Deathcore by numbers with some potential showing at times
Deathcore. Variation on a theme that gets another label from writers etc like myself. I don't get “deathcore” as such - it's death metal at heart, but there are discernable differences. Whether that's enough to warrant a new tag or genre, I don't know. But it's the “in thing” - in fact, anything-core seems to be lately - but I digress. However, Sydney act Thy Art Is Murder are heading straight down that path - er, deathcore - if I've confused you at this point. Vocalist Brendan Van Ryn, guitarists Gary Markowski and Sean Delander, bassist Josh King and drummer Lee Stanton are flying the Aussie flag in the growing deathcore movement, and to a degree they are doing it well enough.
It's a bludgeoning start as I'll Show You God immediately launches into full flight like a hunting dog after its prey. The thick production accentuates the massive drum sound and rumbling bass that underlie this five track E.P. There's a constant change up between guttural growls and higher pitched scratchy vocals over what is generally solid guitar work and some tight riffs. But there is an element of heard it all before to this as well. Whore To A Chainsaw, which sounds like a Cannibal Corpse title more than anything, is the standout track as it unloads plenty of variety through tempo changes and a devastating dual guitar attack. The same applies to Parasitic Autopsy and Breeding Bacteria as well and the stop-start nature of these change ups without a doubt puts these guys squarely within the realms of deathcore. Infinite Death rounds out the E.P. much in the same manner of the preceding four tracks and is as true to form as you'd expect at this point, and that is wholly the problem here. There really is little to differentiate these guys from the masses at this point.
Thy Art Is Murder exhibit just about everything required of a deathcore act. Although Infinite Death is an interesting E.P., they really aren't doing enough at this point to really make their mark. Sure it's an E.P. and they do have some potential. Perhaps the proof will come in the form of a long player sometime soon.
(Skull & Bones Records/Stomp Distribution)
