By: James Rivers<\/p>\n
Loathe – I Let It In and It Took Everything<\/span><\/p>\n Genre:\u00a0Metalcore\/Progressive Metalcore<\/span><\/p>\n Rating out of 10: 10\/10<\/p>\n Related Artists:\u00a0Code Orange, Deftones, Faith No More<\/span><\/p>\n Only two months into 2020 and Loathe has created a solid contender for album of the year. It\u2019s thematically cohesive while remaining musically different. The Liverpool band\u2019s newest album, \u201cI Let It In and It Took Everything,\u201d is hauntingly beautiful. This is a group that is picking up momentum and doesn\u2019t seem to be slowing down. <\/span><\/p>\n The album starts off with the track, \u201cTheme.\u201d This is an atmospheric synth intro that sounds beautifully somber. The name of track appears as a hint that this theme will recur throughout the album. What comes next is the real opening track, \u201cAggressive Evolution.\u201d This song comes in full force with industrial noise effects and hard-hitting drums. This all leads to one of the most headbangable grooves I\u2019ve ever heard. The nu metal elements of the band really shine through here. But just when you think you get the song, it launches into this dreamy, beautiful chorus that sounds as melodic as any band could hope to have. Most metalcore bands could only pray to have a chorus as melodic and beautifully sung as this. <\/span><\/p>\n The following track is \u201cBroken Vision Rhythm,\u201d which stays just as heavy as its predecessor. This track does have more of a hardcore element to it than the previous song. It\u2019s wrapped up with a soft outro and the ambient synth returns. What follows is \u201cTwo-Way Mirror.\u201d I believe it\u2019s the weakest track on the album, but I could see how some would love it. It\u2019s a traditional type of soft ballad. On this song, the vocals, drums, and synths seem to be at the forefront and sustains the established atmosphere. The band toys with abruptly stopping and starting the song throughout. <\/span><\/p>\n The next track is one of many transition tracks titled, \u201c451 Days.\u201d This features a jarring synth intro which incorporates samples of people talking that gets partially drowned out under the synth. After it fades out, the samples are left and in comes \u201cNew Faces in the Dark.\u201d The song starts out with clean guitar strumming before getting into a heavy, djenty groove. The song maintains the metalcore tradition of a clean chorus while still scattering intense growls that sound black metal at times. <\/span><\/p>\n The following interlude is \u201cRed Room.\u201d This features another haunting synth part before the drums come in hard on the toms. This is the only interlude track to feature growled vocals. It\u2019s then followed by the song, \u201cScreaming.\u201d According to a Reddit AmA, this is one of the band\u2019s favorite songs and for good reason. It\u2019s got a real killer rhythm, it features some more distorted guitar, and beautifully melodic clean vocals. It briefly changes into growls but for the most part, it stays beautifully sung with occasional vocal harmonies. On one chorus, there\u2019s even a faint growl in the background that\u2019s quickly displaced by a nice vocal harmony. This song really encapsulates the melding of soft and heavy together that appears throughout the album. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIs It Really You?\u201d is a personal favorite of mine and it\u2019s probably the most beautiful song on the album. It starts with a somber synth before getting into a somberly heavy guitar riff. The verse stays soft and is only outmatched by the grimly optimistic chorus. Kadeem\u2019s vocals really shine through here in the same way that Erik\u2019s did on Screaming. This is a song that anybody who doesn\u2019t even like heavier music could listen to and enjoy. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGored\u201d brings back the intense heaviness missing from the previous two with a groove that sounds akin to Code Orange. There\u2019s some intense double bass on the song that\u2019s sparse on the album but makes it that much more awesome when it does appear. Towards the end, it wraps up bringing back some similar industrial elements that were on Aggressive Evolution. This song is succeeded by the song, \u201cHeavy is the Head That Falls with the Weight of a Thousand Thoughts.\u201d This song starts off with some black metal tremolo guitars that would make any metal elitist turn their head. The song also adds to that black metal vibe by mixing everything way down. It then boils up to the surface reprising the similar mix we\u2019d gotten acquainted with throughout the album. It feels the most out of place on the album, but it does manage to bring it back around with an intense djent groove that\u2019s heavier than student debt. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA Sad Cartoon\u201d is probably the most Deftones-like song on the whole record. But it still fits within their soundscape and still sounds like Loathe. It melds the beautiful singing and heavier singing in a similar fashion and the verse has a dreamy quality to it. There\u2019s a really cool brief pause in the song where the vocalist breathes in before the music all comes back in at full force. The band then named the following song, \u201cA Sad Cartoon (Reprise).\u201d The synth here sounds a bit happier and more optimistic before quickly settling back into its familiar somber theme. This just leaves the final track, \u201cI Let It In and It Took Everything.\u201d It starts with some nice, spacey distorted guitar. The vocals that come on top build up with the music. There is perhaps one of the heaviest, most distorted riffs on the whole album and it peels your skin off. It closes out by having the vocals take the lead with the drums underneath and the guitar in the background. The vocals hauntingly cry out as the music seems to build up. Then it all stops and there\u2019s just silence.<\/span><\/p>\n The band keeps getting a lot of comparisons to the Deftones. While at times they may sound similar, they still have their own sound and atmosphere. You wouldn\u2019t be able to prank your friend by playing a Loathe song and telling him it\u2019s a Deftones song. The thing about this album that really impresses me is how well they do both soft and heavy stuff. It\u2019s almost effortless how they can jump back and forth between the two. This band could give Faith No More a run for their money on melding the soft and the heavy. <\/span><\/p>\n Loathe keeps on getting labelled as \u201cthe future of metalcore.\u201d That\u2019s a bit of a ridiculous statement. But they are certainly a band that could be big regardless. They have all the characteristics and qualities of a great band and they\u2019re proving early on that they can go with the best of them. This album is really one of a kind and there\u2019s a little something for just about everyone on here. This is a masterfully crafted album that understands the importance of atmosphere. This band makes whatever kinds of songs they want to, and it works for them. At the end of the day, they can tie it all together with the atmosphere. They\u2019ve set the bar high for the rest of the album releases this year. In the following years, the smart thing to do is to keep your eyes and ears on Loathe. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: James Rivers Loathe – I Let It In and It Took Everything Genre:\u00a0Metalcore\/Progressive Metalcore Rating out of 10: 10\/10 Related Artists:\u00a0Code Orange, Deftones, Faith No More Only two months into 2020 and Loathe has created a solid contender for album of the year. It\u2019s thematically cohesive while remaining musically different. The Liverpool band\u2019s newest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17442,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1524,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17442"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23197,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23195\/revisions\/23197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}