UK heavy metal heavyweights Sylosis have released their latest track ‘Erased’, from upcoming studio album ‘The New Flesh’.

The band, formed in Reading in 2000, have thus far released 6 studio albums, with their last major output being 2024’s EP ‘The Path’. After their fourth LP, 2015’s ‘Dormant Heart’ , the band’s future was in limbo. Frontman Josh Middleton was drafted in as UK scene cohorts Architects’ new guitarist, in the wake of the tragic passing of their lead guitarist and head songwriter Tom Searle. Since leaving Architects and directing his focus back to Sylosis full time in 2023, the music from Middleton and co. has come thick and fast, always exceedingly heavy. So far this is the second single from the new album, following on from title track ‘The New Flesh’, which came out in November.

Sylosis have long been a pillar of the British metal scene, a benchmark of how complex and creative extreme music can aspire to be. Their sound tends to fall somewhere on the heavier end of thrash metal, though as time has passed they have adopted punky rhythmic elements, and their last two singles show traces of slowed-down groove akin to Pantera. With ‘Erased’, they channel this sound into a crushing 4 minutes and 6 seconds of pummeling beats, chugging guitars and anthemic vocals, building up to a sludgy, satisfying ending.

The hallmark of their sound has typically been vocalist, lead guitarist and chief songwriter Josh Middleton’s harsh screams, pounding riffs, and wailing guitar leads, coupled with the brutally precise drumming of Ali Richardson, also of Scottish band Bleed From Within fame. However, following the departure of long-time rhythm guitarist Alex Bailey last year, they underwent a reshuffle, with bassist Conor Marshall moving to rhythm guitar and touring guitarist Ben Thomas taking on permanent bass duties.

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Middleton, who as sole founding member, has typically been the creative director of the band, appears to be loosening the reins somewhat for ‘The New Flesh’. In an Instagram Q&A post with all of the band members, he expresses that it is “the most collaborative album that we’ve done” and describes the recording process as being “super fun”, with all 4 members tracking it together.

One major focus of ‘The New Flesh’ is an emphasis on taking it from the studio to the stage. In a statement published by the band’s record label, Nuclear Blast, the band wrote “The New Flesh, and the songs that will follow from the album, have been written with the live environment in mind. There is an energy running through these songs that we’ve never felt on a Sylosis album, until now. We’ll see you all in 2026.”

 

 

 

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To that end, they will be touring Europe and the UK in support of the album. The album’s release coincides with the first British date of the tour, both falling on the 20th of February this year. They will be playing the O2 Kentish Town Forum in London on the 20th, O2 The Ritz in Manchester on the 21st, and The Academy in Dublin on the 22nd of February. ‘Erased’ is available now on streaming, with physical and digital versions of album ‘The New Flesh,’ available for preorder through Nuclear Blast’s store and the band’s own website.

Our new single/video, ‘A Sign Of Things To Come’, is out now.

Watch the video here: https://t.co/JPAUEelfst pic.twitter.com/auGAuDcKF3

— Sylosis (@Sylosis) July 20, 2023

Sylosis have been busy over the last year, releasing periodic new music before announcing a brand new record on the way from a band who have previously been on a prolonged hiatus. With frontman and guitarist Josh Middleton now able to focus his full creative energy and time to the project, Sylosis now seem poised to make a significant impact on the metal scene.

Coming off the heels of “Poison For The Lost” in June, Middleton has described the new song as a stinging critique of the modern world, saying “A Sign Of The Things To Come” is a declaration of dismay towards the modern world. It’s about the anxiety of what the future holds and the feeling of division in a society where everyone is pitted against each other. This was the last song to be written for the album. It quickly became apparent that this was going to become one of the biggest, most anthemic songs on the record.”

Sylosis was formed by Middleton and ex-bassist Carl Parnell in 2000, releasing their debut in 2008. Fans will be most familiar with Middleton due to his involvement with British metalcore giants Architects-taking over guitar duties for the band in 2016. Being a close friend of the late Tom Searle, Middleton slotted right into the band but forced Sylosis into an indefinite hiatus as Architects continued to build upon their growing success.

With the surprising announcement that Middelton had chosen to leave Architects in May, the guitarist cited that differences in musical directions inspired the choice to call time on his tenure but the two parties remain close friends. The split has allowed Middleton to fully turn his attention back to Sylosis, breathing new life into the band. Indeed, A Sign Of Things To Come will be the first new material released since 2020’s Cycle Of Suffering.

‘For this one we knew that we had to approach this record with a new mind-set’

‘A Sign Of Things To Come’ available September 8th through @nuclearblast https://t.co/RxwWx6R9oV

Pre-order now from https://t.co/RxwWx6R9oV and listen to our new single ‘Poison For The Lost’ now. pic.twitter.com/lWFUM5zjxd

— Sylosis (@Sylosis) July 5, 2023

And it seems that Middleton and Sylosis are ready to take the scene by storm with “A Sign Of Things To Come” certainly aiming to please the masses as well as set the tone for what fans can expect from the band moving forward. Following the release of the new album, Sylosis will also embark on a UK and Europe tour with Malevolence in November. Tickets can be found here. A Sign Of Things To Come can be pre-ordered here.

Sylosis UK and Europe Tour:

26/08/2023 – Dalhalla Brinner Festival – Rättvik, Sweden
07/11 – Garage – Glasgow
08/11 – O2 Ritz – Manchester
09/11 – O2 Institute – Birmingham
10/11 – SWX – Bristol
11/11 – O2 Forum Kentish Town – London
13/11 – Gruenspan – Hamburg, Germany
14/11 – Essigfabrik – Cologne, Germany
15/11 – Zappa – Antwerp, Belgium
17/11 – Petit Bain – Paris, France
18/11 – La Rodia – Besancon, France
19/11 – CCO La Rayonne – Lyon, France
22/11 – Mon Live – Madrid, Spain
23/11 – La 2 de Apolo – Barcalona, Spain
24/11 – Stage Live – Bilbao, Spain
25/11 – Usine A Musique – Toulouse, France
26/11 – PTR – Geneva, Switzerland
27/11 – Dynamo – Zurich, Switzerland
28/11 – Legend – Milan, Italy
29/11 – Orto Bar – Ljubljana, Slovenia
01/12 – Flex – Vienna, Austria
03/12 – AJZ Chemnitz – Chemnitz, Germany
04/12 – Batchkapp – Frankfurt, Germany
05/12 – Backstage Halle – Munich, Germany
07/12 – Meet Factory – Prague, Czech Republic
08/12 – Kamienna 12 – Krakow, Poland
09/12 – Hydrozagadka – Warsaw, Poland
10/12 – SO36 Berlin – Berlin, Germany
11/12 – Kulttempel – Oberhausen, Germany
12/12 – 013 – Tilburg, Netherlands

Musically, the song carries all elements of a standalone contemporary metal banger. Slow-paced and uncompromising, with heavy riffs and catchy hooks, the track makes the most of a wide range of production techniques and layering, and offers a fitting breakdown and masterful guitar solo. ‘Worship Decay‘ is produced by Sylosis’ founding member, lead guitarrist and singer Josh Middleton.

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Last week saw Sylosis teased a series short video snippets across their social meida channels, with ambigious captions in binary code. Their more curious fans immediately translated all secret messages as “In This Prison / Worhip / Decay” while others joked about it looking like a standard djent guitar tabs. Yesterday’s release confirmed the messages hinted to the song title and part of its lyrics.

Fans of Sylosis will certainly be pleased after the future of the band was put into question when Josh Middleton joined Brighton metalcore outfit Architects back in 2016 to fill in during their tour. He was later confirmed as official member putting Sylosis in indefinite hiatus. Nevertheless, aside from his immediate impact on Architects’ last album Holyhell (2018) and noticeable contribution to their new singles ‘Animals‘ and ‘Black Lungs‘, in 2019 Middleton confirmed he is still involved with Sylosis and planning new album.

Earlier this year, the band released their critically acclaimed fifth studio album Cycle of Suffering, widely recognised as one of the biggest metal records of 2020 and accepted as the perfect comeback five years since their last Dormant Heart (2015). Amidst the busy promotion cycle for Architects’ highly anticipated new record For Those That Wish To Exist expected on 26 February 2020, Sylosis dropping a new single shortly after the release of their album, is a sure sign of Middleton’s full-time commitment to his original band’s future. 

We hope you’re all enjoying ‘Worship Decay’! New merch is on sale now over on our webstore. Don’t miss out! Shop here: https://t.co/F3YE16aj8c pic.twitter.com/yQSdctPNhX — Sylosis (@Sylosis) December 11, 2020

The description of the video for ‘Worship Decay’ gives insight into Sylosis’ motivation and inspiration behind the new single:

“With everything happening in our world right now, we wanted to keep things moving in Sylosis’ world. We started writing new music as we entered the first set of lockdowns and ‘Worship Decay’ quickly developed as a song we feel confident stands up by itself and showcases something different for Sylosis. We’re of course looking forward to playing music live again (hopefully soon!), but it feels great to be able to continue creating music and sharing it with our fans during this time of uncertainty and unrest.”

The new track follows the momentum set by Cycle of Suffering that came out on 7 February via Nuclear Blast. A notoriously underrated band, the album failed to achieve huge commercial success and only reached #28 in Scotland. However, Sylosis remain a top fan favourite in the global metal community, and got stellar reviews from most leading media outlets. Praising the band’s confident comeback, Dom Lawson from Blabbermouth rightfully pointed out:

“But in the end, whether or not Sylosis reap their just rewards this time around seems to depend entirely on how many people get to hear this thing. These are simply great modern metal songs, born of thrash but informed by everything from ’90s groove metal to futuristic tech-death“.

Sylosis are planning to slowly return to touring next year with only three performances confirmed so far. The Reading quartet are set to appear on VOA Heavy Rock Festival in Portugal on 17 June, follwed by Germany’s Full Force 2021 Festival on 25 June. Sylosis will play in the UK during the Bloidstock Open-Air fest on 14 August, with more dates hopefully announced soon.