Review Summary: "Thrash lives on, fresh and evolved"
If you consider yourself a fan of the current Melodic Thrash/Death scene, you ought to be familiar with Sylosis. The band is now back with a slightly different line-up and a fresh dose of unrelenting aggression, showing vast improvement from their debut album.
There’s also improvement on the vocal department, as Josh Middleton’s voice seems to fit the music perfectly. Their “new” sound retains their Thrash influence but this time with traces of Prog and Groove metal. Also, there is plenty of guitar playing on here to make all those guitar nerds freak out, just listen to “Procession” or “Where The Sky Ends”.
As for the album itself, Edge Of The Earth certainly starts strong enough with a soft instrumental intro, and it’s not long until the technical guitar parts are introduced, but this time to a further level. The songs flow together really well, and the occasional melodic interludes normally offer us 2/3 minutes to give our ears and necks some rest. Even a cursory listen to this album will expose you to an immense amount of nasty riffs. The drumming is crisp and well-suited, but it definitely takes a noticeable backseat throughout the album, as the most memorable parts are usually created by Sylosis’ guitarists.
Just as the music, the production is phenomenal, you can hear every single note, harmony, solo, sweep and everything else. However as you must know, there is no album without its flaws.
There’s nothing like a punchy, short and aggressive Thrash album. And Edge Of The Earth is nothing like a short album. Instead it kicks your ass for more than 70 minutes and after a few listens I found myself tired from the album by the eleventh song. That’s not to say that there is any filler on here. Despite its lenght, every song is incredibly good and the quality of Sylosis’ music is maintained throughout the CD.
In general, when listening to much of the new metal these days, most bands tend to have 3-4 good tracks and the rest of the album tends to be filler material that is just boring and not good for a live set. However, in the case of this album, every single track feels like it belongs and is certainly not filler.
To conclude, this is an excellent album from one of the brightest talents coming out of Britain, as the band got rid of the Metalcore elements in their music and perfected their formula with a much more mature sound.
Recommended Tracks:
- Procession
- A Serpent's Tongue
- Awakening
- Where The Sky Ends
- Altered States Of Consciousness
- Eclipsed
