Sylosis – Edge of the Earth (2011)

Getting rid of the Metalcore-ish crap that influenced their near perfect debut album “Conclusion of an Age”, Sylosis returns sans previous vocalist with the crushing and mind-blowing sophomore release “Edge of the Earth”. If you thought the first one was pretty good, wait until you listen to this one.

With the band’s front man Josh Middleton now handling the vocals, Sylosis has become more vicious and will surely please any Thrash/Melodic Death Metal fan out there. This release features endless amounts of brilliant Thrash riffs and melodic sections that will pummel you into submission.

Sylosis riffage onslaught immediately starts with the song “Procession”. In this song you can instantly notice the great improvements the band made from their debut release. The vocals are now a combination between low growls and some amazing clean leads that will take you by surprise. The guitar pounding never ends and in tracks like “Sands of Time” we start noticing the Death worship very clearly near the end of this song.

The two part “Empyreal” track is full of virtuosity, but never pushing into Technical Death Metal territory since it’s very crushing and effective. The melodic sections of songs like “Awakening” and “Kingdome of Solitude” are just brilliant and they seamlessly evolve into more traditional Thrash Metal parts. This skill alone makes Sylosis a very effective band since it seamlessly bridges two genres and delivers cohesive songs.

Another impressive feature of “Edge of the Earth” is the fusion of some progressive elements here and there in a very subtle manner. Songs like “Apparitions” nicely transition between genres delivering both brilliant melodies and devastating aggression. The album signs off (at least the version we have) with “From the Edge of the Earth”, a very melancholic piece that delivers majestic melodic riffs and lush clean vocal sections. The versatility of this song makes it our favorite track of the album.

Clocking in at around 70 minutes of pure musical brilliance, “Edge of the Earth” is one of those releases that will surely be talked about in the next 20 years. The band has managed to up their game from a very impressive debut album and surely has a very bright future ahead of them. If you like anything between Metallica, Death, Swedish Melodic Death Metal, etc., you will love this release.

Release: Melodic Death Metal / Thrash Metal

Country: UK