Josh Middleton of Sylosis Takes the Oath [AUDIO]

I'll be the first person to admit I'm prejudiced when it comes to new bands playing thrash because in my mind the best has already been done and will never be topped, so what's the point? And when I first heard of Sylosis a couple of years ago I didn't dig any deeper because of that very fact.

Look, I don't mean to be a hard-headed old school dude but it's hard for me to embrace new bands that I perceive to be attempting to recreate an era they never experienced. And trust me, that very prejudice has caused me to be late on some bands that I absolutely love like Municipal Waste and Havok but I maintain that unless bands continue to push metal into areas it's never been before, it will ultimately stagnate and fewer people will give new bands a chance.

Here's where good buddies with excellent taste in music come in. I was on the phone a couple of weeks ago with my brother from another mother Critter and he gave Sylosis' new disc Monolith a shining endorsement so I figured I'd better get off my ass and check out the record.

Two songs into the disc and it became apparent to me that the people who have labeled Sylosis as "re-thrash" are dead wrong. Sylosis are a metal band pure and simple. Like their contemporaries in Lamb Of God and Trivium, they mix influences with ease and the end result, while not necessarily groundbreaking, is a style that is easy on the ears but will most definitely get the crowd moving and hair flying when they hit the States to tour in support of the new disc.

So I was stoked to see that guitarist/vocalist Josh Middleton was available for interviews and I jumped at the opportunity to pick his brain. During our conversation, we talked about the pressure of following up their last (and well received) album Edge of the Earth, the fact that he almost always writes concept albums, fans stealing music and record labels suing them for it and more.

Josh Middleton - Sylosis Interview Pt. I

Josh Middleton - Sylosis Interview Pt. II