ALBUM REVIEW: A Stranger To You – Loathe
There’s always a heavy weight of expectations when a band returns with a long-awaited comeback album. In the case of shapeshifting metallurgists LOATHE, they are in a particularly unenviable position. Their 2020 album, I Let It In And It Took Everything, was lauded upon release, and it revived an interest in dreamier textures in metalcore and alternative metal that was first mined by bands like HUM and, most notably, DEFTONES. Aside from their oft-overlooked 2021 release, The Things They Believe, a fully ambient album that flew under the radar of much of their fanbase, the band was silent in terms of new music for over four years, apart from the odd single release every now and then. During this time, I Let It In And It Took Everything gained the status of a modern classic, and expectations for the follow-up only continued to grow. Finally, in May of last year, the seal was broken with the unveiling of Gifted Every Strength, a transforming track that worked as a reminder of everything LOATHE could do: groovy riffing, moments of dreamy bliss, and punchy bursts of aggression. Now, over six years after the release of I Let It In And It Took Everything, the finished product is here: A Stranger To You.
Perhaps the most impressive part about this album is how it both appeases fan expectations and subverts them in creative ways. LOATHE have always embraced a plethora of different styles in their music. I Let It In And It Took Everything was obviously rife with dazzling, DEFTONES-esque breathy shoegaze, but the band veered away from the dreamy guitars through channels of blistering metalcore, punchy alternative rock, and even ferocious black metal, with shimmering ambient interludes providing the connective tissue of a record that felt like a living, breathing organism. A Stranger To You hasn’t forsaken most of these ideas, and certainly not the ethos of genre-blending. The aforementioned lead single Gifted Every Strength illustrates this the best, with its serene chorus, neck-snapping breakdown, and spacy guitar solo all somehow coexisting in an eight-minute stretch, but it’s far from the only example. Revenant is a dense slab of sludgy metalcore, with a ragged feature from Jami Morgan of NOWHERE2RUN (and formerly CODE ORANGE). Gemini begins in a similar space but somehow morphs into a pounding club beat by its conclusion. The Ladder, with vocal contributions from JORDAN RAKEI, is a pleasant slice of indie pop. LOATHE are committed to unpredictability, all while making songs that still hit home regardless of what direction they swerve.
As a whole, A Stranger To You is far less of a metalcore album than its predecessor. While screams and breakdowns are not hard to find, they are dwarfed in quantity by breezy forays into alternative rock. It makes sense that a band so influenced by DEFTONES would feel inclined to indulge in these aspects of their sound, especially given the success it has given them, but what is refreshing is that LOATHE are careful to not repeat themselves. Every hazy rock song is its own individual moment, and just when you start to get used to the sound at play, the band switches gears again. Fortress Down, Harder To Pretend, and Meet My Maker all make plays at this type of song but to vastly different results.
The second half of this record in particular has some jaw-dropping feats. Fangs is the most straightforward song on the album, a subversively catchy and replayable alternative rock song that creatively builds towards its chorus. Gifted Every Strength remains perhaps the best track on the album, and unlike the single version, the album iteration contains a spellbinding acoustic guitar outro before the powerful closer, No Stranger To You. This track is a wonderfully emotional burst of shoegaze bliss, the closest thing the album has to an Is It Really You?. It decisively ends the record on one of the best tracks the band has crafted.
Despite the admirable return the band has made, it is not without its faults. Perhaps the most divisive aspect of this record will be its production, which is a stark difference from the crystalline and precise mix of I Let It In And It Took Everything. A Stranger To You’s mix is dry, gritty, and at times threatens to overwhelm itself. Overall, it works as an intentional choice, it’s certainly a unique sound that requires some getting used to, but it does help give the album a sense of identity. That said, there are moments where the mix becomes too cluttered, and the presence of audible riffs becomes suffocated. The ambient moments on the album are also some of its weaker offerings. Where the electronic soundscapes felt intentional and fleshed-out last time around, here they sort of just feel like regular interludes that don’t add much outside of padding between the far stronger core songs.
Despite some sonic issues and occasional ambient misfires, A Stranger To You is nothing if not a triumphant return for the band. Few bands are this ambitious in their execution, and few are able to juggle this many sounds this well. Whether or not the next album takes another five years or even more, it seems LOATHE can be trusted to deliver. In this day and age, where nothing seems certain, that consistency is a gift.
Rating: 8/10
A Stranger To You is out now via SharpTone Records.
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