LIVE REVIEW: Loathe @ Omeara, London

Storm Dennis was battering the streets of London, but within the intimate confines of London Bridge’s Omeara there was a very different storm about to erupt. Showcasing their stunning new album I Let It In And It Took Everything; LOATHE were performing the show of their lives. For a band to have achieved such critical acclaim on only their second full-length release is no small feat, but the Merseyside crew are never one to coast through life, making sure that the headlining tour is every bit as impressive as the record itself.

Taking along two of the UK’s most highly touted upcoming bands in GOD COMPLEX and PHOXJAW this was a celebration of domestic excellence, and a gesture very fitting for LOATHE who had made their name synonymous with brutal shows on various support slots in the past. It cannot be said that LOATHE haven’t paid their dues on the touring circuit, and seeing them give opportunities to their contemporaries demonstrates the knowledge this band have of how important those support slots can be.

GOD COMPLEX opened the night with their brand of UK hardcore, and injected some energy into a venue that is far more used to indie acts than it was to the onslaught it was about to receive. While they were as tight as a live band can be, however they were less creative than their two successors on the stage. Nonetheless, GOD COMPLEX were successful in beginning the warm-up and the first signs of two-stepping and movement were seen towards the end of their set. With only one EP under their belt; including guest vocals from LOATHE’s Kadeem France – this is a hardcore band in their infancy who have the potential to be great.

Rating: 6/10

Bristol’s PHOXJAW had the unenviable job of preceding the headliners, and while they were a touch softer and cleaner than their compatriots on that stormy night, their brand of big riffs shone through. While the description “If Holy Roar did PUPPY” was bandied around, the Bristolian quartet easily proved that to be an inept qualifier, producing stadium-rock size riffs alongside death metal growls in a combination that shouldn’t work, yet did and was strangely entrancing.

Rating: 7/10

Omeara let LOATHE in and they took everything. From the instant the ambient introduction to Red Room began the energy in the room increased tenfold, and as Aggressive Evolution kicked in it was obvious there was nothing that could contain the night’s carnage. With a light show that perfectly complemented the music this was the show that LOATHE had been building to throughout their entire career, with visuals that made the music into something more, into a vessel of pure emotion.

Both lead vocalist Kadeem France, and guitarist and co-vocalist Erik Bickerstaffe sounded pitch perfect throughout the epic 17 song set. The screams on heavier material such as The Cold Sun’s Stigmata and lead single from the newest album Gored were pure aggression, whilst the softer clean vocals on the DEFTONES-esque standout Two-Way Mirror were beautiful, and unbelievably impressive – especially from France who prior to I Let It In… used to step back and leave clean vocal duty to Bickerstaffe. His level of vocal growth since The Cold Sun has been nothing short of sensational, and with both vocalists sharing duties; LOATHE have become a much more rounded act.

With debut EP Prepare Consume Proceed track Banshee signalling the beginning of the end, LOATHE took a journey through all of their records, with the MESHUGGAH riff inspired titular track from their 2020 behemoth acting as the penultimate track before White Hot from 2018’s split EP with HOLDING ABSENCE – This Is As One – closing the set. Of course everyone knows that is always a fake-out, as the opener and title track from their 2017 full-length debut The Cold Sun began and swiftly transitioned into crowd favourite It’s Yours as the perfect way to send London back into the storm, completely astounded at the display they had just witnessed.

LOATHE have undeniably been one of the hardest working British bands for a long time now, with their recognition being undeservedly lacking, but with I Let It In And It Took Everything and the subsequent shows they have ascended a mountain that very few even knew they were climbing. And this is only the start of their domination. As they have been telling us for years; LOATHE are as one.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the action in London from Jordan Darby Photography here: