SYLOSIS - THE NEW FLESH

And yet, it’s with this awkward gamble that the good bands become great ones. With The New Flesh, Sylosis widened the frame without softening the structure that earned them so many fans over the years.

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Even from their earlier records, it was clear that Josh Middleton is a student of metal in the structural sense. His understanding of the language runs deeper than stylistic homage. He knows where to place deception, when to delay resolution, how to make a section evolve rather than simply repeat. His writing is scholarly without sounding academic.

There is arguably a touch more contemporary metalcore physicality across certain parts of this record. The chug patterns feel slightly more immediate, and some grooves land in a way designed to move bodies in larger rooms. It’s not hard to wonder whether standing on bigger stages with Architects reshaped Middleton’s instinct for momentum. 

But focusing solely on that would be a disservice to this album and miss the point.

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Middleton has always absorbed what surrounds him. Death’s compositional ambition, Metallica’s structural discipline, the darkness of Sepultura. All building blocks. If this album incorporates elements of contemporary metalcore, it sounds less like trend-chasing and more like a professor updating his thesis.

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There’s a unique tension to this album. It’s objectively heavy and yet consistently accessible, and much of that comes down to the transitions. Sylosis rarely crashes between sections without warning. There’s often a bar or two - a breath - allowing the listener to say goodbye to the one idea before stepping into the next. These moments lower the barrier to The New Flesh, and make its complexity digestible.

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At times though, veterans may find that clarity almost predictable. You sense the pivot coming, the fill before the solo, the drop before the groove. Perhaps predictability in this context isn’t weakness, but craftsmanship. Thankfully, just when the record is starting to become linear, it swerves. 

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Track 9, Everywhere at Once, is the moment the band tests their ceiling. A ballad in structure if not in softness, it begins with restrained acoustic guitars before gradually widening into something far more expansive. Stadium sized riffs arrive not as a betrayal, but as ambition - a deliberate attempt to see how far the frame can stretch before it fractures.

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If Everywhere at Once signals a broader shift towards more expansive songwriting, I'm entirely onboard. Sylosis have already mastered speed, compression and precision; hearing them stretch without losing impact feels like the next logical step.

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Every track on this album holds its own. There’s no filler, no obligation writing. Middleton and Sylosis clearly still have more to say. This is the sound of a band allowing the genre to grow with them.

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SCORE 8.5/10

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REVIEWED BY RYAN LIND