Metal Masterclass: Chat with Sylosis
Ben Forsey • Published 18 Oct 2012 15:30
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Reading-based metallers Sylosis are a prime example of the quality of music that Berkshire has produced in the last ten years, up there with Exit Ten, No Made Sense and The Arusha Accord.
With their brand of modern thrash metal, they have risen to prominence within the genre and, in doing so, have become one of Reading's most successful bands of recent times. Their third album, Monolith, was released at the beginning of the month, rising to number 12 in the Radio One Rock Chart in its first week, and now the four-piece are preparing for a two-month US tour with metal behemoths Lamb Of God and In Flames.
Sylosis have endured many line-up changes since forming at Reading School in 2000, and it took seven years of touring and gigging before they signed to Nuclear Blast in December 2007.
Their debut album, Conclusion Of An Age, was released in October 2008, but, shortly after, the band parted ways with vocalist Jamie Graham and guitarist Josh Middleton took on the vocal duties, a change which led to the band taking on the new sound that has turned heads in the metal community. 2011's Edge Of The Earth showed the band's potential and this year Lamb Of God requested personally that Sylosis tour with them.
"It just goes to show if you stick at it and put as much effort into writing music as possible that things can work out," Josh told The Guide, adding, "Luckily we were super young when we started. 14 and 15, so we've had a long time to learn about everything, be it how to write better music or industry related."
Looking ahead to the band's tour with metallers Lamb Of God, he added: "We've just ordered a jar each of Vitamineral Green, which is a superfood supplement, because we ate so badly [on tour] last time! Other than that we're just rehearsing the new material and picking which new songs we want to play on the tour. Our set will only be about 30 minutes on that one so it's not too hard to plan for. "
This year has seen the band in the studio again to record Monolith, that tricky third album. The record has seen the band take their recent darker, more technical and more progressive sound to new extremes, with Josh warming to his duel role as frontman and lead guitarist.
Josh added that the metal in Reading was far from dead: "I think about five years ago it was a really healthy scene but some of the other bands split up or weren't quite as active which is a shame. In terms of the support from the fans though, it seems to be healthier than every. It's so great having Sub89 running now with international acts coming through our town. I'm always at metal shows there and the attendances are getting better and better as more people in the surrounding areas/towns learn about the venue and what's going on there.
"We're really overwhelmed with the reaction to the album. We took some risks and tried some new things out this time around and it seems like they've all paid off, which feels great. I was expecting the album to be a 'grower' for a lot of people but it's been a little more 'instant' for everyone than I thought."
Sylosis are on the brink of something special. Watch this space.
This article appeared in Bracknell News 18 Oct 12
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