Live Review : Loathe + Zetra + Love Is Noise @ Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool on December 4th 2025
Liverpool’s much loved Deftones-esque post-rock metallers Loathe have returned home for a gig on the dockside and the queue is around the corner at opening. It’s an eagerly anticipated gig for sure, and for us at ROCKFLESH it’s the first chance in a while to catch them as they continue their rise in the scene.
Love is Noise kick off the evening and embrace a precarious balance between heavy and soft, and tonight it lands with intent. There’s Deftones in the atmosphere, Loathe in the shadows, Thornhill on the edges. The sound drags me back to the nu-metal glory of the early 2000s. The crowd responds in kind - a pit opens, surfers roll across hands, walls and circles form like instinct. Frontman Cam Humphrey - sunglasses on, fingerless gloves gripping the mic - cuts a figure both theatrical and raw. The mix holds together, balanced and sharp. His voice shifts with range and conviction, cleans and dirties colliding without losing control. Meanwhile the backing vocals lift the whole thing higher with cleans that soar above the weight. For an opening band, it’s impressive, with them commanding chaos this early in the night. One moment I’m caught in dreamy grunge haze, the next I’m slammed by beatdowns that feel bludgeoning and possessed.
We wait for what feels like ages before Zetra finally take the stage. A spooky mirror with a screen sits centre stage, adding to the theatre, while guitar and synth share vocal duties. They’re hard to pin down - synth-goth, futuristic industrial, maybe even a deconstructed take on something the later. Whatever the label, they’re polished and confident, their delivery wrapped around that unmistakable old-school goth drum machine, clearly a deliberate stylistic choice. Angelic vocals float above it, creating a dreamy-industrial haze that instantly reminds me of Stabbing Westward, especially in the guitar tone and phrasing.
The stationary stances and repetition possibly fuel the crowd’s attention drifts as the mid-tempo repetition sets in, though flashes of post-grunge energy cut through and hint at something more exciting. When they hit those atmospheric passages, I can see why fans of mood and texture would gravitate toward them. Still, much of the set feels like a super-processed Sisters of Mercy slowed to a crawl, with gentle vocals that never quite cut through - too often the guitars, vocals, and charisma fail to land. Pleasant enough as background, but by this point both supports have stretched too long, and the energy in the room is slipping.
Most gigs have music between bands, but prior to the headliners we have a singular droning note. This between-band drone grates on me - atmospheric, yes, but more irritating than clever. By the time Loathe are due on I’m already on edge, unimpressed before they even step out! Their choice of walk-on, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, does nothing to ease it; I’d have preferred the droning noise. When they start, it’s unmistakably them - variations on Deftones, but twisted into their own shape. The crowd are enthralled from the first note, excitement running through every passage.
Their sound is hard to pigeonhole yet instantly identifiable - a collision of technical metal precision and post-rock atmosphere, spanning genres and pulling the audience with it. It’s that same sense of uniqueness Sleep Token have trade on, but here the chaos is more jagged, spacey segments colliding with brutal aggression, Thornhill and Deftones vibes bleeding through, post-hardcore edges sharpening the mix. The vocals swing to extremes - harsh, almost white-noise screams against smooth, silky cleans. Guitars cut with tones and effects that slice through the haze, while drums stay regimented, bass stern and unyielding.
Still, I wonder if the false starts on UK tours and the absence of a new album in a long time has stunted their relevance here. To me, they feel like they’ve stood still. Apart from the occasional vocal melody, the set blurs into mush. Dreamy slides into dreary. There’s a fine line between atmosphere and monotony, and tonight Loathe walk it without conviction. The crowd don’t care though – they adore them and sing along at every chance, proof that Liverpool still holds them close and in high esteem.
Providing insights into anything-core or tech-whatever (will review for craft beer).