Brutal and yet also coyly melodic, Sylosis are so much more than their simple self-assessment as “Shredding from Reading”. This UK quintet are a mix of crunching guitars, ball-busting vocals and battering double-kick and snare combinations. Then just when you think you’ve got them pinned they throw in a long cyclical sequence of melodic guitars and softened vocal or a even a thread of hushed, sonic backwash. It’s Lamb Of God bitch-slapping Opeth while their backs are turned. From the rolling thunder, falling rain and whispered guitar intro right through to the ricocheting, mesmeric guitars, on final track ’Blind Oppression’, this is an album with plenty of ideas. Take ‘Slowly Consumed’ – thickly-laden with feisty riffs and intense, pistoning drum kicks it pushes through into a repeating underscore of roared vocals which lend the track a rich, menacing darkness. Moving on, it’s followed by the surprising instrumental track ‘Silence From The Sky’ with it’s gentle, picked acoustic guitar and flighty waves of back-fill.
Sylosis pit the raw power of a bully against an uncanny ability to transform into best-friend at a whim with seemingly effortless mood-music. They nearly manage to pull it off but there are moments in the album when it’s just a step to far. It becomes busy, intrusive and just doesn‘t gel like it could or, even should. Perhaps they need to follow-through on their promise and extend their short melodic sections further. The sequences of punishing vocal and drums disintegrate when faced by a more restrictive structure. With a little more finesse the band’s bravery combined with their potential could really propel them into the big-time. Sylosis, remember the name.Also online @TLOBF = http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2008/03/sylosis-the-supreme-oppressor/
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