Thy Art is Murder

Thy Art Is Murder could have been deathcore's Dragonforce — a band so steeped in (relative) technicality they run the risk of being unlistenable. This is a harsh change from the simplistic sound popularized by Suicide Silence and their peers. Unfortunately, the band crammed so many ideas into 2010's The Adversary that they are now running on creative fumes. This isn't to say that Hate is a bad album; it's at least in the mid-level echelon of deathcore releases. However, the overall impact lags behind its predecessor's due to atmospheric-topped chugs superseding technicality, at points. This leads songs such as "Vile Creations" and "Immolation" to chug themselves into early graves. Though the more stereotypical parts are often interrupted by brutal bombast, it's too little too late. A similar dichotomy could aid other acts, but given what Thy Art Is Murder are capable of, the dumbed down parts are exactly that: dumb.