Band:	Sylosis
Album:	Monolith
Style:	Melodic death metal, Progressive thrash metal
Release date:	October 05, 2012
Guest review by:	Lord_Agony

01. Out From Below
02. Fear The World
03. What Dwells Within
04. Behind The Sun
05. The River
06. Monolith
07. Paradox
08. A Dying Vine
09. All Is Not Well
10. Born Anew
11. Enshrined

While some bands like to perform by the bible of the genre, others tend to give back to the style while remaining somewhat faithful to the overall outlines of it, and very few of those manage to appeal to both the old and modern school fan. That being said, Monolith is the absolute template that applies to the progressively unique and original model of thrash metal.

Monolith is the 3rd full-length album by Sylosis and the second to feature Josh Middelton as the full time vocalist for the band. The four-piece progressive thrash metal band from Reading, Berkshire have managed to imply the corner stones of thrash metal, while developing a sound often mixed with elements from both melodic and progressive death metal. Somehow they tend to abstract the final outcome of that formula, making it hard to precisely label their style, but I think their sound is more defined by its progressive approach rather than a "by the book" performance.

The concept of the album is basically the story of Orpheus, a figure that is portrayed in Greek mythology as a musician able to charm all living things with his music, even stones, and his quest to revive Eurydice, his wife which takes him eventually into the underworld. It is fair to say that the creative approach into the song writing is what serves mainly as the firepower for Sylosis; an aspect that is notably present in this album. Not only in form of a unique lyrical work is that they managed to accomplish that, every riff they have written to this album gives a sense of originality. While often missed, even in the most diverse of scenes, some of those riffs deliver the stellar feel of power regularly sensed in retro thrash, while others speak to you on a more sentimental level. As a quick glimpse, the title track may give you a hint of the aforementioned.

Another one of the unique tracks featured on this album is "Out From Below" in which you can sense the potent grip of thrash metal riffing as it beautifully breaks down into acoustics. Tracks like "The River" and "What Dwells Within" tend to feature a more frequent decline in tempo and notably embrace clean vocals more often. All that reminds you of the progressive Opeth'ish style with their rigid and stiff death metal techniques, making Sylosis's music distinctive and easy to fall in love with.

Monolith really manages to deliver powerful material and subject matter while unmistakably give you the sentimental feel of sore, painful and ear-gasmic beauty. A few tracks however feel lackluster and less distinctive in writing, but that is the case with every other album out there and it barely affects the overall quality of the album. Sylosis also takes that extra mile by adding a sense of originality into their thrash-oriented approach; one that rises above trending styles and presents a lyrically creative take on Greek mythology.