Angry Metal Guy<p><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/faithxtractor-loathing-and-the-noose-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Faithxtractor – Loathing and the Noose Review</a></p><p><i>By Maddog</i></p><p><strong>Faithxtractor</strong>’s second biggest musical contribution was the comment section from their <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/faithxtractor-contempt-for-a-failed-dimension-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">last album</a>. With a Farmers Only joke, a thread about metalcore album names, and a <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/faithxtractor-contempt-for-a-failed-dimension-review/?commentID=c2190dce-89bb-4aa6-959c-d2fa4aca8076" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">story</a> that must be read to be believed, the birdbrain community’s mockery of <strong>Faithxtractor</strong>’s name has left me giggling for two years. Of course, the band’s biggest contribution was 2023’s <em>Contempt for a Failed Dimension</em> itself. Perhaps my favorite frill-free death metal record in recent memory, <strong>Faithxtractor</strong>’s fourth full-length dealt in riffs and also riffs. Unlike the other wannabes that litter the old-school death metal revival scene, <strong>Faithxtractor</strong> stood out through thoughtful songwriting. The album’s doom-tinged riffs were punchy, and its cohesive flow has withstood two years of wear. Ohio’s underground farmers are back with another slab of death metal. As I started spinning <em>Loathing and the Noose</em>, I knew what to expect.</p><p>At least, I thought I did. While <em>Contempt for a Failed Dimension</em> reveled in riffy simplicity, <em>Loathing and the Noose</em> is much more adventurous. <strong>Faithxtractor</strong>’s signature remains, with extra chunky riffs that alternate between furious death metal and <strong>Asphyx</strong>iating death-doom. However, while <em>Contempt</em> turned everything up to eleven, <em>Loathing</em> shatters the knob altogether. The most intense sections veer into blackened death-thrash, landing in between <strong>Morbid Saint</strong> and <em>Panzer Division Marduk</em> (“Fever Dream Litanies”). Even early <strong>Suffocation</strong> rears its head in <strong>Faithxtractor</strong>’s most bludgeoning brutal riffwork (“Flooded Tombs”). Spastic flailing guitar solos complement this unhinged assault on the senses. However, <strong>Faithxtractor</strong> ventures in the opposite direction as well. <em>Loathing</em>’s soaring leads and its melodeath-inflected riffs make it feel more melodic than <em>Contempt</em>. Meanwhile, the album’s starkest change lies in its bluer shade of doom. <strong>Faithxtractor</strong>’s melodic death-doom passages recall <strong>Swallow the Sun</strong>, displaying a newfound emotive side rather than merely adding heft. While <em>Loathing and the Noose</em> is far from an avant-garde record, it marks a sea change for <strong>Faithxtractor</strong>.</p><p></p><p>Miraculously, <strong>Faithxtractor</strong>’s experiments pay off. Even the most unexpected pieces are bafflingly powerful. Despite my knee-jerk skepticism, the melodic death-doom escapades are as evocative as the genre’s best (“Cerecloth Vision Veil”). Conversely, <em>Loathing and the Noose</em>’s speediest blackened cuts hijack my brain using frantic melodies and <strong>Marduk</strong> riffs (“Ethos Moribund”). These varied elements fit together with uncanny grace. The mid-section of opener “Noose of Being” mutates from blackened riffs to melodeath to sadboi death-doom to knuckle-dragging <strong>Autopsy</strong> worship, with fluid transitions that make each long jump feel like a natural step. Similarly, “Caveats” shines through its dynamic back-and-forth between an elegiac key melody and an enormous doom riff. While <strong>Faithxtractor</strong>’s round-trip transitions are sometimes abrupt, like the funeral-doom-and-back of “Flooded Tombs,” these are rare exceptions. Indeed, because it’s so well-crafted, <em>Loathing and the Noose</em> is an immediate hit despite its evolution; even the doomy seven-minute closer flies by, lodging into my memory by my second listen. Over-experimentation can be a turn-off, but <strong>Faithxtractor</strong> makes it work by whole-assing their every move.</p><p>Of course, it helps that the caveman segments slay. Even on its more adventurous tracks, <em>Loathing</em>’s overpowering death metal riffs are grin-inducing (“Cerecloth Vision Veil”). I have a soft spot for guitar solos paired with a dominant rhythm guitar, and <strong>Faithxtractor</strong> delivers on this with reckless abandon (“The Loathing”). If anything, <em>Loathing and the Noose</em>’s explosive tendencies make it a more visceral and infectious listen than its predecessor. And because the album’s climactic fury is sprinkled across each track rather than being sequestered, its 37 minutes are consistently lovable. While <em>Loathing</em>’s loud in-your-face master blunts its teeth, it remains a delight to revisit.</p><p>This is not the death metal album I was looking for. I showed up expecting a single-minded half-hour curbstomp. While <em>Loathing and the Noose</em> retains these simple roots, it does so much more. With influences ranging from blackened thrash to weepy death-doom, <strong>Faithxtractor</strong>’s newest record marks a transformation that initially left me worried. But its gargantuan death metal riffs, its smooth songwriting, and its excellence across its genre romps won me over. <em>Contempt for a Failed Dimension</em> was not just one of the <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/thus-spoke-and-maddogs-top-tenish-of-2023/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">greatest albums of 2023</a>; it shocked me, revitalizing a subgenre that rarely rises above a 3.0. <em>Loathing and the Noose</em> sounds worlds apart, but checks the same elusive box. Mastermind Ash Thomas continues to understand my taste better than I do, releasing fantastic records in styles that often let me down. Keep an open mind and give this a shot.</p> <p><strong>Rating:</strong> 4.0/5.0<br><strong>DR:</strong> 7 | <strong>Format Reviewed:</strong> 320 kb/s mp3<br><strong>Label:</strong> <a href="https://www.redefiningdarkness.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Redefining Darkness Records</a><br><strong>Websites:</strong> <a href="http://faithxtractor.bandcamp.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">faithxtractor.bandcamp.com</a> | <a href="http://facebook.com/<strong>Faithxtractor</strong>" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">facebook.com/Faithxtractor</a><br><strong>Releases Worldwide:</strong> January 10th, 2025</p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2025/" target="_blank">#2025</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/40/" target="_blank">#40</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/american-metal/" target="_blank">#AmericanMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/asphyx/" target="_blank">#Asphyx</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/autopsy/" target="_blank">#Autopsy</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/blackened-death/" target="_blank">#BlackenedDeath</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/blackened-death-metal/" target="_blank">#BlackenedDeathMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/contempt-for-a-failed-dimension/" target="_blank">#ContemptForAFailedDimension</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/death-doom/" target="_blank">#DeathDoom</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/death-metal/" target="_blank">#DeathMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/death-doom-metal/" target="_blank">#DeathDoomMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/faithxtractor/" target="_blank">#Faithxtractor</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/jan25/" target="_blank">#Jan25</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/loathing-and-the-noose/" target="_blank">#LoathingAndTheNoose</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/marduk/" target="_blank">#Marduk</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/melodic-death-doom/" target="_blank">#MelodicDeathDoom</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/morbid-saint/" target="_blank">#MorbidSaint</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/redefining-darkness/" target="_blank">#RedefiningDarkness</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/redefining-darkness-records/" target="_blank">#RedefiningDarknessRecords</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/review/" target="_blank">#Review</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/reviews/" target="_blank">#Reviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/suffocation/" target="_blank">#Suffocation</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/swallow-the-sun/" target="_blank">#SwallowTheSun</a></p>