By BRIAN GIFFIN
NOW 15 years into the business, Thy Art is Murder stand at both an enviable and precarious position within Australian extreme music. No band of their nature has achieved close to the same level of recognition and success, particularly locally, where death metal has been traditionally ignored. But popularity hinges on a number of factors, one of the most significant of which is keeping audiences engaged with the music.
With a gradual progression of style, Thy Art is Murder had very much established their signature approach by the time of Holy War; the albums since then have found a band doggedly sticking to that formula with a wearying tenacity.
At first, Godlike offers exactly what has come to be expected: “Destroyer Of Dreams” opens immediately onto dense chugging riffs and CJ McMahon’s mid-range growl. “Blood Throne” moves things in a similar direction, propelled by some very robotic sounding drums and the overarching feeling that body-slamming riffs are the only goal. The addition of some dark melody lines adds an ominous layer to the rather more interesting “Join Me In Armageddon”, however, in which a breakdown becomes part of the song rather than all of it and the ceaseless pummelling pulls back to allow for some menacing atmospherics. It’s brief, but it’s there.
On “Keres” Thy Art lean into a tempo more akin to thrash with a hint of groove, with a chugging breakdown giving over to a swirling solo. Then comes “Everything Unwanted”, sonically and structurally perhaps the most out-of-the-box song of the entire collection. Quieter, darker passages of distorted lilting guitars offer respite amongst the bludgeoning slam riffs and an ebb and flow of tension and brutality unusual for this band. It would almost be reflective if not for the rough gurgle of McMahon’s vocals.
From this point, Godlike returns to basics – slab-like chug riffs and breakdowns that will surely punish to maximum effect in a circle pit but without any memorability or individual character. The mechanical drumming lacks colour and McMahon offers little vocal variation beyond a dry, rasping low range growl that detracts a little from the extra songwriting effort the band has made this time.
There are enough tweaks to the formula here to give pause to some who believe Thy Art is Murder ran out of ideas some time ago, while staying comfortable enough within their boundaries to keep their solid fanbase sticking around.
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