LIVE REVIEW: Thy Art Is Murder @ O2 Institute Birmingham

Brexit. The first confirmed cases of Coronavirus. Freezing weather. Welcome to the final day of January 2020. Political and medical tumult aside however, it is also marks the last UK show on the Human Target tour before it rages on to the continent to complete its monster 28-date run. Headed up by Aussie deathcore behemoths THY ART IS MURDER, the lineup is nothing short of face-meltingly colossal with labelmates CARNIFEX and FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY in attendance as well as RIVERS OF NIHIL and I AM to round off this extreme metal extravaganza. Venues have been selling out left, right and centre and with a slew of albums that made many an AOTY list under their collective belts, this five-band army are ready to unleash a brutal sonic assault upon Birmingham’s O2 Institute. Ladies and gentlemen; please brace for impact.

Tonight is not only I AM’s Birmingham debut, but also part and parcel of the Dallas five-piece’s inaugural jaunt overseas. Yet despite the somewhat lofty company they’re in, there are zero nerves on display here. Serving “Texas Death” to the gathered masses, the following thirty minutes presents a no-holds barred fusion of primal hardcore and modern death metal as crushing breakdowns slam relentlessly into soaring leads. The majority of the setlist is comprised of malevolent cuts from current album Hard 2 Kill – not that anyone is objecting – and given their gritty, steam-rolling energy rightly so. Stalking the stage like a modern-day hulk, frontman Andrew Hileman’s gravel-laced roars reverberate around the room, inciting the crowd as the pummelling barrage of songs like Paid in Sin and Burn Slow illustrate the band’s penchant for swinging riffs and vicious grooves. It’s a voracious yet all too brief outing for the Texans’ first time on the Institute stage.

Rating: 7/10

The last time RIVERS OF NIHIL rolled through the UK on a headline run, the Penn natives rendered audiences wide eyed and slack jawed performing 2018 magnum opus Where Owls Know My Name in its entirety. Sound-wise, there’s decidedly less safe sax action and an impetus on unbridled ferocity on their welcome return to our fair city. Ripping through Old Nothing and A Home in quick succession, merciless blastbeats threaten to level the building before dissonant guitars segue into expansive solos and hair-raising atmospherics; the quintet once again demonstrating their power to annihilate a live audience – via songs more akin to multifaceted soundscapes that are as punishing as they are progressive. Between Brody Uttley and Jon Topore’s MESHUGGAH-esque djent mastery and the bass-wielding fret gymnastics of Adam Biggs, the band more than deliver the goods in terms of technical proficiency. Elsewhere, soaring cleans are complimented by distorted cleans as vocalist/frontman Jake Dieffenbach works the crowd during an explosive rendition of The Silent Life, it’s crunching mid-tempo chug encouraging heads to bang one more time. It’s yet another eargasm-worthy performance courtesy of the death prog collective.

Rating: 8/10

Relentlessly crushing and unflinching in its purpose, the music of New Jersey’s FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY has long ticked the proverbial boxes for fans of extreme metal. That said, lyrically there’s long been a message lying at the core of this band’s aggressive heart – resulting in music that is impassioned as it is intense. And the ensuing reaction from the onlookers here is the epitome of this description. It takes approximately one gut-punching riff from opener The Sea of Tragic Beasts to send fists skywards and bodies towards the stage in waves. There’s a no-nonsense simplicity to Warfare – a unashamed slab of adrenaline-fuelled deathcore chock-full of seething vocal roars – whilst Mirrors’ melancholy initiates a brief shift in tempo before the onslaught resumes with Heads Will Hang hitting all the right spots. The band’s engagement with the crowd is consistent with Joe Badolato’s mid-set shout-out to UK Tech-Fest (which they’re due to headline in July) and “you set of crazy British bastards!” being the jump-off for a swirling pit to accompany closer Black Mammoth. FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY continue to break down those once immovable boundaries of extreme music.

Rating: 8/10

The award for the most circle pit requests during any set this evening (possibly in history) belongs to Scott Ian Lewis. Although you’d find few folks here loath to follow his instructions. Decked out in warpaint and surveying the faces before him, the talisman’s eye-popping belligerence is illuminated by red strobes as CARNIFEX charge headfirst into a soul-crushing salvo of World War X and Slow Death. Scathing gutturals are cut with machine-gun fire blasts and swirling keys; the eviscerating bludgeon of the latter threatening to swallow up the bodies that have gone hurtling into the pit. There’s barely time for the room to catch their collective breath before the strains of Drown Me In Blood hit and the baying crowd reacts accordingly – losing all semblance of personal safety as ecstatic aggression takes over amongst a flurry of infectious tremolo hooks and black metal-imbued atmospherics. The setlist spans material across the San Diego five-piece’s discography highlighting their ability to fuse technical complexities with sheer blunt force trauma. Packing blackened melodies and relentless blastbeats, the gut-punching filth of classic cut Lie To My Face sounds utterly monstrous in a live capacity whilst Hell Chose Me’s frenetic shred ensures the visceral outing ends the way it started – with faces being unapologetically roasted off. Hopefully, the next time CARNIFEX grace UK shores, it’ll be as a headliner which will provide the time and space to include more of their most recent work.

Rating: 8/10

Any punters who attended Bloodstock Festival last summer will feel an inescapable, and glorious, sense of deja vu as VENGABOYS pop banger We like to Party! erupts during the changeover. If the hollering was hovering around deafening then, it lands smack bang in eardrum-splintering territory by the time THY ART IS MURDER take the stage. Gripping a mic stand adorned with a metallic fifty-shades-of Giger skeleton, the inimitable CJ McMahon holds his arms aloft as Death Squad Anthem’s vitriolic swagger sends this now swelling venue into overdrive – it’s vocals making it forever destined to be screamed back with passionate adherence – whilst the caustic catchiness of Make America Hate Again might just make it the filthiest earworm ever.

There are few people who could segue into a song by shouting “all you lot on the balcony – man or woman I don’t care – get the fuck up on your feet you pommie cunts!” and get away with it. The profanity-laced command is not only followed, it’s met with frenzied cheers. It must be the leopard print. Which is back by popular demand tonight following that now viral MICHAEL JACKSON Earth Song moment captured at the aforementioned festival. Visually speaking, this is the biggest production the band have brought anywhere in the world at this point and it’s stunning. Drummer Jesse Beahler is flanked by a huge pentagram whilst huge screens on either side of the stage project various retina-popping images of war/destruction during a primal Human Target and New Gods takes a swipe at social media. Moments for those wanting to flail (and possibly lose) their limbs are in aggressive abundance. The proverbial hounds are unleashed from hell during a rabid Puppet Master, it’s barbarous hooks clawing at our souls before the lyrics to Reign of Darkness (“you will know pain, you will see the true face of panic!”) are bellowed back at the Aussie wrecking crew in gleeful unison. All that remains to be said now is bring on Download Festival. Tonight, THY ART IS MURDER are a sonic force to reckoned with.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Check out our stunning photo gallery of the night’s action in Birmingham from Damian John Photo here: