Album Review: Sylosis - The New Flesh
Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez
Not quite veterans but certainly not newcomers to the scene, Sylosis are in an interesting stage of their career now. This is as they find themselves on the eve of releasing their 7th album via Nuclear Blast Records, “The New Flesh”. Stylistically, they’ve always been a mixed bag. With a sound heavily rooted in thrash, especially in the early days, the more recent metalcore influence has been impossible to ignore. “Conclusions Of An Age” represented an exciting progressive twist on the thrash metal genre from early in the career, whereas their more recent work has been more geared towards this metalcore style. No matter what genre label, their music always packs a punch and has been responsible for many a headbang and neck snapping groove.
“The New Flesh” marks a shift in songwriting philosophy, with frontman Josh Middleton explaining that the band have been thinking about “what’s going to be fun for us to play and what’s going to land better”. He also added how they want to reminisce their teenage years and rediscover how it felt to jam together, thus wanting to write with that approach. As such, “The New Flesh” will be written more for the band themselves and not necessarily for the masses. How will this manifest then? Let’s find out.
‘Spared From The Guilotine’ stands as one of the lead singles on the album, and offers a forceful throwback to their older thrash roots. This is achieved through the densely layered distorted riffs, pinched harmonics, and just sheer full throttle intensity. This is not the only song with this more minimalist, back to basics thrash metal energy flowing gracefully through. The opening segment to ‘All Glory. No Valour’ stands as one of the fastest on the album and a safe bet to cause the most chaotic circle pit when unleashed in the live arena. Where will you find the metalcore elements, you may ask? ‘Circle Of Swords’ will give you your fix of punishing breakdowns and brutal drops!
Middleton described his admiration for Slipknot’s ‘People = Shit’ as it’s ‘super heavy but it’s an anthem’. As such, “The New Flesh” delivers songs in a similar vein; forceful ballads with anthemic choruses. This is achieved in ‘All Glory, No Valour’ and ‘Lacerations’, with the latter providing one of the bigger soaring choruses. The subtle addition of the background synthesised strings adds an orchestral and epic undertone, and magnifies the gravity of the song. Given Middleton’s time in Architects, perhaps that’s where some of this influence came from? ‘Mirror Mirror’ offers a more hardcore feel to the vocals, especially with the gang style vocals and the call and responses, like you’d associate with the likes of Hatebreed. The end product being catchy as hell vocal lines determined to imprint themselves on your subconscious.
Now, time for a curveball. There seems to be a trend in the world of metal at present. A trend of providing at least one cleaner and acoustic guitar oriented anthem. Conjurer and Orbit Culture offered this in their respective 2025 releases “Unself” and “Death Above Life”. Sylosis follow in this vein but this certainly isn’t catching on trends. Instead, this is a much more emotional and touching number, one in which Middleton verbalises his feelings of guilt for leaving his young children at home for long periods whilst on the road. Perhaps best captured in the harrowing and deeply touching vocal line:
“what if I was everywhere at once?"
A rhetorical question. A radio friendly tune with a much slower pace that adds much welcome breathing space and positively affects the flow of the album. This just proves that Sylosis are going to continue to throw curveballs and you can expect the unexpected.
The album finishes with ‘Seeds In The River’, exploring different textures with the slower and introspective passages, through to neck snapping fast and thrashy. More thought provoking and bordering nihilistic lyrics are thrown to us:
"we are all seeds in the river"
Though there are certainly things to marvel at, especially with a glorious solo acting as the crescendo for the song.
Now, I may be looking at this through rose tinted glasses as I love “Conclusions Of An Age”, having discovered the album during my formative years. Anything else may will always be in that shadow. But objectively speaking, “The New Flesh” is their most expansive and sophisticated work yet! Incorporating all the best components of what’s worked in their nearly 20 years of existence, Sylosis can no longer be considered up and coming, but rather true titans of British metal.
