Saturday, June 14, 2008

THY ART IS MURDER: Infinite Death


Released: July 26, 2008

Maybe I'm just getting too old for this shit, but deathcore just leaves me cold. Take this EP from young Sydney five piece Thy Art is Murder for example. Open with a stabbing hardcore-style snare attack, play a technical death metal riff for one second, change to another riff for five seconds, fire off a short trilling burst of notes, go back to the technical death metal for a few seconds, then play a chugging breakdown. Repeat. For the next song, do exactly the same thing! Follow the formula four or five times and voila!, a deathcore EP.

"Infinite Death" is a pretty relentless collection of tracks that to an untrained ear are going to sound very much alike. The riffing pretty standard deathcore throughout and hardly changes from song to song; the arrangements and dynamics are fairly identical also, as if Thy Art is Murder wrote one song they liked so much they just changed it a little each time. There are a lot of albums around that can at first sound very samey and some -- Demanufacture by Fear Factory, for example, or City by Strapping Young Lad -- can be lauded as classics of their field. What distinguishes albums like those with an EP like this one is the presence of hooks and subtle melodies that only become apparent after a listen or two. "Infinite Death" lacks these to the point where only fleeting guitar solo in "Parasitic Autopsy" and the swirling trills of "Breeding Bacteria" do anything to differentiate them from each other.

The title track, however, is quite a stand-out, because while it essentially maintains the same structure as every other song, Thy Art is Murder does more with it. The main riff, while not much different to any of the others, has a solid, moshpit groove and an effective hook and they actually play it long enough for it to set, and the breakdown has a stumbling feel that makes it sound like it's being played backwards. It's also the longest song on the EP, allowing the band to cram the same number of ideas into it but spread them out a bit so they work more effectively.

Thy Art is Murder certainly has the chops to play this style of metal, but in the end "Infinite Death" is just too thoroughly generic and repetitive to appeal to more than their fans, and even they might get over it pretty quickly.


  1. I'll Show You God
  2. Whore to a Chainsaw
  3. Parasitic Autopsy
  4. Breeding Bacteria
  5. Infinite Death

Rating: 48%


15 comments:

  1. SHIT BAND FULL OF TRENDSETTERS. GOOD REVIEW!

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  2. oh stfu thy art is murder eat you alive

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  3. taim is the fucking amazing.

    shut the fuck up if you dont like it.

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  4. WORST FUCKING BAND EVER!
    IVE SEEN THEM LIVE A FEW TIMES AND THEY FUCKING SUCK! THE SINGER IS A STUCK UP ARROGANT POOF WHO THINKS HES A FUCKING ROCKSTAR!
    WAY TO SOUND LIKE 99.99% OF ALL "DEATHCORE" BANDS OUT THERE WANKERS!
    AND THE SINGERS LYRICS... FUCK... HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY READ THEM?!
    TRY HARD STUPID GORE LYRICS ABOUT FUCKING AND KILLING SLUTS... YEH REAL ORIGINAL YOU WINEY LITTLE FAGGOT..

    I SUGGEST IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE SOME INTEREST IN DEATH METAL HOW ABOUT LISTENING TO BANDS THAT ACTUALLY HAVE TALENT!
    INSTEAD OF RIPPING OFF SUICIDE SILENCE, JOB FOR A COWBOY AND WHITECHAPEL JUST QUIT NOW AND SAVE YOURSELVES THE EMBARRASSMENT!
    (and btw those bands i mentioned fucking suck to begin with, why rip them off?? :S)

    ANYONE WHO SAYS THAT THY ART IS MURDER IS "AMAZING" SHOULD STOP LISTENING TO DEATH METAL AND/OR HEAVY MUSIC ALL TOGETHER.
    BECAUSE IF YOU LIKE THIS BAND, YOU SERIOUSLY HAVE NO TASTE.

    I HOPE THIS BAND'S VAN CRASHES WHILE ON TOUR... WITH NO SURVIVERS.

    BTW RAD REVIEW. SO TRUE HAHAHAHAHA

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  5. talk more shit from behind your keyboard faggot

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  6. To the cunt that wished death on this band. You should watch you back the scene is small. I will find you

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  7. Anonymous people posting threats against other anonymous people! Oh Noes!!!

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  8. This band is shit but the artwork is awesome. Too bad they are pussie trend fags. Also the scene is small because they are all pussies and no one wants to be apart of it.

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  9. I bought the EP online cos my mate said i'd like it as its brutal as. nothing new tho, and the review is so true. I recommend Whitechapel as they are brutal and arent so repetitive. TAIM kinda remind of JFAC, obv not as good :P.

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  10. The singers a psycohpath, an actually insane mother fucker. id shut the fuck up u stupid little whiners, wishing the band to death . Songs like these are dedicated to fuktards like yourselves. Branden will find you and rape your mom before tearing open her throat and draining her bodily fluids onto your fucking bed you stupid christian faggets.
    Smash your siblings faces in with hes bare fists then tossed lifelessly onto fucking meat hooks, hell cook your decaying carcass just to see you burn in the fires of hell. Hell strip the meat off your bones with hes bare teeth and chew your flesh as he shoves hes cock into your moms rotting pussy, violating her insides as he feasts on whats left of your pathetic christian soul.

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  11. You just took the most un-generic, original deathcore band and wrote about how generic it is, obviously just for the sake of doing so. You're probably just one of the people who have to hate on everything kid's would rather listen to. Your review is shit, you obviously know nothing about music structure or riffing for that matter, so you really shouldn't even bother writing another one. This 5 piece band out of AUS is doing much different then your average deathcore band and anyone can listen and determine that. You're just writing a bad review cuz you hate the current scene. Fuck off and go back to listening to slayer bitch.

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  12. his highs are alot different from any deathcore i ever heard

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  13. if you dont like it so much why even care? btw this band had one of the best guitarist iv heard out of this "new" generation of metal just sayin

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