Band:	Thy Art Is Murder
Album:	Godlike
Style:	Technical deathcore
Release date:	September 2023

01. Destroyer Of Dreams
02. Blood Throne
03. Join Me In Armageddon
04. Keres
05. Everything Unwanted
06. Lesson In Pain
07. Godlike
08. Corrosion
09. Anathema
10. Bermuda

Born under a bad sign.

There is a saying that controversy creates cash, and damn, if Godlike didn't generate plenty of controversy upon its release, with the news that CJ McMahon was kicked out from Thy Art Is Murder hours after the album was released. The band opted to release two versions of the album, one with re-recorded vocals by an (as of time of writing) unknown singer, and a version with McMahon still behind the microphone. Unless the new vocalist is a carbon copy of McMahon, I guess I am listening to his swansong with Thy Art Is Murder.

Underneath the storm of controversy, there lies an album that, while highly enjoyable, hasn't the quality to break through the clouds with rays of shimmering light (poetry class paid off). Godlike will likely rank highly among deathcore releases this year, and is one of the better releases by the Thy Art Is Murder; the main shortcoming the album faces is that it has to follow the all-conquering Human Target.

Godlike has plenty of bright moments on top of the high level of consistency it maintains. From the explosive, Slipknot-esque "Blood Throne" to the old school vibes of "Corrosion", Godlike will certainly get a response out of listeners. This is in no small part thanks to Delander and Marsh, who produce some solid performances on tracks like in "Keres", which have the additional advantage of having the production handled by Will Putney. "Everything Unwanted" is a song that is defined by the strong production work of Putney, enabling it to have emotional heft without sacrificing power or audio quality, with the atmospheric strings expanding the sound rather than smothering it.

McMahon does turn in a performance that, on a musical level, makes his departure unfortunate, as his vocals on "Lesson In Pain" are the only real bright spot on an otherwise forgettable track; his absence is likely to be felt going forward. Hopefully he takes the awkward experimentation of "Bermuda" with him, as there is nothing I can find that redeems this poor end to the album. Those two aforementioned tracks aside, Godlike doesn't do anything else wrong; it just doesn't do as much good as other albums in their discography.

In isolation of events surrounding it, Godlike is an enjoyable album that merits repeated listens for fans of the band and deathcore genre. It is a shame that the album is unlikely to be judged on its own merits and will have a stigma attached to it, but it is what it is.