nitially, Conclusion of An Age rubbed this scribe the wrong way. You know, kinda how deathcore or cop-out thrash does to just about anyone, but repeated inspections reveal a band teetering on thrash respectability. Sylosis (who are British) isn’t your mother’s thrash metal, meaning they aren’t throwback thrash, but they aren’t Euro thrash either. Modern thrash, perhaps, so we’ll go with that. Yeah, modern thrash.
Riff-wise, Sylosis has what it takes to keep its head above water. While other so-called thrash bands
(hey, Trivium) couldn’t formulate an original and/or catchy riff if their life depended on it, Sylosis rolls out some crunchy, tricky triplet-infested riffs that make numbers like “The Blackest Skyline” and “Swallow the World” winners.
Singer Jamie Graham has a respectable clean vocal delivery that complements his discernable scream, which the bulk of the vocals consist of. Graham has some good moments in “After Lifeless Years” and “Reflections Through Fire” and for once in modern thrash, proves to be a contributing factor to the worthwhile nature of the songs of this 12-song affair.
The glaring drawback is that Conclusion of An Age is in fact, 12 songs. Some jams could have been omitted an even sequenced better, namely “Stained Humanity” which should be the album closer, but such mistakes are bound to happen to a band as green as Sylosis.
Thrash is now a splintered entity, with the retro clashing with the modern, so we’ll have to wait and see if a band like Sylosis can hold up. Methinks they will; this album is too gnarly, too rigid, and is of a higher quality than one would think.
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)