''Dear Desolation'' is the fourth studio album by Australian

deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with met ...

band

Thy Art Is Murder Thy Art Is Murder is an Australian deathcore band from Blacktown, Sydney, that formed in 2006. The band consists of vocalist Chris "CJ" McMahon, guitarists Sean Delander and Andy Marsh, drummer Jesse Beahler and bassist Kevin Butler. Thy Art I ...

. The album was released on 18 August 2017 by

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

. The record is the band's last album with founding drummer Lee Stanton, as well as the first to feature Kevin Butler on bass.

Background

Following the release of their third full-length album ''Holy War'' in 2015, vocalist CJ McMahon briefly left the band. In January 2017, the band announced McMahon's return and released the stand-alone single "No Absolution" (a B-side from the ''Holy War'' recording sessions) as part of the announcement.

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. ''Exclaim!'' called it "the band's strongest album to date", noting the band's stylistic shift from

towards conventional

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, fe ...

inspired by bands like

Behemoth Behemoth (; he, בְּהֵמוֹת, ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation; he is paired with the other chaos-monster, Leviathan, and ...

and

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little rad ...

. It has been described as continuing their prior

sound by ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

''. ''

'' praised McMahon's vocal performance, and wrote that though the album is "short on the penetrative hooks that ''

Holy War A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

'' possessed in abundance, ''Into Chaos We Climb'' and ''The Final Curtain's'' seismic jolts and haunting leads leave an indelible mark for deathcore disciples to latch onto."

Track listing

Personnel

Thy Art Is Murder

* Chris "CJ" McMahon – vocals * Andy Marsh – lead guitar * Sean Delander – rhythm guitar * Kevin Butler – bass guitar * Lee Stanton – drums

Production

Eliran Kantor Eliran Kantor (born 13 September 1984) is a Berlin-based artist and illustrator known mostly for creating album covers for metal bands such as Testament, Soulfly, Helloween and My Dying Bride. He created the artwork used on various releases is ...

– artwork * Will Putney – mixing, mastering,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Randy LeBeouf – additional engineering * Steve Seid – additional engineering *

Randy Slaugh Randy Slaugh (born October 3, 1987) is an American music producer and composer based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has worked with artists such as Architects, Sleeping With Sirens, Skillet, The Amity Affliction, Periphery, Trace Cyrus, David ...

– additional programming

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Thy Art Is Murder albums Nuclear Blast albums Albums produced by Will Putney