound didn’t click so well with the audience as intended. This could be felt in the movement of the crowd compared to during the band before, and certainly wasn’t helped by the fact that the band’s vocals were slightly off-key at times. Despite what you’d imagine from the screams and catcalls directed towards guitarist and vocalist Adam Saunderson, Zetra were frankly boring.
In the half hour before Loathe took to the stage, a hypnotic Middle-Eastern beat wafted through the air alongside incense which was being burnt from the stage. Lulling unsuspecting fans into a false sense of security, a huge pit opened as the band walked onstage. From the very first note of ‘Gifted Every Strength’ onwards, the floor was completely chaotic throughout the entire set. In a mad and sweaty frenzy, hundreds clashed into one another in a chaotic mess. To the sides of this area were smaller groups jumping up and down, but the focal point of the room was the warzone in the centre of the venue. Oddly, at the start of the set, some were surprised by the nature of the crowd and attempted to shove back with snarky looks, but the wheat was soon separated from the chaff.
Matching the crowd, Loathe’s music was brutal, disturbed and angry. Melodic parts (provided by the soothing backing vocals of Erik Bickerstaffe) in tracks like ‘Screaming’ and ‘Two-Way Mirror’ provided a brief respite from the constant movement, but as soon as frontman Kadeem France returned to the mic, all hell let loose once more. His screams were echoed by the audience as they surged and slammed into one another. With fast drums and powerful guitar lines, the band were a force to be reckoned with.
Having not released new music in almost four years (barring, of course, the opening track of the concert), the majority of the set consisted of songs from I Let It in and It Took Everything. Though hungry for new material, fans seemed happy with the choice of setlist given the fact that the band have not embarked on their own tour of the country since shortly after their latest album was released.
The moshing and crowdsurfing came to an end as the group walked back onstage for an encore of ‘Is It Really You?’. With everyone singing along, the concert culminated in a relatively calming manner. However, this was not the end. The venue plunged into red once more as the pits of hell opened one more time. Loathe bowed out with a striking rendition of ‘Gored’, which packed a strong punch.
Loathe’s biggest headline show in the United Kingdom was raw, vicious and beautiful. Every track hit hard with the audience, whom the band played perfectly for. They might not be fresh on the scene, but Loathe are back bigger than ever.
Images: Ava Manthorpe.
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