In the nicest possible way, Thy Art Is Murder just don’t sound Australian. This is massively over the top death metal that has its roots firmly set in the Florid scene, with some elements of Bay Area thrash in there as well. But, Australia they are, and possibly if Michael Cheika played this in the dressing room to fire them up before they went onto the pitch, then the Wallabies would stand a chance against the all-conquering All Blacks. But while an Australian rugby revival isn’t on anyone’s radar at present, these guys demonstrate that Aussies can be rightly proud of something as this album is both brutal and melodic, and that combined with excellent musicianship and strong production has created a potent force to be recognised.
They haven’t taken many influences from their home country, but instead have concentrated on bringing together early Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, and Decapitated with the precision rhythmic assault of Meshuggah, but have polished and refined it so that it never feels like an out of control beast, but something that has direction. They have been touring with the likes of Slayer and Fear Factory, and the tightness of being on the road shows as on songs like “Puppet Master”, when they drop into Meshuggah=style riffing and complexity, everything sounds as one.
Signed to a German record label, touring the States, these Aussies are showing that being at the bottom of the world should be no disadvantage if you are good enough. This, their fourth album, is very special indeed – turn it up and play it loud, very loud indeed.
