VENUE – Invisible Wind Factory Liverpool
DATE – December 2025
Words—Graeme Wright
I didn’t know a lot about Loathe apart from a few tracks Spotify had recommended to me (all of which were excellent), but when the opportunity to see them cropped up in my hometown, I couldn’t resist. Let’s get the problems out of the way first. At first glance the venue was fantastic, but once the show started it was immediately apparent that the audio system was more suited to a DJ club night rather than a super heavy alternative metal band. Everything was a bit too quiet, and the drums sounded deadened, as if played in a bathtub. It was a bit better down the front but still not ideal, and I’ll probably think twice about seeing this kind of artist again in this environment unless the audio system is drastically altered.
That being said, Loathe are a fantastic band in the live arena. From the moment “You’ll Never Walk Alone” was played on the bands entry to the arena (to some enthusiastic booing from the Bitter Blue element of the crowd), Loathe delivered a joyous set that fully satisfied the huge crowd that had turned out on a freezing Thursday night to worship at their alter. This was a homecoming for the band, which surprised me because I thought they were American until recently, and the home crowd were absolutely rooting for the return of the conquering kings because it was both rammed and highly anticipatory inside the venue right through both support acts.
The band hit the stage to ‘Gifted Every Strength,’ which is indicative of the band’s style and material. They play highly aggressive yet always melodic modern alternative metal, heavily based around both the nu-metal and metalcore templates. I’m not going to cover every song of the set, but all you need to know is that this band are absolutely masters of their craft. They have a huge array of great songs that both pin you to the wall and have you dancing at the same time. Kadeem France is a fantastic frontman, all nervous energy and edginess compounded by an engaging personality who tells the audience multiple times how great it is to be playing a gig on their home turf. As soon as guitarist Erik Bickerstaffe enters the stage, you know this band is going to be heavy as fuck just by looking at him, and Feisal El-Khazragi (bass) and Sean Radcliffe (drums) are a backline to die for who ensure that the proceedings never drop in either pace or power.
If you want an idea of the band’s sound, I would suggest that the melodic elements are reminiscent of Deftones, while the aggression is closer to Korn or early Sepultura. What this band does with those influences is wrap them all up in a huge package that ensures that they are totally unique. They certainly sound like nobody that is currently out there, and as I always say, it’s so difficult to have an original voice in a crowded field such as this.
The 90-minute set flies by, and we are treated to crowd surfing, a huge circle and mosh pit, and hordes of people, both male and female and much younger than me, who are absolutely freaking out to the music. If I hadn’t recently had a knee replacement and was a bit younger, I’d probably have joined them. By the time we get to the end of the show and the opening bars of ‘Gored’ are heard, you know you’re in for something intense when all the kids around you immediately start running to the front of the auditorium and things get absolutely crazy. This was both a great show and a great experience. The band and their followers are all fantastic, and I’d love to see them again at a sweatier, louder venue where I feel you’d receive the full impact of their might and power.
1. Gifted Every Strength
2. Screaming
3. Aggressive Evolution
4. Broken Vision Rhythm
5. Dance On My Skin
6. Two-Way Mirror
7. The Things They Believe
8. Heavy Is The Head That Falls With The Weight Of A Thousand Thoughts
9. A Sad Cartoon
10. Revenant
11. New Faces In The Dark
12. Dimorphous Display
13. White Hot
14. Babylon…
15. I Let It In And It Took Everything…
16. Is It Really You?
17. Gored
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