A Stranger To You espouses a range of stylistic traits that incarnate Loathe’s creative hybridity whilst maintaining their reputable position within the realms of modern heavy music.
Release date: July 17, 2026 | SharpTone Records | Instagram | Bandcamp
In an era where modern metal and hardcore music constantly shifts between the mainstream and the niche, from straight-up beat-down riffs, satisfying blast-beats, and breakdowns that scratch the itch to fusing obscure genres, ambient passages that play off as blatant Deftones or Deafheaven worship, and occasionally antagonizing the listener with alienating characteristics like noise and electronics, Loathe are a band that evokes the more experimental and artistic derisions of alternative metal whilst still preserving their unique brand of aggressiveness. 2020’s I Let It In And It Took Everything is almost a blueprint for the band’s trademark sound that enmeshes the accessible yet nuanced elements of metalcore and nu metal with more provisional ideas of shoegaze, ambient, and industrial. But with the promise of new music since 2022, the Liverpool quartet have set a precedent for what should be expected of them, and of course this leaves many of their fans, as well as some critics, anticipating what could come next. A Stranger To You comes as a somewhat more ambitious effort that sees the band seriously considering the limits to which their musicianship can be pushed.
The record starts ambitiously with the first featured track, “Entrance”, featuring guest vocals from bucki sugar. An unconventional opener for what many would expect, the track combines lo-fi hip hop beats and atmospheric jazz piano over sugar’s rhythmical lines. Following tracks continue to expand on more atmospheric bright layers such as the opening for “Block of Flats”, which features Static Dress, and “Fortress Down” interweaving periodic aggression with cleaner song progressions. Loathe’s engagement with shoegaze and the development of these lush ambient structures continues to run deep on tracks like “Harder to Pretend”, their collaborative effort with Mansur Brown (“The Way it Breaks”), and “Meet My Maker”, as well as the immersive interludes “Nothing Like a Knife” and “ثينا / Thena”.
Yet the band don’t just portray their experimental and post-metallic leanings on this record. “Gemini” is a volatile and violent release of ferocity honing many modern hardcore and progressive metal influences. “Revenant” (featuring NOWHERE2RUN) continues this trend mid-way through and promises to maintain that sense of unbounded energy. The album certainly looks to space out the band’s influences mapping out the hardcore, shoegaze, and dance fusions pretty seamlessly. The likes of “Harder to Pretend” and “Fangs” employ elements relative to many of these styles, even though they seem to go more towards more conventional avenues. This is heightened by the following track “The Ladder” alongside Jordan Rakei. This period of the album does admittedly feel a little stale and seems to slow things down an unnecessary amount; you get a yearning for that fast-paced energetic feel to return.
The final two songs, “Gifted Every Strength” and “A Stranger To You…”, do however feel like a return to form and save the album from tailing into mediocre territory. The former is an enmeshment of ideas flowing from the progressive workings of early Mastodon to the shoegazey allurement of Ride, ending with a rather unexpected Opeth-like acoustic guitar outro. The latter title track, which closes the record, bears much of the record’s emotive weight, and this is further amplified through evocative synths, layered guitars, and Kadeem France’s warm vocal performance.
When we consider the band’s somewhat short, but diverse portfolio beyond the familiar realms of ILIIAITE, which stretches to their conceptual first release The Cold Sun and the solely ambient release The Things They Believe, Loathe constantly prove they are serious about bridging the gap between a more accessible approach to heaviness whilst expressing an appreciation for differing sonic boundaries. “A Stranger To You” utilises fluidity completing the transition between the mainstream and underground and whilst at times it tangents into auditory pretension with extended jazz sections and ethereal soundscapes that may be lost on some of the band’s listeners, the band have the ability to pull you back towards periods of cohesion that reveals their hard-hitting roots they are much-appreciated for.
