The Exhorder frontman has no objection to other people using it, but says the job should go to a person and his band are about to need a cover.
Kyle Thomas was asked about artificial intelligence in the arts and gave an answer that came down to who gets paid.
Speaking to “Capital Chaos TV“, the Exhorder singer was put the question as more of his contemporaries admit to using AI tools for cover art, posters and music itself. He did not condemn them.
“I don’t have a really strong feeling against it, but I don’t have a strong desire to use it. So, the way I see it is if you’re over 21 and it’s available, then you use it; I don’t care. But for me, I would rather outsource my work to an artist to do my album artwork,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
He then named the people he means.
“The artwork for [Exhorder‘s 2024 album] Defectum Omnium was done by Travis Smith, and I’m sure Travis uses a lot of computer graphics while he makes his art, but he’s making the art. And to me, that’s fine. But my buddy Scott Guion that I went to high school with, he’s an amazing artist. I played in Pitts vs. Preps with him over the years, but he just most recently did the Corrosion Of Conformity album cover. He’s also done murals in Hard Rock Café and House Of Blues, and he’s done the last handful of Jazz Fest posters for the New Orleans Jazz Fest. He’s an amazing artist. I’d rather see a guy or a girl — doesn’t matter, just an artist — I’d rather see a person, a human, get that contract, get that job.
Thomas set out his objection in plain terms, with a caveat about his own expertise.
“Basically, A.I., as far as I can tell, and I’m no expert, but it’s just kind of a method of electronically picking the brains out of every piece of art or music that’s ever been done before and cherry-picking it and putting something together on its own that’s kind of like just lifting off everything else,” he added. “But the person responsible for directing the A.I. doesn’t have to pay out any royalty to the persons that were the actual catalyst for the artwork to be created. So I think that’s problematic. That could really put a lot of people out of work. Just like the checkout line at the grocery store when they’ve got a self-service counter. Well, that’s a job they took away from somebody. I’d rather sit in line and let somebody do it for me than have to do it myself. And sometimes it’s convenient — if I got four or five things and I’m just throwing it in the bag and going — but I’d rather see a person get that job. I really would.”
The distinction he draws is between a tool and a replacement. Travis Smith, who has worked on records for Katatonia and Opeth as well as Defectum Omnium, uses computers heavily, and Thomas has no problem with that because a person is still doing the work.
The timing gives the answer some weight. Exhorder finished a two-year touring cycle behind Defectum Omnium earlier this year and have begun writing their fifth album, which Thomas has suggested could arrive in 2027. Somebody will be asked to make the artwork for it.
The band are also still without a permanent drummer. Sasha Horn stepped away in March after more than eight years, citing a need to focus on family, education and his own projects, and Corey Pierce of God Forbid covered the April run with Skinlab on “The Tour Of Unsound Minds“. No permanent replacement has been announced.
Defectum Omnium arrived in March 2024 through Nuclear Blast Records, twelve tracks recorded in part at Fat Track Studio in Cincinnati with engineer Rob Nadler. It followed 2019’s Mourn The Southern Skies and was the first Exhorder record with former Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O’Brien, who had made his live debut with Exhorder at Maryland Deathfest in 2022, three months after Marzi Montazeri left the band.
Thomas is the only founding member still in Exhorder. Original guitarist Vinnie LaBella, who wrote much of Mourn The Southern Skies, parted with the band in February 2020.
The group put out Slaughter In The Vatican in 1990 and The Law in 1992 through Roadrunner before splitting, after which Thomas formed Floodgate and later joined Trouble, where he remains. Exhorder are frequently credited with laying the groundwork for the groove-driven approach Pantera carried to a far larger audience, a claim that has followed the band for three decades.
