I Let It In and It Took Everything
| I Let It In and It Took Everything | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 7 February 2020 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 49:19 | |||
| Label | SharpTone | |||
| Producer | Loathe, George Lever | |||
| Loathe chronology | ||||
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| Singles from I Let It In and It Took Everything | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Kerrang! | 4/5[1] |
| Metal Hammer |   [2] |
| Metal Storm | 7.5/10[3] |
| Pitchfork | 7.8/10[4] |
| Punk News | [5] |
I Let It In and It Took Everything is the second studio album by British heavy metal band Loathe. It was released on 7 February 2020 through SharpTone Records. The album received positive reviews; Metal Hammer named it as the 12th-best metal album of 2020.[6]
Composition
Critics have categorised the album as metalcore,[7] post-metal[1][8] and djenty nu metalcore.[9]
Max Heilman of Riff Magazine called the album "a grand metalcore vision" and that it pushes "the boundaries of what heavy music can be while avoiding gimmicks altogether".[7] Metal Hammer writer Remfry Dedman called it "impossible to pigeonhole".[2] Kerrang! writer Jake Richardson, described the album as blending "their metallic crunch with ambient sounds, melodic guitars and elements of niche genres like shoegaze", and praising it for being able to "switch from vast sounding post-rock to chugging, dissonant metal with consummate ease".[1] Sam Houlden of PunkNews described the album as "hardcore new romantic" due to its incorporation of "disparate, light and dark soundscapes". As well as moving between "pounding hardcore sections with tech-level syncopation, but also soaring, melodic chorus and post-chorus sections that take the song to a totally different place before the track culminates with an elongated electro-glitch-infused breakdown".[5] In an article for Metal Hammer, the album was referred to as opening "the band's sound up to lush, shoegaze textures and shimmering guitars".[2] Rock 'N' Load magazine praised the album for its incorporation of elements of nu metal and modern metalcore into its post-metal style.[8] The album's eleventh track, "Heavy Is the Head That Falls with the Weight of a Thousand Thoughts", borders black metal.[5][2] Multiple journalists have compared the album to Deftones, citing frontman Kadeem France's similar vocal style to Chino Moreno's.[10][1][2] Loudwire described it as "a jaw-smacking awakening to the new breed of hardcore that gyrates with elastic, djenty grooves and trace of industrial-like propulsion. With their nothing-to-lose fits of rage, Loathe are primed for a breakout on their second record".[11]
The album makes use of contrast between dual clean and unclean vocals, as well as downtuned guitars, low-pitched atmospherics[12] and shoegaze guitar textures.[2]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Theme" | 1:23 |
| 2. | "Aggressive Evolution" | 3:27 |
| 3. | "Broken Vision Rhythm" (featuring Harry Rule of God Complex) | 2:36 |
| 4. | "Two-Way Mirror" | 5:00 |
| 5. | "451 Days" | 1:39 |
| 6. | "New Faces in the Dark" | 3:12 |
| 7. | "Red Room" | 2:03 |
| 8. | "Screaming" | 5:55 |
| 9. | "Is It Really You?" | 4:48 |
| 10. | "Gored" | 3:08 |
| 11. | "Heavy Is the Head That Falls with the Weight of a Thousand Thoughts" | 4:18 |
| 12. | "A Sad Cartoon" | 5:16 |
| 13. | "A Sad Cartoon (Reprise)" | 1:15 |
| 14. | "I Let It In and It Took Everything..." (featuring Vincente Void) | 5:20 |
| Total length: | 49:19 | |
Personnel
Loathe
- Kadeem France – lead vocals
- Erik Bickerstaffe – guitars, vocals
- Connor Sweeney – guitars, backing vocals
- Sean Radcliffe – drums, programming
- Feisal El-Khazragi – bass guitar, backing vocals
Technical
- George Lever – mixing
- Jens Bogren – mastering
- Lewis Johns – drum engineering
- Loathe - production, mixing, art
References
- ^ a b c d Richardson, Jake (12 February 2020). "ALBUM REVIEW: LOATHE – I LET IT IN AND IT TOOK EVERYTHING". Kerrang!. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Dedman, Remfry (7 February 2020). "Loathe's I Let It In And It Took Everything: Expansively lavish, furiously heavy and impossible to pigeonhole". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ "Loathe - I Let It In And It Took Everything review". Metal Storm. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
- ^ "Loathe: I Let It In and It Took Everything". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
- ^ a b c Houlden, Sam (14 February 2020). "Loathe I Let It in and It Took Everything (2020)". Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ "The 50 best metal albums of 2020". Metal Hammer. Future plc. 8 January 2020. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ a b Heilman, Max (7 February 2020). "ALBUM REVIEW: Loathe realizes a grand metalcore vision on sophomore album". Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Loathe // I Let It In And It Took Everything // Album Review". Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ Stewart, Ethan (28 September 2023). "Code Orange's The Above Is 2023's Most Ambitious Hardcore Album". PopMatters. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
- ^ Sievers, Alex. "Album Review: Loathe - 'I Let It In And It Took Everything'". killyourstereo.com. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
- ^ DIVITA, JOE (15 April 2020). "2020'S BEST METAL ALBUMS (SO FAR)". Loudwire. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ Howkins, Jessica (5 February 2020). "ALBUM REVIEW: I Let It In And It Took Everything – Loathe". Retrieved 17 February 2020.
