Thy Art Is Murder Parts Ways With CJ McMahon on Godlike Release Day
It's been a turbulent time for Australia's #1 deathcore band Thy Art Is Murder. After finally releasing their sixth record Godlike, they've made a ground-breaking statement that they have split ways with vocalist CJ McMahon after his recent transphobic comments, just weeks before the record was released, and days after Wall of Sound posted our interview with guitarist Andy Marsh about the record.
In the statement below, the band have outlined the reason for booting McMahon is related to his recent comments which has rocked the worldwide heavy music community, however it's the straw that broke the camel's back for other members of Thy Art Is Murder, who've said their band's reputation has been at risk for a while due to the frontman's various ideologies.
Interestingly, after the entire global fanbase has now streamed Godlike, the band led their announcement with the fact that CJ was not featured on the record with a new, yet-to-be-revealed vocalist re-recording vocals on the album earlier this week. For fans who listened to Godlike on CD or Vinyl, you'll probably have heard McMahon on vocals, whereby digital streaming platforms seems to have included the latest version with someone else on the mic.
McMahon joined the NSW band in 2009, (replacing Brendan van Ryn) and also briefly departed the band in 2015/16 due to some of the financial realities that came with heavy music as a career. The long-time vocalist returned in 2017 up until now.
Following the social media post from Thy Art Is Murder in the pre-dawn hours on the east coast of Australia, McMahon has responded on Instagram with a provocative story, which may be triggering for some people, in relation to his recent inflammatory comments. It seems like he will be providing his version of the story later today.
Wall of Sound acknowledges the sensitivity of this moment in heavy music history and is committed to keeping fans and the heavy music community informed as the story unfolds further.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can help support the Transgender/LGBTQIA+ Community, check out the following groups for information and education:
- https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/face-facts-lesbian-gay-bisexual-trans-and-intersex-people
- https://transcend.org.au/
- https://rainbowhealthaustralia.org.au/research-resources
- https://equalityaustralia.org.au/
- https://www.minus18.org.au/
- https://www.queerspace.org.au/
- https://qlife.org.au/
Words by Ricky Aarons (@rickysaul90)
