The Barwon Club, August 5
Supports: Athena’s Wake, I, Valiance, Graves.
Reviewed by Riley McDonald
I haven’t been in a band since I was about 18, and that was only a dorky power-metal band complete with plastic Viking helmets, so I really didn’t feel qualified to review a band as good as Thy Art is Murder. Every time I sat down to write this review, I just kept thinking, ‘how am I supposed to critique their set without sounding like a total prick?’
Crowd:
The band room was pretty full up when we got there, and as always, there were a few familiar faces. A prerequisite for a successful BC show is a guest cameo from the legend himself, Ben Eddy.
Venue:
Heavy shows are something the BC does really well. Maybe it’s something in the acoustics of the room, but everything just sounds… heavier. Is that even a thing?
Drinks:
Plenty.
Supports:
We were pretty shattered that I, Valiance and Athenas Wake had already been and gone by the time we got there, but we did manage to catch the end of Graves’ set. Their sound was straight up ginormous. Their set acted like a constant barrage of sludgy breakdowns, each somehow more gravity defying and oppressive than the last. Their guitars are all tuned to drop Q or something ridiculous like that.
Thy Art is Murder:
These guys were actually so fucking good. They were really precise and the mix was the perfect balance of bombastic and razor-sharp. I was briefly sceptical as to whether the new frontman Lachlan Watts could live up to role, but that didn’t last long because he nailed it. The drummer is an absolute gun, and was staring at the roof the whole set, like he was looking for some divine assistance with all the blast beats he needed to do. I remember turning to my mate at one point between songs and yelling, ‘If they play the Purest Strain of Hate I’m gonna lose my shit,’ and then they did, and so I did. They even played an old favourite from the Infinite Death album, which was aptly received by a floor full of people pushing each other.
Merch:
I got a long sleeve. It’s got a skull on it. I’m pretty stoked.
