ALBUM REVIEW: The Cold Sun – Loathe

Sometimes, bands can write the most stellar albums but they will be hollow shells of nothing but rhythm and melody. It is often the emotion and feeling that resonates from the music that outweighs the ability of the musicians, and it is in LOATHE’s debut The Cold Sun that this style of emotionally heavy music really shines. But instead of cultivating happiness, or even sadness, just like their name suggests, LOATHE are purveyors of hatred, spite and anger.

With the fantastic opening from the ambient build of The Cold Sun before the anxiety-inducing wail of It’s Yours begins and descends into a cacophony of seething aggression. It is here that LOATHE firmly display their best aspect, as the seething intensity continues as the bedrock from which the band build their multifaceted sound. With their chosen guitar tone and use of ambient sounds in order to allow their music to rest and grow, it wouldn’t be amiss to say that LOATHE are Britain’s answer to NORTHLANE.

Whilst this comparison seems fair, LOATHE utilise a few different techniques in order to let their music stand apart. The blast beat ending of P.U.R.P.L.E is an album highlight, as the track bleeds away in flurry of rapid snare hits before the final few ambient tracks take hold and in one fell swoop reveal the biggest issue with The Cold Sun as well.

Trying so hard to become everything they want to be, LOATHE have approached their debut with the thought to display everything they are to the world, which they should be doing. However, in doing this, the momentum of the album is thrown off, as the tail end of the album do grind to a startling halt before the final moments of end track Babylon resumes the chaos. It also serves as a highlight that the clean vocals on the album are clearly the weaker aspect, and whenever the band make the shift it can take some time to fully digest the transition, especially when the band are so confident and successful in delivering deluges of intensity and brutality.

With The Cold Sun, LOATHE have managed to successfully show their intent with a half an hour of spite and diversity in sound. Despite the short comings, when the band hit their stride they create an immersive sound that suffocates all positivity with a confident and finely tuned aggression. When the pacing drops, it does show the bands infancy, and it’s only fair that the record see some negatives with the record being their first debut. As a showcase of their ability, LOATHE succeed immeasurably with The Cold Sun, but their blue print certainly needs some fine tuning. The world is theirs to burn, and LOATHE want to do just that.

Rating: 7/10

The Cold Sun is out now via Sharptone Records 

For more information on LOATHE like their official page on Facebook