With three EPs and a big UK tour under their belt, next on the Maltese quintet's list of things to do was record a quality debut album. It's called Despondent By Design, clearly draws inspiration from all that is good about the new wave of American metal, and unsurprisingly packs quite a punch. Somehow, they've managed to combine the putrid death metal of The Red Chord with DevilDriver's colossal groove and at times it's so vitriolic it burns.
Their vocalist goes by the name Beast, so there is always the promise of some suitably monstrous outpourings and opener 'Hellfire' doesn't disappoint. Amidst the brain-shaking double kick and thrashy chord spasms, dwells both a Mitch Lucker-esque scowl and a deep, rupturing death rattle that endow the track with a savage menace.
With 'As Cold As They Come' screwing down a bitchslap of a breakdown and 'The Devil's Playground' mimicking Machine Head's cantankerous depth-charge rhythms and use of piercing harmonics, they've gone straight for the jugular. There's still a little slack that needs to be taken up - the tin-can snare (most noticeable on 'November' and 'Black Light') is somewhat of a joke amidst the avalanche of guitars and vocal panic, all too often the lyrics border on pre-pubescent (i.e. "an angel came and picked me up and told me it would be safe to love again"), and the second half of the album does lose it's way a little once they begin to expand their horizons away from their stock of smash and grab tracks.
Having said that, there're still gems to unearth throughout. So whilst you'll tire of the incessantly skiddy 'This Respect' very quickly, 'Children Of A Lesser God' will absolutely rip your head off and spit down your throat; whilst the repetitious snare, see-sawing guitar hook and weak fade-out of 'This Overwhelming Grasp Of Solitude' will seem like a tipping point (it's quite possibly what the hopelessly weedy brother of Lamb Of God's 'The Faded Line' might sound like). 'The End Of All Things Good' will drag you back from the edge and hammer home just how seriously good this band can be when they peak.
Loathe are already planning another tour of the UK later in the year and hope to fit in some of mainland Europe at the same time, so keep your eyes peeled. If they manage to reproduce even half of the intensity of this album, those'll be un-missable gigs.
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