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Sylosis are a metal band from Reading UK, formed in 2001. The music they play is a mix of thrash metal, melodic death metal and progressive metal, blended together with absolute perfection. The Supreme Oppressor is their second Ep, as Sylosis were still yet to release a full Lp at that point of their career.
The Supreme Oppressor is a great example how to blend thrash and melodic death metal correctly. There are a lot of good bands who use elements from thrash metal and death metal, but how many good bands do you know who can really fuse thrash and melodeath? Not too many I assume, since those two genres are very hard to blend together to make the final product enjoyable for the listener. But Sylosis is one of the few bands who have mastered it and The Supreme Oppressore is a fine example of excellent thrash metal/melodic death metal.
The album kicks in with a smooth, quiet intro called ""The Supreme Oppressor". The intro is nothing more than a 1.30 long sequence featuring some quiet, possibly violin played sounds which would be perfect during an emotional moment which is taking place in an epic war movie. It also is sort of a prelude to the albums first track, titled "Manipulation Through Idols". "Manipulation Through Idols" starts off with some very fast drumming, followed by some groovy, thrashy riffs and growled vocals. The song stays very thrashy till the point it reaches the chorus which is very epic and has some melodic, catchy melodeath riffs. There is also a short solo in the song which starts right after a small breakdown part . The solo is not all that complex but it is still a joy to listen to. "Manipulation Through Idols" is one of the definite standouts on this album featuring some crazy drumming, great riffs and good vocals.
The overall riffing on this album is consistently very strong. The guitarists never become lazy or uninspired and play with full power throughout the album. Riffs are very interesting and quite complex, ranging from brutal and heavy to melodic and epic. They are played with fast tempo and are decelerated only in the breakdowns, which by the way are not disturbing at all, on the contrary, the breakdowns are very enjoyable and only add to the sound of the album. There is also a sufficient amount of solos on this album. Solos on here are mainly quite short, lasting about 20-30 seconds max. Some of the solos are quite complex, while others are quite easy to play, but whatever the level of difficulty is, they are still very enjoyable to listen. The drumming on this album is also very good. It is even faster than the riffing is and its very complex in most points. There is only 1 disturbing factor regarding the drumming, and it is the fact that the drummer, Rob Callard, overuses the bass drum a little bit. He creates a lot of interesting drum beats with his hands, but the bass drum is pretty much always pounding in the background and it may become a bit overwhelming for some.
While this album is good from start to finish, it still has standouts. One standout is the above mentioned "Manipulation Through Idols", but it's not the only one. The other definite standout track is "Turbulence". It is a song that features some really epic melodies, some very good vocal work (especially the screams) and neat drumming. The somewhat hashed riffs are very likable and the slow end of the song which follows after a powerful scream by the vocalist Jamie Graham is just pure ear-orgasm. A song that also deserves to be marked is the instrumental track called "Silence From Those In The Sky". Mostly this album is very aggressive, straight in your face, but "Silence From Those In The Sky" is a smooth, warm track that is played mostly with only acoustic guitars, featuring a small electric guitar part. The song has a sad atmosphere and a warm, aggrieving mood. It's extremely slow, allowing the listener to really catch and feel the sadness which this track seems to be full of. It is a great addition to a album that is excellent already. This album ends with a extremely aggressive track called "Blind Desperation" which is very rapid. The drumming on it is very protruding and loud, the guitars and the bass (which is pretty inaudible throughout most of the album) create a mean, heavy sound and the vocals are truly fierce. Jamie Graham goes totally berserk with his singing. The growls and shouts by him are very powerful and, surprisingly, he actually does a bit clean singing on this track. The clean vocals aren't mind-blowing but they are solid. The song carries huge amounts of power with him and leaves the listener wanting for more. Too bad that there isn't any to come.
In conclusion, The Supreme Oppressor is an album that fuses the thrash and melodic death metal genres together near perfectly. What this album lacks in length it covers with its content and aggressive, emotional delivery. The drumming, riffing and singing are all great and this album definitely deserves a place in the collection of a true metalhead.
| other reviews of this album |
Robert Garland STAFF (3)
New age thrash is coming, and it’s coming to shake things up. Sylosis show even before their yet t...
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Album Rating: 4.0
Btw, for the people who read this, is the fourth paragraph neccesary? I think that it is informative, but it just doesn't fit too well IMO. If someone thinks that I could lose it, than let me know. But if you think that its ok, than its all good.
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Good review. If anything I think that the second paragraph could be removed. You could perhaps address that in the closing paragraph. The fourth paragraph seems fine in there though. I'll pos.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Naah, I like my second paragraph lol. But thanks for the vote and if you say that the fourth is ok than its cool man
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No prob.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
these guys are probably my favourite metal band atm. although i wish they'd do one or two more tracks like "the bereaved" off the first EP. seriously though, both EPs and the full-length are fucking spectacular. and this is a pretty solid review too! pos'd!
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thrash and melodeath eh? that sounds like it has the ability to be more awful than any genre I've experienced
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
but its actually not. Its really interesting.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
"thrash and melodeath eh? that sounds like it has the ability to be more awful than any genre I've experienced"
Uhh, dude... The Absence.
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...haven't heard it 
just, thrash and melodeath are, perhaps, the two most overdone metal genres (ignoring black metal), often with almost no ingenuity at all (Sonic Syndicate, Black Tide, Trivium to name a few), so it stands to reason that by mixing the two, you could achieve twice as stagnant an album
This Message Edited On 03.27.09
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
well you should, and you should give this a go as well
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The overall riffing on this album is consistently very strong. The guitarists never become lazy or uninspired and play with full power throughout the album. The riffs are very interesting and quite complex, ranging from brutal and heavy to melodic and epic. The riffs are played with fast tempo, they are decelerated only in the breakdowns, which by the way are not disturbing at all, on the contrary, the breakdowns are very enjoyable and only add to the sound of the album. There is also a sufficient amount of solos on this album. The solos are mainly quite short, lasting about 20-30 seconds max. Some of the solos are quite complex, while others are quite easy to play, but whatever the level of difficulty is, the solos are still very enjoyable to listen. The drumming on this album is also very good. The drumming is even faster than the riffing is and its very complex in most points. The only disturbing factor is that the drummer, Rob Callard, overuses the bass drum a little bit. He creates a lot of interesting drum beats with his hands, but the bass drum is pretty much always pounding in the background and it may become a bit disturbing for some.
Yea you actually nearly started EVERY sentence here with 'the'.
The Supreme Oppressor is a great example how to blend thrash and melodic death metal correctly. There are a lot of good bands who use elements from thrash metal and death metal, but how many good bands do you know who can really fuse thrash and melodeath? Not too many I assume, since those two genres are very hard to blend together to make the final product enjoyable for the listener. But Sylosis is one of the few bands who have mastered it and The Supreme Oppressore is a fine example of excellent thrash metal/melodic death metal.
You could have easily said all of this in one or two sentences, without repeating yourself five times.
background and it may become a bit disturbing for some.
'overwhelming for some'?
I guess you really need to lean away from the running comentary. Such as the drumming is this, the solos are that, the vocals are here and the breakdowns are there. Simply means keep reading the staff reviews, to get ideas on how to broaden your literary skills.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Pos'd but you should address the problem taylormemer pointed out. This sounds like something I'd really like so I'll go look for it now.
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This is really good. Better than potato chips.This Message Edited On 03.27.09
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
yeah, I see that you are very right on the "The" stuff and the fact that I need to lean away from the running comentary style. Thanks, I'll edit the "The" paragraph
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i recall trying to get into this band, but i didnt care much for them
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Yeah, I was digging this so much last year. Their LP was even better...
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
ok, who was the bastard who negged? I wan't that man to give me a reason
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
hey this is pretty good. would've been a 4 if the vocals were a bit better.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I think that you might raise it to a 4 soon. When I first listened to it I thought the vocals were pretty bad. After a few days listening to it I thought that I'll make a reveiw and mention that the vocals are a bit weak, not bad, but weak. And by the time I got to the reviewing the vocals had really grown on me, as they might on you.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
need more listens i guess. I'm also getting their full length, is it as good?
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