![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Sylosis-The-New-Flesh.jpg\")
Album art by: Snakehed<\/p>\n\nAlbum art by: Snakehed<\/p>\n
Style: Progressive metal, metalcore, thrash metal, death metal Prog elitism is like the English class hierarchy, a sophisticated clique of pretentious snobs who make you feel bad for not knowing which spoon is the right one to have with your fourth course of supper. Invariably when the topic of prog thrash comes up among the effete, wittering toffs, they feast on Voivod, Vektor, Cryptic Shift, and Mekong Delta like the latest news from the colonies. And when I politely inquire of them, \u2018and what news of Mr Middleton and Sylosis?\u2019 a judgmental silence falls on the assembled elite, and one of them, with the smirkiest tone possible scoffs, \u2018Sylosis? Hardly a progressive thrash band, dear boy.\u2019 And when I inquire further, offensive terms like \u2018metalcore\u2019, \u2018mainstream\u2019, and \u2018miscegenation\u2019 are invoked.\u00a0<\/p>\n And truly, Sylosis were always a unique blend, arriving at a confluence of old school thrash, classic death metal, modern metalcore, and progressive metal influences. While the progressive sensibility was never the main facet of their sound, Edge of the Earth and Monolith leaned into that ethos more than other albums. Unfortunately, those tendencies were beginning to diminish on Dormant Heart, I didn\u2019t exactly have a good time with Cycle of Suffering, and A Sign of Things to Come was an unwelcome portent of bro-core to come. Will Sylosis have me hailing The New Flesh or have they shed everything they previously stood for?\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Josh Middleton\u2019s talent has always been for playing blistering riffs while he bellows like a madman, and The New Flesh doesn\u2019t disappoint in this regard. But Sylosis have nevertheless settled into a somewhat more straightforward niche. Out: proggier structures, lengthier runtimes, and more technical riffs. In: stadium hooks, neck-swelling riffs, and beatdown shouts. So it goes. The 4\/4 riffing and general reliance on verse\/chorus structures is no bad thing\u2014that\u2019s the majority of pop music, after all\u2014but the proggier flourishes were what made Sylosis stand out from the crwod. Instead of the meditative Metallica-esque acoustic opening of \u201cOut From Below\u201d or the portentous outro of \u201cFrom the Edge of the Earth\u201d we instead get the cliched sultry spoken lows into harsh vocals trick on \u201cMirror Mirror\u201d and lumbering breakdown chugs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Indeed, these \u2018bro-ier\u2019 elements are a holdover from career low A Sign of Things to Come. Deathcore style shouts into breakdowns and solos follow a predictable formula of \u201csomething your fucking something\u201d. I\u2019ve no qualms over swearing, but it\u2019s a teenage sort of edginess, as though Middleton is conscious of appealing to the average dudebro festival-goer who needs a memeable chant to pique their interest. It\u2019s hard not to conclude that Middleton\u2019s time with Architects\u2014another band who started with a more original sound and sanded down their harder edges to fill stadiums\u2014brought out some of these lamer compositional tendencies. What\u2019s lost is a sense of authenticity. When The New Flesh aims for an epic closer with grandiose strings and agonised, pitched screams on \u201cSeeds in the River\u201d, it ends up feeling a little forced, lacking the organic power of classics like \u201cFrom the Edge of the Earth\u201d or \u201cQuiescent\u201d, and it\u2019s hardly helped by those backing \u201cwhoa-ohhhs\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, that\u2019s a lot of my old fan moaning out the way. The fact is Sylosis\u2019 technical prowess remains undiminished and there\u2019s still much to enjoy across The New Flesh. The breakneck solo and riffing on \u201cAll Glory, No Valour\u201d, the surfeit of sick riffs on \u201cErased\u201d, the melodic solo on \u201cLacerations\u201d which opens by following the chorus vocal melody\u2026 it\u2019s not hard to pick out tons of moments that are just\u2014to use a technical term\u2014sick. Ali Richardson\u2019s drumming remains a rhythmic dynamo, interspersing songs with sudden changes in tempo and feel that enliven every track. Indeed, as much as Middleton is the figurehead, Richardson might be the most valuable player on recent records. At the end of the day, Sylosis have been doing this shit a long time; even when they\u2019re phoning it in, they can run circles around a lot of mainstream metal groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n For much of the time, this is by-the-numbers Sylosis, but The New Flesh does make occasional thrusts into new territory. \u201cEverywhere at Once\u201d is a rare butt rock ballad for the group, sounding more like a Tremonti anthem. It tick off the requisite ballad checkboxes, but it\u2019s undeniably something new for the band and testament to the continued improvement of Josh\u2019s cleans that the band can pull it off. \u201cAdorn My Throne\u201d, meanwhile, plays with synth textures and blackened intensity which, although minor additions, work surprisingly well. Different works for The New Flesh and it shows Sylosis are always at their most interesting when they stretch their creative wings.\u00a0<\/p>\n All hail the new flesh? Probably not. Sylosis are a confounding group these days, retaining much of their former brilliance while throwing in unwelcomely stadium-oriented elements. While the worst tendencies of its predecessor are curbed enough to make The New Flesh enjoyable, a slew of odd ideas coalesce here. Meathead deathcore shouts and cliched breakdowns vie against some genuine creative swings and a plethora of blistering riffs and solos. Maybe the elitists had a point, but I\u2019m still not going to be guilted about the pleasure I still take in spinning Sylosis, even if it\u2019s the older records that\u2019ll bear the brunt of the listens.<\/p>\n Recommended tracks: Erased, Adorn My Throne, Beneath the Surface Related links: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n
Recommended for fans of: Bleed From Within, Revocation, Machine Head, Coroner<\/a>
Country: UK
Release date: 20 February 2026<\/p>\n
You may also like: Blasteroid<\/a>, Polaris Experience<\/a>, Cryptosis<\/a>
Final verdict: 6.5\/10<\/p>\n