Awesome cover art aside (and it is pretty damn cool), I'm having a really hard time coming up with anything to really explain just how I feel about Australian deathcore act Thy Art is Murder's latest release, Hate. Their debut release The Adversary was a competent, if uninspiring attempt at a style of metal that has been done to death, and this latest Nuclear Blast offering is, well, more of the same.
Mind you, there's nothing really bad about Hate. On the contrary, the album is brutal, extremely well played, and features a stellar production. The problem is, there's just nothing memorable here, and as you go from song to song it all just sounds the same as the formula never seems to change. Tracks like "Doomed From Birth", "The Purest Strain of Hate", and "Immolation" contain some precision riffing and a relentless drum barrage, no shortage of breakdowns, and gutteral growling. Pick any song and that's the formula, with not a hell of a lot left to distinguish one from the other, save for some blazing guitar solos in spots. The vocals are completely one dimensional (though not bad), which again doesn't help matters when the arrangements are so similar throughout the CD. Honestly, if you played songs from Hate alongside any other faceless deathcore releases in recent memory, you'd probably have a hard time telling one band from the next.
Obviously Nuclear Blast sees something in Thy Art is Murder, because they are usually good on spotting talent and don't just sign anybody, but I'm just not feeling anything special at all with Hate. Decent enough, sure, but there's nothing here that's leaving a lasting impression with me, and in a crowded and severly uninspiring sub-genre any band is going to really need to stand out from the pack in order to make any impact. It's just not happening here unfortunately.
Track Listing
01. Reign Of Darkness
02. The Purest Strain Of Hate
03. Vile Creations
04. Shadow Of Eternal Sin
05. Immolation
06. Infinite Forms
07. Dead Sun
08. Gates Of Misery
09. Defective Breed
10. Doomed From Birth
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