Formation and Prepare Consume Proceed EP (2011–2016) Loathe has its origins in the Liverpool
melodic metalcore band Our Imbalance, which Erik Bickerstaffe was a founding member of. Eventually, Kadeem France, who at that time was the drummer for Escapists UK, replaced Our Imbalance's founding vocalist Harry Rule. By 2014, the band also included drummer Sean Radcliffe. Around this time, Our Imbalance morphed into Loathe with the recruitment of guitarist Connor Sweeney and bassist Shayne Smith. On 1 May 2015, the band released their debut single "In Death" with an accompany video, followed by a video for a second single "Rest; In Violence" on 13 July 2015. In 2015, they performed at Deadbolt Festival on 8 August, and in Autumn that same year they released their first EP titled
Prepare Consume Proceed independently. on 22 November, the band supported metal band Empires Fade during their show in Manchester. Moving onto June 2016, the band would tour as support act for
Oceans Ate Alaska during their UK tour. On 8 July the same year, their EP was re-issued through
SharpTone Records as the label's first release since its conception a month prior. They would re-release the video for "In Death" at the same time, and remove the video for "Rest; In Violence" indefinitely. Bickerstaffe explained that the band was discovered by the label shortly after their independent release of their first music video for Sheol/In Death, and after their initial dialogue and exchanging of ideas, the band and label managers "clicked" and they partnered up. The EP received positive reviews,
Kerrang! magazine praised the album's heavy
Djent style and "synthy atmosphere" but criticised the band's horror-like image, stage names and France's mask as "some bargain-bin horror flick", giving the album 3 K's out of 5. As the band's career progressed, the members decided that the use of code-names and the mask was unnecessary, citing that they just wanted to be themselves when performing their music and pointed to the likes of
Ghost and
Slipknot and their influences for starting that gimmick in the first place. Bickerstaffe would later admit that their use of masks and code-names was "...shamelessly taking ideas from other bands.", ditching them as a means of distinguishing themselves. Also in early July the band performed at Tech-Fest, later on the same month they toured as the support act for metal band
Carcer City around the UK, and on 25 September, the band performed at
Ozzfest meets Knotfest California on the Nuclear Blast stage.
The Cold Sun and This Is as One split EP (2017–2018) in 2017|275x275px Initially, the band was planned to start off 2017 as a support act for
Emmure during their UK tour in January, however due to unforeseen delays in Emmure's album production, the tour was cancelled. In April the band toured as a support act for
Blood Youth and in May the band also performed at the London warm-up show for
Hellfest. A few months later, they released their debut studio album, titled
The Cold Sun on 2 June 2017. The album was produced by Matt McClellan and was recorded in the Dark Studios in
Atlanta, Georgia. One of their last shows of the year was performed at Binfest 2017 in late November. Starting off 2018, the band released a
split EP with
SharpTone Records label mate
Holding Absence on 8 February, and was followed up with a co-headline tour in March with support act
Modern Error, along with God Complex at a show in Leeds. The band were nominated for their first award at the
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards for best new band of 2018, and in April they were also nominated for
Heavy Music Awards best UK breakthrough band, the latter of which the band performed at the award's announcements ceremony in Manchester. The band performed at the
Slam Dunk and Teddy Rocks festivals in May, and in June the band's bassist Shayne Smith announced that after performing at
Download Festival, he would be leaving the band to pursue a career as a tattoo artist, with his role being filled by ex-Holding Absence guitarist Feisal El-Khazragi. In early July, the band performed at the 2018 Tech-Fest, and later that same month, the band performed at the
2000 trees festival. In September, they were the supporting band for
Sikth during their "Riddles of Humanity" UK tour, along with also supporting
Of Mice & Men on their mini-tour in the UK in November. In December, the band supported metal band Palm Reader in
London. When queried regarding new music, Bickerstaffe confirmed that the band had been writing new songs, stating that at some point they may recluse somewhere to focus solemnly on making music, though at the time he admitted that he wasn't sure if the next album would be an EP or a full studio release, with an initial prediction of it being released in 2019. In October 2018, Bickerstaffe commented that the band had planned 12 new songs for the album, meanwhile he was also busy producing music for other metals acts, one such release being the EP "Created Sick" by
Merseyside band God Complex whom they toured with earlier the same year, while vocalist Kadeem France collaborated with metal band Of Legions on their single "Vision of Misery".
I Let It In and It Took Everything and the Things They Believe (2019–2024) In late April and early May, Loathe supported
Hollywood Undead on the stretch of their UK tour, performed at
Two Thousand Trees Festival in July, and performed at both
Radar Festival and the Heavy Metal Music Awards in August. Loathe released an EP titled "Gored/New Face in the Dark" featuring the two new singles on 20 September 2019, along with a music video for "Gored" with one for "New Faces in the Dark" being released on 10 October, and toured through Japan and China throughout the month alongside label mates
Crystal Lake. On 29 November, the band released a new song titled Aggressive Evolution, along with the announcement of their new album titled
I Let It In and It Took Everything and was set to release on 7 February 2020. In December, the band toured as a support act for
Stray from the Path during their European tour, along with
the Devil Wears Prada and
Gideon. On 10 January 2020, the band released Two-Way Mirror, accompanied with a music video. The band released the song "Screaming" a day prior to the release of their second album on 6 February in anticipation of its release, which coincided with their UK Headlining tour, where they were supported by bands The Well Runs Red,
Phoxjaw, and God Complex. Upon the album's release, Bickerstaffe expressed that the new family of tracks "...offers a brand new perspective and identity for Loathe." while still retaining some familiar aspects of their previous music. In June, the band participated in the virtual
Download Festival. On 26 December 2020, the band released the instrumental edition of
I Let It In and It Took Everything. On 22 January 2021, the band announced that they would release their new album called
The Things They Believe on 7 February 2021, exactly one year to the date since the release of
I Let It In and It Took Everything, and named after the script of the 2007 vampire thriller
30 Days of Night. It is the band's first
instrumental album, and is intended to expand on, and run parallel with, their previous album by creating sonic soundscapes and atmospheres as a means to expand on the Loathe lore, as well as providing solace during lockdown as consequence of the
COVID-19 pandemic. The album also features collaborations with
The 1975's saxophonist John Waugh,
Parting Gift guitarist Peter Vybiral, and Vincent Weight. On 1 September, Loathe announced that they would be playing the entirety of their album "I Let It in and It Took Everything" as part of an 8-date headline UK tour. It started on 9 December in Glasgow and finished on 18 December in London. It also included a show in their hometown Liverpool on 10 December. On 18 September, the band announced the departure of guitarist Connor Sweeney, while thanking him for his contributions, the guitarist clarified that part of the reason for leaving was because he "thought some things might have changed with time within the band but unfortunately in this case things continued to stay the same" so to preserve his sanity and mental health he chose to leave, and added that he would be back with new music and playing shows once "all is ready". On 6 January 2022, the band released a new song titled "Dimorphous Display", which was followed by a rerecording of their song, "Is It Really You" featuring
Sleep Token. On 17 August Loathe announced that they had cancelled their upcoming tour in order to focus their efforts on writing and recording their upcoming fourth studio album. On 20 October 2023, the band were featured on a reworking of
Static Dress's song "Lye Solution" alongside BVDLVD and
Hail the Sun from their EP
Rouge Carpet Disaster (Redux) Volume 2.
A Stranger to You (2024–present) In December 2024, it was announced that Loathe would support
Spiritbox on their Tsunami Sea North American Tour, along with
Dying Wish and
Gel. On an episode of the 78 Amped podcast, uploaded on the 14 December 2024, France and Bickerstaffe confirmed that the band's fourth studio album had been recorded and was planned for a release in 2025. At the first show of the tour in Dallas, Loathe opened their set with a new song, included in the setlist as "???". The song was later released as a single under the title "Gifted Every Strength" on the 2 May 2025 with a press release stating the single "ushers in a new era of Loathe". On the same tour with Spiritbox, they played another new song, which was later revealed to be titled "Revenant". On 22 July, Loathe announced a 25 date USA headline tour, and then on 26 August, they announced a European/UK tour. On 27 April 2026, Loathe formally released "Revenant" as a single, now featuring Jami Morgan and Eric Balderose of
Code Orange, as their side project, "NOWWHERE2RUN", and announced their fourth studio album,
A Stranger to You, will be released 17 July 2026, through
SharpTone Records. It will be the band's first album in six years, and will include "Gifted Every Strength", "Revenant", and another track "ثينا" that was also played on previous tours. ==Musical style==