Thy Art Is Murder Fans Storm Stage At Soundwave

Thy Art Is Murder have attracted some considerable controversy after causing a stage invasion at Soundwave this past weekend.

The Aussie deathcore heavyweights invited fans up on stage during the final song of their set at Soundwave’s Brisbane stop-off, causing dozens of fans to rush past security after frontman CJ McMahon is reported to have pushed fans to “smash” them.

“There are thousand of you and dozens of security,” NewsFeed quotes CJ as saying. “Smash them. All of you get on the stage.”

However, a video below, reportedly taken at Brisbane, shows the singer giving a slightly different speech to the one reported:

What CJ from Thy Art Is Murder really said

The band’s sound is believed to have been cut short following the stage invasion, with Soundwave promoter AJ Maddah initially set to kick Thy Art off the festival, tweeting, “That is why we do not have many Australian bands on Soundwave. Disrespectful arseholes”.

However, AJ later confirmed that after talks with the band, Thy Art would remain on the festival, noting that “hopefully we’ll see a more considerate band on the tour”.

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.