Checking the duration of this album made me sigh heavily as even the best thrash albums bore me rigid after about 40 minutes. This one is over an hour and quite why they need to leave a ten minute gap of silence on the last track to then place a so called hidden track is completely beyond me; thank goodness for audio editing.

This is the UK melodic thrashers third album and if you liked their previous work then this will certainly make you feel warm and fuzzy inside as it is business as usual. Now here lies my problem with Sylosis, to me they play it far too safe and rely on modern day chug rather then a vitriolic old school thrash onslaught apart from the odd riff here and there. Added to this, is that the songs are just too long to maintain my attention span. Having listened to this album I can say that it bored me rigid for the most part with only “The River” and the title track offering anything I would say is worth mentioning. Now before I am greeted with a tirade of abuse from Sylosis fans, I cannot fault the musicianship, the song writing is accomplished and Sylosis do what Sylosis do best and that’s to write modernised upbeat songs that have hints of thrash and speed. Songs like “Fear Of The World” and “Paradox” have excellent thrash and speed riffs respectively and I can honestly say I was hoping for each to stay with it, but no the songs dip back to modern groove metal that for me caters for the stagnant narrow minded Scuzz TV market or Kerrang than the burgeoning thrash scene that exists not just in the UK but worldwide.

Mixing harsh vocals with clean ones is predictable in today’s modern metal scene and hints at an In Flames style of delivery but without the infectious choruses. The album has a highly polished production, another facet of modern day metal for the masses, like air brushing photos for glossy mags, this has no fault lines whatsoever. Call me a miserable old duffer I don’t care, I want my metal to have bite, not parade around in some fleecy slippers.  I actually would have liked this more if the band had shaved off at least a minute from each of the songs to increase the momentum and fortify the impact that each has. Albums like this infuriate me, as they could offer so much more just by tweaking here and there for your average punter who wants four minutes of savaging bliss which is only present on “Born Anew” the penultimate track on the album.

You know the saying opinions are like arseholes and everybody has one and this is mine.   

(5.5/10 Martin Harris)

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