Loathe are one of the best, if not THE best metal band in the UK right now. Without question.
Let me backtrack, if I may, and start at the beginning. I’d been looking forward to this show for a while, because it was lining up to be an absolute mate-fest. My very good friends and recent touring partners The Cartographer were the opening band. Derby/Nottingham tech metallers and all round good guys Taken By The Tide were in the middle of the bill. And, last but not least, Loathe were top of the bill. Skies have played shows with Loathe in the past, around a year or so ago, and Shayne (Loathe bassist) used to be in a band called Fed To The Ocean who we have toured and played numerous shows with. Not only was the music going to be strong this evening, so was the company, and that is always a solid combination for a great gig.
I got to The Maze at about 6.20, roughly 20 or 30 minutes before the first band. It gave me time to get beer number one in (ok NOW I won't mention beer again) and an opportunity to socialise with some of my friends before the loud distorted noise kicked off. But when it did, it didn’t half slap me in the face and demand my attention. The Cartographer are hands down one of the most exciting and enjoyable bands in our local scene. They’ve been around a few years now, but looking at them now compared to when they first emerged, they’ve come on leaps and bounds. Their tone has got better. Their movement and stage presence has got better. Their solidarity and tightness as a musical unit has got better. They are constantly on the up, and I feel like every time I watch them, they improve. I’m very proud of the lads for continuously pushing forwards, allowing them to bag shows like this. Pallets were mentioned during the set, which I won’t delve into too far. But it’s a reference to our tour when a Scottish man living in Swansea wanted to take us to the beach and burn things. Long story.
Next up was Miscreant, who I hadn’t heard of before. Occasionally, I feel you can pre-empt how a band is going to sound based on what their logo looks like. Theirs was a sort of death metal esque logo, bordering on being difficult to make out. The sort of logo that, if it was any more elaborate, would've looked like a distorted and fuzzy optical illusion. What I expected compared to what I heard and saw were sort of accurate. Sort of. They had death elements. Blast beats, dirty low vocals, that kind of thing. But what I wasn’t expecting was how unpredictable they were. Breakdowns and slam sections would appear out of nowhere. I’d predict a chorus or a bridge of some form and be musically punched in the face by a low low tone and one of the snappiest snares of the evening. I was massively impressed by their drummer too, who turned out to be a fill in drummer which blew my mind because he was so locked in with the band. The set flowed so well, picking up pace and slowing down all in the right places, never losing any weight. They won the crowd over quickly, and the room was full of appreciative nodding heads. I’d watch these again, for sure.
Taken By The Tide were the third band of the evening. Probably the most technically proficient band of the evening, playing around with time signatures like a childs toy, they were an undeniable force, as always. The last time I saw them perform, they only had one guitarist, Eric, who is an absolute musical genius and is one of those guys that’s annoyingly good at everything. I never considered what it’d be like to watch them with two guitarists. But that’s exactly what I was treated to tonight, and I have one thing to say. Flippin’ ‘eck. The extra guitar adds so much depth to their sound and tone, and the trade offs between guitars during particular sections completely adds to the impact of their set. Phil (vocalist) did a great job as always lurking across the stage and spitting venom at anyone brave enough to look him in the eye. As always, they were as tight as tight can be. The guitar work made me a little bit depressed inside because I’m not as good as either of the guitarists, the bassist has a 7 string bass and actually uses the entire range, and they displayed pure anger and attitude, which everyone in the room completely absorbed. They never let me down.
Harbinger were next up. I’d heard a lot about these guys from both social media and one of my house mates, Luke, who only likes his music if it’s low tuned and makes him want to fold in half when he hears it. Social media showed me they were going to be a very destructive force. An absolute powerhouse of a band. Luke told me that they were going to be heavy and tight and if I spent too much time watching the guitarists I’d get sad. Luke was also in attendance tonight, and ensured me this would be the case. I didn’t really know what to expect. But. All of it was accurate. From the very first chords and blast beats, I could tell that this was going to blow me away. And it did. Their stage presence was menacing, their musical technicalities were mind numbing (especially the solos, most of which made me want to go home and set fire to all of my guitars), the vocals were disgustingly good, and some of the breakdowns were so dirty that they turned Luke into a polar ice cap and he started to melt. If Luke was a trifle, his head was the cream, his torso was the custard, and 100% his legs were the jelly. They reminded me of a cross between Lamb Of God, Pantera and The Acacia Strain. Pulsing, musically impressive, punishing metal. Impressed isn’t really a strong enough word.
Last, and very not least, Loathe. I literally don’t really know how to verbally explain what I witnessed. I’ve seen Loathe before when we’ve played with them, and they were all about the atmosphere. They used to have two guys stand on stage with them, completely motionless in dirty t-shirts with their hands firmly clasped in front of them and with pillow cases/sacks covering their heads, completely oblivious to the chaos happening around them. Both visually and musically they were a sight to behold a year ago. But the band I saw tonight was not the same band. Not in the slightest. What I saw tonight was leaps and bounds not just above what I saw a year ago, but above the vast majority of the UK metal scene as a whole. The two pillowcase operatives (not their official title) had been replaced by TV screens, which had a movie playing that synced with the entire set. The lights had been programmed to be red and red only. The mask that Kadeem (vocalist) used to don was only used during the bands approach to the stage. Before they even played one note, I could tell this wasn’t just going to be any old show. A couple of songs into the set I was completely speechless. I felt like I was nervous, which I wasn’t, I just had adrenaline coursing through me. They were flawless. Everything was perfect. The vocals, both sung and screamed, were performed with ease and accuracy. The guitar tone for both guitars complimented each other, and complete with the bass created an enormous wall of aggression. The drummer was basically a robot. It was like watching them record the album, that’s how tight it was. As for the show they put on, they were more energetic than bands I’ve paid more than twice as much to see. I can’t name one single fault of their performance. Not a single fault. Nothing. The set ended and I was left hungry. I’d told myself I wasn’t going to buy any merch because I need to save money, but you know what? They earned my money. They deserved it. I haven’t watched a show that’s made me feel like that in a long time. Especially not a show in a venue that small. I’ve come away completely inspired and astounded. I also left wanting to give up on music a little bit because I don’t think I’ll ever be that good, but I'm hoping the positives I've left with outweigh that in the long run. Loathe are completely in a league of their own right now, and if they don’t blow up soon I’ll be very surprised.
If you haven’t checked Loathe out before, go and check out The Cold Sun, which is available in all the usual online places, as well as HMV in the good old faithful metal section. Check out the Prepare Consume Proceed EP too. Both absolutely SLAY and are so worth your time. Combine Slipknot and your favourite horror movie, and you’re sort of on your way to picturing how Loathe sound.
Nottingham was day 6 of their tour with Harbinger. If you were considering attending one of the remaining dates, stop considering. Go. You need to see this. You won’t regret it.
D.S
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