Sylosis – Dormant Heart (Nuclear Blast)

Sunday, 11th January 2015
Rating: 8/10

Four albums in at this point, British thrashers Sylosis continue their progression towards the top of the neo-thrash heap. Building a ton of momentum after 2012’s Monolith and frequent tours, Dormant Heart presents itself as one of the more aggressive yet somber efforts from the band. Not to mention, undoubtedly one of their best.

Dormant Heart takes everything that has worked for the band up to this point and injects some additional aggression as well as a strong sense of sweeping, melodic undercurrent. The band’s approach to modern thrash with just the tiniest smidge of core does tend to keep things on the offensive, as noted by tracks like “To Build a Tomb” and “Indoctrinated,” which are basically guaranteed to give the neck muscles a workout. You can also expect some scorching solos and leads from Josh Middleton to keep the momentum. But there are also emotive tracks such as the gorgeous closer “Quiescent,” “Leech,” and the title track, which incorporate a bit more feeling of the gloomy variety into their thrashy antics. It’s here that the band particularly shines, knowing just where to place melodies to their strongest effect. Additionally, there are some clean vocals in a few tracks, like “Overthrown,” but they are never done in a manner that seems rote or just for the sake of having them. It’s also important to note that the hour-long runtime is actually a reduction for the band, who have put out some 72-minute opuses in the past and this does give the album some additional replayability.

After putting their time in with three solid efforts, Sylosis is truly taking things to the next level. Dormant Heart should reach their captive audience as well as ensnare a few new fans to the party with their well-balanced and melodic approach to thrash.

Sylosis official website

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