Sydney’s deathcore giants Thy Art Is Murder bring yet another slab of brutality to your ears in the form of “Dear Desolation”. Now I don’t need to go into the history of this band, however in a nutshell it’s been a difficult rollercoaster ride thus far with the well documented departure and reemergence of lead vocalist CJ Mcmahon only to return with more fire and brimstone in the belly.
Now if I’m straight up with you, this album doesn’t reinvent the wheel by any means however it does showcase a band on top of their respective game. The bands previous album “Holy War” was great in my opinion but this one has just been ratcheted up about ten levels with the foreboding trade mark Thy Art guitar tones tailor made to be even more evil if that’s at all possible?
“Puppet Master” is a stand out track for me, break down a plenty and sure to get you banging your head. Thematically the album deals with pretty dark subject matter as we’ve come to expect, the mortality of the human race for instance “Man Is The Enemy” is a prime example and I suspect more then a few personal demons are being exercised here. The breakdown and fret work on the title track “Dear Desolation”, christ on a bike! Heavy is all I can utter and also of note is the fact that on this album some real homage paid is going with both Behemoth and Immolation springing to mind and those of you with a keen ear will pick this up without question. Not a bad move by any means if you want to talk about trade mark vocal.
“Fire In The Sky” has all the guttural lows and is sure to have your absolute attention. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these guys are the real deal, pound for pound, one of Australia’s finest exports and overall a very solid album and a definite winner. Well worth your hard earned dollars.
TRACKLIST
Slaves Beyond Death
The Son Of Misery
Puppet Master
Dear Desolation
Death Dealer
Man Is The Enemy
The Skin Of The Serpent
Fire In The Sky
Into Chaos We Climb
The Final Curtain