Loathe's New Album: Ambitious but Muddy

Loathe, the Liverpool-based metalcore band, has released their latest album, A Stranger to You. The record showcases the band's considerable chops and genre-fluency, proving their ability to stand alongside legacy acts. However, the album's omnivorous ambition is a double-edged sword, revealing potential pitfalls in its execution. Many songs contain flashes of brilliance, with breakdowns on 'Gemini' and 'Revenant' proving inventive and invigorating. Tracks like 'Block of Flats' and 'Fortress Down' feature anthemic passages that highlight melodic shortcomings in modern metalcore. The use of digital effects on 'Harder to Pretend' and 'Meet My Maker' offers thrilling sonic textures. Despite these strengths, the album's production is criticized as bafflingly muddy, and its song structures often interrupt catchy passages, such as when 'Gemini' shifts to an industrial beat. The latter half of the album features longer, more patient songs that allow it to finally settle.