Date: April 2013
Release Year: 2012, Wikipedia Link
Whether you accept it or not, it is a fact that Deathcore is currently one of the hottest sub-genre of heavy metal music. It is almost equally despised by many oldschool death metal fans, but I guess that is no surprising, since I believe many thrash metal fans also hated death metal when it came out. Anyway, the focus of this review is one of the rising stars of the Deathcore genre, Thy Art is Murder (TAIM), are hailing from Australia and they recently got signed to Nuclear Blast. The band first picked my interest, when my bandmates showed me the track “A Whore to a Chainsaw” from their first EP. I was totally crushed by how they blended blast beats and breakdowns in that song. With their second full-length Hate, the band does not actually introduce any new elements to their music, but they stepped up the production values and overall polish of the songs, which makes the Hate a very enjoyable album.
The most outstanding feat of the album is amazing use of breakdowns. Yeah I know breakdowns are abused by many Deathcore bands, but TAIM handles them exceptionally well. This is mainly due to placement of breakdowns in the flow of the song rather than the structure of the breakdowns itself. Each breakdown enters to song in a very critical moment, pumping you to do very very dangerous things.. Lets say that this is album is not safe to listen when you are driving. Another common songwriting theme shared across the tracks is their beginnings. Without any exception, each songs starts with either in your face drum and guitar hits or with a very catchy hook. Although some tracks outshine others in terms of songwriting, opening section of every song is very well executed.
Vocals are definitely another strong point of the band. Although I miss the high pitched shrieks of the vocalist from the first EP, the new guy’s lows are definitely awesome. The vocal lines are also very catchy, you can easily find yourself singing along the tracks. Another strong point is the drumming, in particular drum fills are very well placed all over the songs.
Like I said in the beginning of the review, this album doesn’t bring anything new to Deathcore and probably you are not going to like it if you are already not into this style of music. Having said that, Hate delivers some of the most well executed breakdowns and vocal delivery I have heard in this genre, so I would highly recommend it.
Definitive Moments: The “Reign of Darkness” has so much groove and power. “The Purest Strain of Hate” contains an amazing vocal performance. The “I can’t wait do die” line in the track “Dead Sun” gets me very time. “Doomed From Birth” brutal a stellar opening section.
Score: 8/10