Album Review: Sylosis - A Sign Of Things To Come
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Amongst the myriad of bands that started up in the late 90s and early 2000s, amidst the style often attributed as metalcore but also incorporating varying styles to create their sound, Sylosis might just be one of the most favoured of their generation. Formed in 2000, from Reading, UK, Sylosis got off to an eventual start, releasing their first EP, Casting Shadows, in 2006, but fast forward to 2008 and the band truly unleash waves following the release of their first album: Conclusion Of An Age. I recall when it came out: it was huge. Sylosis were suddenly everywhere, releasing a further three studio records prior to their 2016 breakup. Fans thankfully didn’t need to wait long for Sylosis to return, for in 2019 the band announced a reunion and a year later unleashed their fifth full length work, Cycle Of Suffering. Now, with September 8th set as a release date, Sylosis look to release album six titled A Sign Of Things To Come. My familiarity with this band has only been in passing really but after I saw them play Bloodstock last year, I knew I had to give this album a thorough review. It was time to see what Sylosis could do, now six albums and twenty-three years into their career.
If there’s one facet that Sylosis are revered for, it’s their ability to infuse their sound with the sheer power of the riff. There’s little theatrics to be found within their songwriting, for their style of metal leaves little room for such elements so the band use what’s at their fingertips, literally in this instance. This record helps exude that notion through the mix whereby the guitar work has this heightened intensity that enables the electric fuzz of the riff to bore into us just that little while longer than had a thrash or death metal approach been taken to these same riffs. The more straightforward approach Sylosis are renowned for gives their riffs and soloing a keener position in the mix for the band need not worry themselves with what they’re not implementing within their songwriting. The band know their strengths and utilise that to the max, turning chords and licks into weaponised variants even as drums and vocals are amplified throughout the ensuing tracks.
Much like the riffs, the vocals are just as prominent and strong for their delivery manages to stand tall amidst a record designed to get us on board, headbanging and screaming out these lyrics along with the band, and yet the vocals don’t crush us at any point. The vocals understand when to hold back on the intensity and to employ gentler phases that give us the break needed to digest what we’ve experienced, more often than not these moments are accompanied by instrumentation that’s replicating these calmer vocalisations. You have to hand it to longtime frontman Josh Middleton whose helmed the vocals since the band’s very inception at the age of 15, he’s managed to control and safeguard his vocals well enough that, more than twenty years on, he can still provide the range in timbre his vocals possess for they’re never the same gruff form any thirty seconds apart. His vocals are always shifting and changing per what the songwriting requires so we’re often moving to and fro between the wider-sounding bellows to the more guttural depths he reaches.
I think half the reason Sylosis enjoy such a rabid fanbase is how hard their songwriting hits. When you listen to a Sylosis record, A Sign Of Things To Come being no different, you’ll recognise how the band aren’t letting their sound dissipate easily or just fade into the background so the next sequence of riff may begin. After the band play a chord, or a particularly prominent number of notes, the resonating sound emitted by their playing fizzles out pretty quickly and it’s a choice that’s certainly benefitted the band because they need to maintain their intensity and pacing to keep that energy going. That’s ultimately what has driven people towards Sylosis, and why they’ve stayed with Sylosis, for the band have effectively created songwriting that punches us square in the face without the band feeling the need to needlessly downtune or select specific, tried and true guitar tones for such an impact. Instead, the power Sylosis provide us is through their own playing and, following my own witness to their performance at Bloodstock last year, I can definitely attest that their studio efforts are just as real and seething as their live shows.
There’s also an underlying grandeur to Sylosis’ sound too. When you listen to their main instrumental and vocal performance, it feels vast owing to how everything has been mixed together, and how their songwriting is fine tuned to make you feel the impact of their soundscape. But, throughout the record, the band truly hammer home this idea of sonic gravitas for the inherent tracks are rarely unaccompanied by additional elements that help to give their primary instrumentation a little boost in their impact. It could be this hidden symphonic aspect that bridges some parts of songwriting here and there, or a small guitar piece that underscores the backbone of a track, or background vocals in the distance that aid to broaden the album’s breadth and horizons. Essentially, there’s more to the band’s performance than merely what they themselves are imbuing this record with; the inclusion of additional elements positioned where they are helps Sylosis bridge gaps and maximise immersion.
In conclusion, A Sign Of Things To Come is a thunderous record that grabs your throat firmly then refuses to let go until the last feasible moment following the closing track’s symphonic phase. Even when the band aren’t thrusting massive barrages of riffs and might your way, the band choose not to let you off lightly as your attention is held without fail from start to finish. I have ti hand it to these guys for crafting a solid metal record that doesn’t attempt or veil themselves behind any notions of more extreme metal techniques. It’s as stripped down, yet purified, as a heavy metal record could possibly be in 2023 without falling into the typical retro idea of what a heavy metal record is. It’s punching, modern but sticks to the core of what makes Sylosis the juggernaut name they are today: the riff compels.
