Loathe's The Cold Sun boasts a completely different sound from its successor, I Let It In And It Took Everything, but the song that stands out the most to me is East of Eden. It strayed the furthest from the impression I had of Loathe at the time, and in the best way possible.
I think the most obvious distinction between East of Eden and the majority of their newer music is how much closer it is to modern metalcore. Their shoegaze style and ambient focus are almost absent in this track, and in it's place is a very tasteful and raw, almost djent-like metalcore essence.
Despite the differences, some signature sounds of Loathe will never be absent. Kadeem's screams and singing are as powerful as ever, and possibly even more. We even get an "Eughhh" at the end, which I wouldn't have thought they would ever go near. Their complex layers of musicality and sound design are as immaculate as ever, and the tones are so uniquely disgusting and elegant. Their chorus hooks are as catchy and memorable as always, their chunky sections are as heavy as ever.
The ending breakdown is one of my favourite moments in the entire record. The buildup is just the right length to raise the energy as fast as humanly possible before dropping it as hard as humanly possible. The riffage is super fun, stuff that I never expected from Loathe, the kind of fast-paced variety breakdown to the likes of Code Orange's Swallowing The Rabbit Whole and Wage War's Death Roll. Sometimes I listen to East of Eden just for the last minute of insanity, it's just that good.
It's so cool to see Loathe's take on the traditional metalcore style, as much as I love their unique style that they've defined in I Let It In And It Took Everything. I don't want them to abandon what they have now, it's definitely so much more refined and distinctive, but I really do love what they did with this song and I think they made awesome music even when they haven't figured out their sound yet.
Rating: 3.5/5