Loathe Announce First Ever Australian Headline Tour With Static Dress

UK heavy innovators Loathe will return to Australia in May for their first headline run, bringing Static Dress out for their debut Australian tour

by Paul Cashmere

Liverpool’s Loathe will headline Australia for the first time this May, marking a significant milestone for one of Britain’s most forward-thinking heavy bands of the past decade. The six-date run, presented by Destroy All Lines, will see Loathe joined by fellow UK act Static Dress, who will also make their Australian debut.

The tour begins on Saturday 9 May in Perth before moving through Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle, wrapping up in Brisbane on Saturday 16 May. While Loathe impressed local audiences at Good Things Festival in 2024, this marks the band’s first full headline tour on Australian soil.

Formed in Liverpool in 2014, Loathe emerged from the UK underground with a sound that defied easy categorisation. Drawing from metalcore, nu metal, industrial textures and shoegaze atmospherics, the band quickly built a reputation for cinematic ambition and technical precision. The current line-up of Kadeem France, Erik Bickerstaffe, Sean Radcliffe and Feisal El-Khazragi has spent more than a decade refining a style that moves fluidly between punishing heaviness and expansive, ambient soundscapes.

Their debut album The Cold Sun in 2017 established Loathe as conceptual storytellers, delivering a dystopian narrative framed by crushing riffs and immersive production. The record attracted attention beyond the UK, with the band earning nominations at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards and the Heavy Music Awards. Their reputation continued to build with the 2020 album I Let It In And It Took Everything, a release that broadened their sonic reach and positioned them among the most progressive acts in contemporary heavy music.

A year later, Loathe surprised audiences with The Things They Believe, an entirely instrumental companion piece to its predecessor. Built around ambient textures and noir-like electronics, the album expanded the band’s fictional universe and showcased their interest in soundtrack composition, drawing influence from composers such as Vangelis and Akira Yamaoka. The project underscored Loathe’s commitment to world-building, an approach guitarist Erik Bickerstaffe has previously described as viewing each album as a book with distinct chapters.

In 2025, Loathe signalled the next phase of their evolution with the single Gifted Every Strength. The track, which debuted during their North American tour supporting Spiritbox, introduced material from their forthcoming fourth studio album, due in 2025. On the same tour, they also previewed another new song titled Revenant, reinforcing that the band’s next chapter is well underway.

Loathe’s live reputation has been forged on stages alongside Korn, Gojira and Spiritbox, as well as at major festivals including Download Festival, Reading And Leeds and When We Were Young. Their performances are known for dramatic pacing, balancing dense breakdowns with melodic passages and widescreen atmospherics. Earlier in their career, the band adopted masked personas and code names before abandoning the concept in favour of a more direct connection with audiences.

Joining Loathe on the Australian run are Static Dress, one of the UK’s most dynamic alternative exports of recent years. Formed in 2019, the band made an immediate impact with their debut single Clean., setting the tone for a sound that channels mid-2000s post-hardcore energy through a contemporary lens. Their 2022 debut album Rogue Carpet Disaster blended emo, screamo, metal and electronic influences into a cohesive statement that propelled them onto major support tours with Bring Me The Horizon and Motionless In White.

Static Dress and Loathe share creative history. In 2023, Loathe featured on a reworking of Static Dress’s track Lye Solution, highlighting a mutual respect between the two bands that now extends to this Australian tour. The pairing promises evenings that move between abrasive intensity and textured atmosphere, reflecting the breadth of the modern UK heavy scene.

For Australian fans who discovered Loathe at festival appearances or through albums such as The Cold Sun and I Let It In And It Took Everything, the headline shows will offer a deeper immersion into the band’s catalogue and new material. For Static Dress, the tour represents a first opportunity to connect directly with local audiences.

Tickets go on general sale Wednesday 18 February at 11am local time via destroyalllines.com. Aartist pre-sale on Monday 16 February at 11am AEDT and the Destroy All Lines pre-sale on Tuesday 17 February at 11am AEDT.

Tour Dates
Saturday 9 May, Perth, Magnet House
Monday 11 May, Adelaide, The Gov
Wednesday 13 May, Melbourne, 170 Russell
Thursday 14 May, Sydney, Metro Theatre
Friday 15 May, Newcastle, King St Bandroom
Saturday 16 May, Brisbane, The Tivoli