Jun 082019
 


Thy Art Is Murder (photo by Jake Owens)

 

I’m two-thirds of the way through a month-long festival orgy. First was Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore, then helping to put on our very own Northwest Terror Fest in Seattle, and this coming week will be Ascension Festival in Iceland. After that I’ll probably just check into a hospital. I wonder if hospitals take reservations?

Between the festival orgy, my fucking day job, and a nagging cold I contracted at MDF, I’ve fallen way behind in my round-ups for NCS, and it’s unlikely I’ll get another one done while I’m in Iceland. But I did spend some time listening to new things last night. I decided to focus on music I added to my listening list just from appearances over the last few days; the thought of trying to crawl through everything I noticed beginning with MDF week was just too daunting.

From last night’s explorations I picked nine tracks, divided into two segments. If you don’t see Part 2 later today, you’ll see it first thing tomorrow, as a prelude to my first SHADES OF BLACK column in a month (another casualty of the festival orgy). Continue reading »

Mar 242013
 

(TheMadIsraeli delivers this review of the forthcoming album by Australia’s Thy Art Is Murder.)

I really think at this point deathcore has become like an abusive husband to me. He keeps mistreating me, but I go back to him because he looks like he might’ve really changed this time, only to end up beating my face in with the dinner plate of the sandwich I didn’t make correctly for him that one time.

Thy Art Is Murder have definitely brought another one of those moments of blind hope as far as deathcore and I are concerned. I was ready to sign the restraining order, but Hate came along and made the kind of violent love to me that you just don’t get over.

Thy Art Is Murder have been around for a bit. With several EP’s and an acclaimed debut to fall back on, these Aussies definitely showed that they are a Grade A cut above their contemporaries. The thing is, with this new album Hate, Thy Art Is Murder now only consist of two founding members: drummer Lee Stanton and bassist Sean Delander, who actually gave up his guitar position to fill that role. The question, then, is how does Hate rack up when the band now lacks 3/5 of the members who produced what got them noticed? Continue reading »

Jul 212010
 

Our resident deathcore aficionado IntoTheDarkness insisted I listen to a song called “Soldiers of Immortality” from the new album by Australia’s Thy Art Is Murder. The album is called The Adversary and it was released on July 16 (now available on iTunes and elsewhere).

IntoTheDarkness proclaimed that the album features “some of the heaviest breakdowns I’ve heard” — and he should know. His musical library includes more breakdowns than could be counted in a normal human lifetime. He’s snapped his neck to so many breakdowns it’s a wonder any ligaments are still attached. He particularly favors the kind that detonate on impact.

Now I like me some breakdowns too, the more explosive the better. So I checked out the song, which happens to be the subject of a new Thy Art Is Murder video. And it do have a nasty extended breakdown. The rest of the song ain’t bad either, with better than average instrumental work for this subgenre (which may not be saying a lot, given how much mediocrity is to be found in the current deathcore universe).

I haven’t listened to the rest of The Adversary yet, but I like this song enough to take a deep breath and dive in all the way. As for the video, well, see the title of this post.  And see the video after the jump. Continue reading »