In Defense of Thy Art is Murder

Two weeks ago, Thy Art is Murder released “The Son of Misery,” a new track from their upcoming album Dear Desolation. And, as expected by just about everyone, MetalSucks co-founder Axl Rosenberg hated it. However, I get the feeling that his hatred is beginning to wane only to be replaced by a deep, passive loathing, boredom and displeasure for everything they produce.

I, on the other hand, fucking love Thy Art is Murder. Holy War had a lot of really great songs. And while I hate the title track for being an inaccurate, inarticulate assessment and shitty generalization of a problem that can easily trace its origins to the red, white and blue (as opposed to religious warfare), I think that album did a fine job at painting the depravity of the human condition and the extent to which we have marred the earth. Hate, meanwhile, was thoroughly hardcore with some pretty great deathcore thrown in; The Adversary could use some work, but it was their first full-length so I’m not too hard on it. I like Thy Art is Murder because they, along with Infant Annihilator and Rings of Saturn, are what originally introduced me to the genre. So while they may not be exemplary of the greatest deathcore bands in the world, there is still that memory of when I first heard Reign of Darkness. It was the hardest thing I’d heard in a while; I was hooked.

So, with that said, I originally hated “The Son of Misery.” I thought it was boring; the first three times I tried to listen to it, I couldn’t even finish the song. But after a few more listens, I actually came to like it, and with some new headphones I have determined that this track is actually pretty fuckin’ rad, yo. The simpler structure works, it sounds great, the lyrics are a little bit more complex, and the first breakdown is killer. I can’t stand that breakdown at the end, though. There’s no getting around it: it’s just bad.

Still, I’m excited for this new direction which Thy Art is Murder are heading. In this interview they say that they’re working in more of a traditional death metal vein on this album, and I think that’s evident. However, if they are truly going to bring old-school elements into their style, they should try to change their formula some; they remain stuck in the same pattern over and over again, which is my main complaint about much of the deathcore genre.

Check out “The Son of Misery” via a new playthrough video below. Dear Desolation will be released on August 18th via Nuclear Blast. You can pre-order it here. Find dates for their upcoming tour with Decapitated, Fallujah and Ghost Bath here.