SYLOSIS

I have to admit, I wasn't exactly in love with this disc the first few couple of times I spun it, some of which had to do with the clean crooning that seemed to drop out of the sky amidst the thrash intensity on a few tracks. That unfairly colored my perception of "Conclusion of an Age" as new school melodic thrash that sought only to cash in on the lined pockets of the mall crawlers. Stepping back a bit and returning to the album I realized that the UK's SYLOSIS had created a rip-snortin' modern thrash album that found a place for soaring melodies and even the occasional clean vocal melody that ends up sucking you in before you realize what happened. It's that whole thing about not letting the jaded part of your brain cloud your objectivity I guess.

First and foremost, "Conclusion of an Age" is friggin' packed with blazing thrash riffs. Stuff like the hard-ass METALLICA-esque (does that mean TRIVIUM?) riffing on "Teras" and a crunchy gallop on "Withered" (a real gut stomper) that reminds of vintage SHADOWS FALL is undeniably heavy. The title track even boasts the kind of angry intensity heard from THE HAUNTED; just tough as hell. As it turns out, those are only a few examples of what turns out to be a big 'ole bucket of crush. Not surprisingly, the production (along with mixing and mastering) of Scott Atkins is hotter than Hades.

Then add searing guitar solos and harmonies that serve to enhance the song dynamics, rather than soften the edges. It is what gives many of these tracks a certain musical elegance that many bands try to incorporate and just end up ruining the violence. It is when Jamie Graham switches from shredding his vocal chords to soaring above the clouds on the first proper track (after intro "Desolate Seas") "After Lifeless Years" that mild disillusionment (and probably downright repulsion to some) hits. It sounds as though Howard Jones (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE) ran into the room and grabbed the microphone from Graham. Once you get used to it though, it ends up working rather well, but far more so on "Transcendence", which really sounds like a KILLSWITCH ENGAGE chorus and ends up sinking its hooks into you for good. Instead of running the aggressive-verse-clean-chorus formula into the ground, SYLOSIS smartly picks only a handful of tracks where it actually fits. "Swallow the World" doesn't even stick to the same formula, the band opting instead for some light harmonizing against an abrasive vocal on the refrain, then unleashing the soaring cleans later on.

The super polished parts, mainly the clean singing do take some getting used to and are still guaranteed to piss off the purists. Regardless, "Conclusion of an Age" is one of the few melodic thrash albums that I've found to be worthy of repeat spins. I suspect much of that has to do with the band's decision to incorporate the call of the mall rats only when necessary to the arrangement. I just hope the band continues to think whiplash first, serenity second.