LIVE REVIEW: Thy Art Is Murder, Carnifex, Fit For An Autopsy, The Garage, Glasgow, 27/01/2020

This evening, a barrage of guttural vocals and thuggish breakdowns descended on the dark and freezing cold city of Glasgow in January. There couldn’t be a better backdrop for such intensely violent music than The Garage.

Unfortunately, early door times aren’t kind. The cutting edge Fit For An Autopsy arrive on stage as third on a bill of five by the time most shows open their door. Nonetheless, early-stage times don’t slow the band down. Their brief set is a flurry of crushing breakdowns and blistering technicality which displays a songwriting nouse that most of their peers lack. Oddly, they’re the most melodic band on tonight’s bill, peppering some ferocious singing and chilling melodies into their sound. 7/10

Carnifex are the most theatrical band on tonight’s bill, and visually it’s pretty compelling. No one can deny they’re on fine form, but they don’t have the songwriting chops of tonight’s headliners. That said, the audience lap up the band’s aggressive tendencies and intense sub-drops, the pit perpetually spinning throughout their entire set. 6/10

Thy Art Is Murder are at the top of the modern deathcore foodchain. They’re slick, brutal and overladen with hooks. Each track the band play from the second they step on stage is a finely crafted explosion of down-tuned riffs, thunderous drums and unrelentingly vocals. The band have also upped the production on this tour, demonstrating a sense of ambition that far too many bands shirk from.

Also, singer CJ McMahon is in possession of possibly the best mic stand and shirt combo in the game. You combine that with the band’s entrance to a Vengaboys classic, and their good-natured stage banter, and you get a little insight into what sets the band apart: they’re totally genuine and that cuts through to the audience in a way that their more po-faced peers can’t. Which is presumably why every breakdown the band play is greeted with a frothing pit full of spinning limbs.

From the second the band hit the stage the intensity doesn’t let up. Which is honestly, really the only criticism you can level at the band. While no one else can deliver this kind of brutality with this level of class, there’s no let-up or nuance and the aural pummeling slowly starts to lose impact as the set goes on.

All that being said, no one plays this game better than Thy Art Is Murder. It’s just this kind of music benefits from brevity. 7/10

Words and photos by: Calum McMillan