In Kadeem’s telling, Erik is Loathe’s arse-kicker-in- chief. “Do I know how good we are?” he says at one point. The former is focussed, attentive and not short of confidence in his band’s abilities. Today, though, it’s just Erik (long-haired, bespectacled) and Kadeem (tall, dreads tied up) on the other side of the tape recorder, albeit separately. No one is wedded to their instruments, at least in the studio (Kadeem might play the drums Sean sometimes plays guitar they all pitch in with loops, beats and electronic textures). Songwriting is collective and collaborative. “We’re big on rebranding ourselves when we get to a certain stage.”Īs the clothes indicate, Loathe present themselves as a unit. “Our original style started to get so played out within the scene, so we thought, ‘OK, let’s try something different,’” says Kadeem. They’re a signifier of who Loathe are, an against-the-grain uniform designed to set them apart. The four members of Loathe – Erik and Kadeem plus bassist Feisal El-Khazragi and drummer Sean Radcliffe – still sport the stylish black suits they wore for Metal Hammer’s cover shoot.

We’re sitting in a dimly lit East London pub amid the bustle of an early evening drinking crowd. For us, this has always been just bigger than a band.” “We want people to live in the universe of Loathe.

“It is an experience, man, 100%,” says Kadeem. It was released alongside candles and incense for the full mid-lockdown flotation tank experience. The second was last February’s out-of-the-blue The Things They Believe, which dispensed entirely with metal’s defining characteristics – guitar, drums and vocals – in favour of meditative electronic ambience.

The first was 2020’s I Let It In And It Took Everything, a record that felt like 49 minutes and 19 seconds of evolution in action. Loathe have released two of the most striking albums of the last few years.

Loathe to you