Thy Art Is Murder

Thy Art Is Murder formed in 2006 in Blacktown, in western Sydney, when most members were around 15 years old. An early demo led to the 2008 EP Infinite Death, which spread online and built a following well beyond Australia on the strength of its technical deathcore sound and deliberately extreme lyrics.

Original vocalist Brendan van Ryn left in 2008; CJ McMahon, previously of the Sydney band Vegas in Ruins, joined in 2009 and fronted the group through its debut full-length, The Adversary, released in 2010.

Their sound is deathcore in its heaviest form: blast beats, downtuned riffing, low-end breakdowns and guttural vocals, with occasional technical death metal flourishes and very little in the way of melodic relief.

The 2012 album Hate became the first extreme metal record to crack the ARIA top 40, and later releases, Holy War, Dear Desolation, Human Target and Godlike, dealt in bleak, often politically pointed material while charting internationally. Loudwire has grouped them with Whitechapel, Suicide Silence and Job for a Cowboy as one of deathcore's defining bands.

CJ McMahon fronted the band across most of that run before departing; Tyler Miller has since taken over the role.