[6.5/10] Over the last couple of years, five-piece act Thy Art Is Murder (who comprise of vocalist Brendan Van Ryn, guitarist Sean Delander and Gary Markowski, bassist Josh King and drummer Lee Stanton) have been making a name for themselves in and around the Sydney music scene with their live performances. Given the fast growing reputation of the band, and the positive feedback from their This Hole Isn’t Deep Enough three track demo from last year, Brisbane based label Skull And Bones Records wasted little time signing up the band, and duly sent them to the studio.

Cue several months down the line, and Thy Art Is Murder are finally unleashing their debut EP Infinite Death. But for all build-up leading up to the release of Infinite Death the end result is pretty much the same old standard fare for the most part.

There’s no denying that the members of Thy Art Is Murder know their way around their respective instruments. After all, there’s plenty of technical precision in the band’s sharpened death metal riffs, and plenty of skill shown in the way the band can continually chop and change tempo at any chosen moment. But for all the skills on display, the one element that’s seriously lacking in the band is some originality within their songwriting.

The opening track “I’ll Show You God” is without a doubt a crushing effort, but the continual breakdowns and change of direction is fairly familiar and predictable within the deathcore sound these days, and therefore lacks any real surprises.

The follow-up track “Whore To A Chainsaw” is almost interchangeable with the opening track, with the same riff structure recycled once again for the majority of the track, while “Parasitic Autopsy” (the only track to survive from the band’s original demo) and “Breeding Bacteria” are only separated by their slower pacing and their slight focus on groovier moments.

The only real stand out cut on offer is the title track “Infinite Death,” where the band expand upon the riff structures and ideas, which gives of the song a more conceptual feel rather than a patching together of a lot of different ideas.

After attracting some well earned attention following recent signings, Queensland-based label Skull and Bones Records are no doubt keen to show off their latest addition in Sydney based act Thy Art Is Murder. The only problem is that while some have obvious potential, Thy Art Is Murder still has quite a long way to go if Infinite Death is anything to go by.

www.myspace.com/thyartismurder