Loathe (sometimes stylized as LOATHE) are an English heavy metal band from Liverpool. Formed in 2014, the group consists of lead vocalist Kadeem France, guitarist and second vocalist Erik Bickerstaffe, drummer Sean Radcliffe and bassist Feisal El-Khazragi.
They are signed to SharpTone Records and have released two EPs and three studio albums. Prepare Consume Proceed was released in 2015 and was re-issued in 2016 through SharpTone Records as the label's first release. They released their debut studio album, The Cold Sun, in 2017, then a split EP recorded with label-mate Holding Absence titled This Is as One in 2018. Loathe released their second studio album I Let It In and It Took Everything on 7 February 2020. Their third studio album the Things They Believe was released on 7 February 2021 as an extension of their previous album, and was made up entirely of ambient tracks.
The band's music makes use of elements of metalcore and nu metal, while also incorporating more experimental aspects from genres like shoegaze, progressive metal and industrial music. Loathe have been nominated for Heavy Metal Awards best UK breakthrough band and Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards best new band in 2018. In a 2020 poll by Revolver magazine, they were voted the third most likely contemporary band to break through into the mainstream.
History
Formation and Prepare Consume Proceed EP (2011–2016) Loathe has its origins in the Liverpool melodic metalcore band Our Imbalance, which Erik Bickerstaffe was a founding member of. Eventually, Kadeem France, who at that time was the drummer for Escapists UK, replaced Our Imbalance's founding vocalist Harry Rule. By 2014, the band also included drummer Sean Radcliffe. Around this time, Our Imbalance morphed into Loathe with the recruitment of guitarist Connor Sweeney and bassist Shayne Smith.
In 2015, they performed at Deadbolt Festival on 8 August, and in Autumn that same year they released their first EP titled Prepare Consume Proceed independently. The band initially kept their names anonymous, using stage names (DRK, DRT, SNK, MWL and NIL) along with not revealing their origin. Kadeem France was the only one whose stage name was revealed (DRK) as he is the lead vocalist, and was identified by a prophetic mask of unknown significance, which was used as the album artwork for their EP. on 22 November, the band supported metal band Empires Fade during their show in Manchester.
Moving onto June 2016, the band would tour as support act for Oceans Ate Alaska during their UK tour. On 8 July the same year, their EP was re-issued through SharpTone Records as the labels first release since its conception a month prior, and was accompanied with a music video for a new song exclusive to the re-issue, "In Death", which featured France wearing his mask. Bickerstaffe explained that the band was discovered by the label shortly after their independent release of their first music video for Sheol/In Death, and after their initial dialogue and exchanging of ideas, the band and label managers "clicked" and they partnered up. The EP received positive reviews, Kerrang! magazine praised the album's heavy Djent style and "synthy atmosphere" but criticised the band's horror-like image, stage names and France's mask as "some bargain-bin horror flick", giving the album 3 K's out of 5.
As the band's career progressed, the members decided that the use of code-names and the mask was unnecessary, citing that they just wanted to be themselves when performing their music and pointed to the likes of Ghost and Slipknot and their influences for starting that gimmick in the first place. Bickerstaffe would later admit that their use of masks and code-names was "...shamelessly taking ideas from other bands.", ditching them as a means of distinguishing themselves. Also in early July the band performed at Tech-Fest, later on the same month they toured as the support act for metal band Carcer City around the UK, and on 25 September, the band performed at Ozzfest meets Knotfest California on the Nuclear Blast stage.
The Cold Sun and This Is as One split EP (2017–2018)