Two words that I once believed should never belong next to each other in the same sentence: “Modern” and “Thrash”, in that order. Thrash metal, in my opinion, is a genre that is perfect how it is, and often experimentation through combing thrash with other genres of music can often end in a mediocre mess: a pale, malformed imitation of the original product that’s barely recognizable to even seasoned thrash veterans. “But Kyle, Unearth mixes thrash with metalcore and it still sounds like thrash!” Bull. I can respect Unearth as one of the better metalcore bands out there, but having elements of thrash in their music does NOT make them a thrash band, modern or otherwise. In fact, I didn’t even really believe there was such a thing as modern thrash; that is until recently, when I started hearing about a new “Modern Thrash” band called Sylosis that people were hailing as one of the leaders of the new thrash revolution. When I first heard about them, I rolled my eyes and had one of those “Here we go again” moments in my head, but I’m always willing to give a new band a chance, no matter if I’m a fan of the genre or not. I decided to download the band’s second EP, The Supreme Oppressor, to see what they were all about.

What I expected to come out of the speakers was yet another sub-par metalcore band, throwing in a few galloping riffs and thrash-esque drumming here and there to try and pass off as a thrash band. However, I was pleasantly surprised with what I found! Their sound is a bit difficult to describe to someone who’s never listened to the band, so I’ll break it down like this: Combine traditional thrash riffs and drumming with the dark, catchy melodies of melodic death metal bands such as Norther, and throw in a few softer metalcore-ish moments in the midst of all the chaos and you have Sylosis. After a few spins with The Supreme Oppressor, I was ready and more than willing to check out their full length debut, Conclusion of an Age.

The album starts off with the acoustic intro Desolate Seas, which does a fairly good job of expressing the mood of the album before it has even started. There’s the sound of crashing waves in the background, and a dark and despairing sounding acoustic arpeggio playing against it. Halfway through, you can hear a light snare drum beat that sounds like it could easily fit in amongst a large army that’s marching towards certain death. Grim and atmospheric indeed, but with a tinge of hope added to it; it’s difficult to explain, but it’s there. At the end of the track, you hear a distorted held note growing stronger and stronger, and at the end the intro rolls right into the next song, After Lifeless Years.

Apparently the held note at the end of Desolate Seas was a fuse, because as soon as it ends, the rest of the album is one huge explosion of sound that hardly ever lets up! The beginning of After Lifeless Years starts with a very thrashy riff that morphs into an atmospheric melo-death riff that once again showcases that same feeling of despair. This lasts for about twenty seconds before the vocalist unleashes an ungodly scream and the same fast and brutal thrash riff from before returns, this time with drums and bass to accompany it. This is when I first notice just how amazing the production is; every single drum beat and guitar chug is crystal-clear; you can even hear the low throb of the bass in the background! (Although all the bass does throughout the album is follow the same pattern of the rhythm guitar) It’s hard to believe that this is actually their debut. The rest of the song is full of complex thrash riffs, moody melo-death riffs, and the signature slow, melodic metalcore moment with clean vocals. I don’t mind the metalcore sections at all, but my problem with them on this album is that it seems like they’re strategically placed on every song, right where you’d expect them to be. It all seems a bit… forced? These sections are nice and easy on the ears (though the singer’s clean voice can grate on me; thankfully, these sections are short!), but with the exception of a couple songs, they never fail to appear. Perhaps in the future, they can make these parts flow more naturally and fit in better with the music. But still, this is a HUGE jump over The Supreme Oppressor, with Sylosis now focusing more on the thrash aspect of their sound. They have nearly perfected their craft, and I can’t even imagine how they’d grow in sound on future albums, but all great bands find a way!

The lyrics on Conclusion of an Age fit in PERFECTLY with the feeling of despair that’s cast over the album. They basically revolve around how mankind’s destructive tendencies will eventually destroy itself, and how the earth will prevail. While the lyrics may seem a bit preachy (at least to me), they work amazingly well with the dark mood of the album and its contrasting melodic sections that seem to emit a feeling of hope. If only all bands could write music that works so well with the words…

The rest of the album is full of supremely catchy melodic thrash songs, and you can pick a random track to listen to on it at anytime and your ears will always be graced with a good track. However, Conclusion of an Age is not a good album to listen to as a whole; You can pick any song at random and be happy with what you get, but when you listen to Conclusion of an Age in its entirety, the lesser tracks really stick out like a sore thumb against the better ones (thankfully, most of the songs fall into the latter category!). If I’m listening to this from beginning to end, I’ll likely skip over Transcendance, Teras (Why is this the first single???), and Oath of Silence. These three songs are all good, but when compared to the others, they just seem like filler.

There are also a couple middling tracks thrown in here (Blackest Skyline, Last Remaining Light) , but they are FAR from filler and are highly enjoyable to listen to. Songs like Withered and Stained Humanity are just flat-out amazing though. Withered, with its intro death metal riff and thrash metal center (This song is like a Tootsie Pop!), and Stained Humanity, which is a headbanging thrash-fest in the vein of Exodus, are easily two of the best songs on the album. I do have one more minor complaint before I quit though; Desolate Seas, Swallow the World, and Last Remaining Light all have roughly the same acoustic intro, and follow almost the exact same pattern. This is one of the VERY few disappointing bits you’ll find on Conclusion of an Age but it’s still there, and as much as I love this album I have to mark down my score even more because of it.

Despite its minor flaws and a few “Sort-of” filler tracks, Conclusion of an Age is a solid thrash/melo-death album that you should definitely give a listen. What I love most about this band is that, although at their very core they are a thrash band, they never try to conform to one certain genre, which is what makes their sound so difficult to describe. Sylosis is truly original metal, and if they filter out the filler tracks on future albums and make the acoustic sections more varied (or hell, just leave them out altogether), then they are posed and ready to conquer the world. A band this diverse in their sound should be able to appeal to most metal fans without sacrificing their amazing sound, which is the key to greatness. Highly recommended!