I have always regarded myself as a rather open-minded individual when it comes to music; eccentric avant-garde flourishes do not scare me off and neither does extreme brutality. Nonetheless, deathcore has remained a style that has not really spoken to me that much. THY ART IS MURDER did pop up as a name when I was reviewing KARDASHEV‘s spectacular new album last year and, upon giving this bunch a once-over, their music came off quite interesting but I didn’t yet find it in me to plunge headlong into their craft at that time. On September 22nd, 2023, this deathcore bunch hailing from Sydney, Australia, released a new album, entitled “Godlike” via Human Warfare, so I decided to finally give it a proper chance. Not really being “in the know” about this fine specimen of the new wave of deathcore, little was I aware of all the controversy surrounding the outfit of late. The thing is, THY ART IS MURDER has not only split with their vocalist CJ McMahon but completely removed his vocals from the new album. Apparently, the vocals have been re-recorded by some mystery vocalist, adding even more intrigue to this whole endeavor. This probably explains why the release date was suddenly pushed back a week. The band has issued a statement that the split was in part due to McMahon‘s recent anti-trans comments, which were only the tip of the iceberg, concerning the breakdown of his character and judgment. Of course, I had to check what on earth the guy had said that had so upset his bandmates, and, quite frankly, it was some of the most retarded bullshit I’ve seen in a good while; regardless of whatever personal opinions one holds, it is not cool to publicly wish anyone to be burned alive – especially in a world that is renowned for housing a good number of homicidal wackos. In this review, I try to stick exclusively to savoring the band’s music and leave identity politics out of it, though.
As far as I understand, deathcore is all about death-metal riffs and metalcore-ish breakdowns but chugged with extremely down-tuned guitars. Opening the album, “Destroyer of Dreams” draws from exactly that aesthetic, yet adorns the chuggathon with beautiful, sky-soaring guitar legatos. I may be the wrong person to say anything about how this sound compares to the standard deathcore conduct, but if this is indeed anything to go by, I think I have avoided the genre for no reason whatsoever. After all, I spent my late-teenage years in the early 1990s listening to the Swedish death-metal outfits. THY ART IS MURDER is not that far cry from that vibe, only a bit faster and louder – and with breakdowns. On the same note, whoever the stand-in vocalist is, his throaty, old-schoolish death-metal growls sound pretty impressive. The album kicks off with a rather good footing.
The next track, “Blood Throne,” picks up the pace quite a bit, rolling out some nice uptempo death-metal riffs that steamroll forward like a tank. It is easy to envision how this banger would light up the circle pit in a concert situation. Here, the band also brilliantly showcases one of the idiosyncratic features of deathcore – the bouncy guitar riff! I guess it is the straightforward common-time chugging that sets the bouncing riffs apart from djent where similar gimmicks are juxtaposed against off-kilter prog grooves. Who would have guessed that the more I lend my ear to this whole deathcore thing, the more I find things to appreciate…
The leading single, “Join Me in Armageddon” comes off perhaps the most approachable track on the outing; some fans seem to think that it is a throwback to the sound of the band’s previous effort “Human Target,” released in 2019. It turns out to be the album that separated the fanbase a bit. Well, personally, I find the song damn brilliant but, then again, I’m not a true deathcore puritan. My judgment of the song is based purely on whether it calls for being put on repeat or not – and it does.
“Keres” is another single off the album. It is another uptempo-ish riffathon featuring a bit of blast-beating as well. As a deathcore noob, what I find quite delicious about this track and the album as a whole is how the band adorns these rapid-fire riffs with soaring legatos on top. On occasion, the pinched harmonics trigger subtle PANTERA flashbacks even, which is a tell-tale sign that something has been conducted properly.
So far, the album has assaulted the listener mostly with brutal, in-your-face riffathons. While “Everything Unwanted” features some of the sickest blast beats on the album, it also introduces a softer side of the band – if you can use the word, “soft,” in this context. The melancholy synth motif that kind of floats atop the stop-and-go riffing is strongly reminiscent of the standard-issue atmospheric drum&bass conduct where the frantic drum rolls are adorned with ambient soundscapes. The haunting contrast between the punchy guitars and atmospheric synths here makes this song stand out rather nicely.
I guess “Lesson in Pain” could serve as the perfect example of the deathcore paradigm: the song is the sonic equivalent of being peppered with the .50-caliber Browning machine gun. The occasional guitar screeches and celestial legatos offer temporary relief amidst all the pounding. The guitar solo is worth mentioning, in particular; the brief instrumental break works wonders in tandem with the frantic drum antics.
The title track, perhaps unsurprisingly, stands out as well. It is a little less frantic riffathon that triggers nice RIVERS OF NIHIL flashbacks here and there even. In fact, I could not avoid thinking that a saxophone solo would have elevated this track to a league of its own, but I guess deathcore is more about the musical punch-ups rather than getting all too progressive. Had my first encounters with the deathcore aesthetic been more this, I would probably not have avoided it for so long.
“Corrosion” is another track that strikes a nice balance between the frantic riffs and the more atmospheric conduct. The tranquil section kicking off around the 2-and-a-half-minute mark is a really nice touch, not to mention the coda that follows; the combo of plaintive legatos and guitar arpeggios is something that I could have enjoyed much longer. Overall, the songs in this effort are relatively short but, I guess, it is a trade-off that has deliberately been made due to the intensity of the riffs. It is easier to make a good impact with a tighter jab in the face, well, like with the 3-minute assault of “Anathema.”
Closing the album, “Bermuda” is the atmospheric treat in this selection. Needless to say, I’m a sucker for this sort of thing, so I could put this song on repeat ad infinitum. The slow-crushing riffs and ambient synths work wonders together, so the only thing to complain about is that the song should have clocked in around the 10-minute mark instead of being of the standard 3-minute radio-play length. The track is nonetheless a beautiful end to the album.
THY ART IS MURDER is by far not the first deathcore outfit that I have come across and neither is “Godlike” the first deathcore album that I have checked out over the years. However, this endeavor is easily among the most pleasing to the ear. This Australian bunch has cited bands such as GOJIRA, MESHUGGAH, and BEHEMOTH as their influences, which might have something to do with the music’s inherent appealing quality. The new album brilliantly captures the synergy of brutal riffs and melodicism. Yes, it is very in-your-face and heavy but that’s just how we like it, don’t we?
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Destroyer of Dreams
- Blood Throne
- Join Me in Armageddon
- Keres
- Everything Unwanted
- Lesson in Pain
- Godlike
- Corrosion
- Anathema
- Bermuda
Lineup
Sean Delander – guitars
Andy Marsh – guitars
Kevin Butler – bass
Jesse Beahler – drums
Mystery Man – vocals
Label
Human Warfare
Links
https://www.thyartismurder.net/
