Album Review: Sylosis - The New Flesh (2026, Nuclear Blast Records)

Written: 15th February 2026

Having formed in 2000, Sylosis are now veterans of the metal scene. I have followed them since the release of Edge of the Earth – still one of my favourite metal albums of the last twenty years – so it is always a delight when they announce new material. It has been three years since the release of their last full-length album A Sign Of Things To Come but the band has been far from quiet during the interim, issuing EP The Path in 2024. Just a week later, longtime guitarist Alex Bailey left the band – unable to balance the demands of Sylosis’s schedule with family life -  and the current line-up now features former touring guitarist Conor Marshall alongside Josh Middleton and drummer Ali Richardson, with Ben Thomas moving to bass.

The New Flesh is the band’s seventh studio album and it finds Middleton in reflective mood. “The last album was like a transitional period in terms of coming to grips with a new way of writing. We’ve been thinking more about what’s going to be fun for us to play and what’s going to land better, and that became evident from playing the new stuff live. I think back to being a teenager and the first band practice, when you crank amps up loud, and the feeling you get, that excitement and energy, and we’re trying to put that into the music.”

Beneath The Surface opens The New Flesh in vicious fashion, blending insistent groove and breakneck explosive riffs in a meeting of metalcore and melodic death metal. Aggressive but precise rhythms create a towering sound that brings out the best in Sylosis’s balance of attack, tempo and moments of self-control. A short, softer central section allows the band to build up once more and the crushing guitar feels all the more powerful for these subtle nuances. Middleton – here and throughout the album - is on superb form, his harsh, guttural salvos delivered with stentorian confidence. As an opening statement, it does not just start the record – it detonates it with purpose.

Second track and already released single Erased – which is about losing yourself layer by layer - has split the fanbase due to its clean chorus and what some perceive as more standard metalcore tropes. It cannot be denied that it is a more straightforward song than Beneath The Surface in terms of structure but it brings variety to The New Flesh and Middleton’s vocals are imperious as he delivers both enunciative clarity and barked authority. Claw at the surface but nothing comes out / So you scratch a little deeper / If there was a doubt / Turn blood into water / To cleanse your insides / Now you don't know who you are / You have been replaced.

Much as I adore the progressive thrash of Edge of the Earth, I completely understand and salute bands who evolve throughout their careers and are not afraid to embrace different textures and styles. Erased may not be the strongest song in the band’s arsenal but it is far from being the disaster some have indicated. Those complaining about the approach taken on Erased can surely have no complaints about the sheer bludgeoning that All Glory, No Valour delivers. A three-minute blast that melds thrash and hardcore influences, it is a ruthless surge that sinks its hooks deep while hitting with uncompromising force.

Lacerations – a suffocating dive into anxiety and self-doubt – shares similarities to Erased in that it is more typically melodic metalcore but there is a diversity within the track that allows Sylosis to use high tempos, blast beats and thundering bass in one moment and clean, introspective vocals the next. Furthermore, the way they thread melody through the record is sure to resonate with anyone prepared to embrace this broader dimension of their sound. It is a razor‑sharp fusion of brutality and instant pull of which Middleton is clearly a fan. “That’s what I live for! But I’ve always liked bands or songs that do both things. Slipknot’s People = Shit is super heavy, but it’s an anthem. Or like The Great Southern Trendkill by Pantera, which has an anthemic chorus but it’s super heavy. It’s not purely about trying to be anthemic for success, but that sort of anthemic side of things is memorable. When it sticks in your head, you go back to it.”

This combination of ferocity and inherent catchiness continues on Mirror Mirror which broodingly stampedes from the speakers. Tense, searing and propulsive, it makes subtle use of synths in quieter moments along with Ali Richardson’s unerring ability to play for the song. He shows a mastery of instinct, shifting seamlessly between full‑throttle power and finely judged restraint. Middleton makes use of ominous spoken word, once again showing his ability to steer the moods he conjures.

Listeners who favour the thrash enhancements that Sylosis employ will certainly enjoy Spared From The Guillotine: some of the solos having moments that are redolent of old school Megadeth, while the chorus draws more from hardcore, Middleton’s and Marshall’s twin barrages of riffs raptorial and belligerent. Tracks such as this highlight one of the core strengths of The New Flesh; every piece is sharply focused and crafted to exactly the length it needs to be, with nothing feeling drawn out or unnecessary. Whatever your stance on the different approaches the album takes, it is telling that only four of its eleven songs pass the four‑and‑a‑half‑minute mark, making the precision behind each decision even more obvious.

Adorn My Throne finds Sylosis experimenting with dynamics, tempos and auras. Its use of synths adds a sense of scale and even at just over four minutes, it carries an impressively expansive, almost cinematic sweep. The band stride across multiple stylistic territories without hesitation. Hints of death metal, melodic metalcore and even symphonic embellishments all contribute to a track that sums up all the different sub-genres the quartet channel with absolute conviction.

Title track The New Flesh is partly driven by their leader’s horror at the state of the world, and fury at the increasing malevolence of mundane humanity. Middleton comments, “The New Flesh, is about coming to terms with the fact that we’re all going to die, and hopefully death is something greater, if it’s not nothingness. But even nothingness could be quite a nice thing after all this! Being a dad now, I’m thinking about dying and mortality and stuff, but yeah, I’m also thinking about David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, and ‘All hail the new flesh!’ and certain aspects of that movie.” A hulking, rhythm‑driven beast – which shows that Ben Thomas is just as comfortable on bass as he was on guitar - it tears forward with wild momentum, its colossal riffs built to shake the ground complete with a sneering swagger. Dark, highly technical and bleak, it stands as one of the album’s defining moments.

Those who feel Erased is pushing the boundaries of what Sylosis should be, might just be apoplectic when they hear Everywhere At Once which embraces even more of the elements found on Absent or Thorns from A Sign of Things To Come. Beginning with acoustic guitar and Middleton delivering one of his most personal lyrics ever, Sylosis unleash a crushing ballad, its lyrics tracing the singer’s turmoil over leaving his young children to return to life on the road. Perfectly positioned on the album, it gives listeners a brief respite between the two caustic tracks that enclose it. Heart-rending and unapologetically introspective, it builds wonderfully and the soaring solo lifts the whole piece in a moment of pure catharsis. Although it is an unexpected left‑turn, it is delivered with such sure‑handed focus that its emotional weight hits like a sledgehammer.

Circle of Swords restores the album’s metallic onslaught in a searingly cutting manner. “It is about the feeling that everyone’s out to get you,” Middleton notes. “There are some vicious songs on this album, about people I’ve come into contact with. I’ve spent a lot of our career doing a lot of ‘Woe is me, aren’t I terrible?’ songs but I’m more like ‘Fuck you, everyone!’ in my old age!" That incendiary attitude runs straight through the track, driving it with a raw immediacy that still makes room for melodic leads to coil around the growls and the punishing percussion. Seeds In The River takes a little of everything that has come before and sprinkles it across the final five and a half minutes of the album. Memorable hooks, acoustic guitar, Godzilla‑sized riffs, Middleton delivering both clean and growled vocals, synths and melodic guitar work all feature, yet it feels cohesive and coherent as a single vision. This is Sylosis confirming that they will take the band wherever their instincts lead and that they refuse to be hemmed in by anyone’s expectations.

Photo credit: Jake Owens

 The New Flesh is not an album for those who want Sylosis to sound just as they did ten to fifteen years ago. If clean vocals, acoustic passages, ballads and overtly melodic solos are an instant no, then this will not change your mind. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of venomous, hostile metal here and taken on its own terms, it is a triumph that builds naturally on the direction set by A Sign Of Things To Come. With The New Flesh, Sylosis have delivered their best album since Dormant Heart, maybe even Monolith. The band are on stunning form throughout - tight, sharp and focused - with Josh Middleton giving the most complete vocal performance of his career, shifting between raw power and clarity with absolute command.

As he states, “Everything’s been going well to this point, and we have come back pretty strong, so we just want to show people that we are offering something special,” Middleton concludes. “There is a hole in the metal world, of just good metal. There is so much cookie cutter bullshit on streaming playlists, so I think there are enough good riffs on this album to win people over. I rarely hear anything and think ‘That is a great riff.’ My background is riff worship, studying riffs and trying to create as many great ones as possible.” 

For those willing to embrace the full spectrum of what Sylosis are now exploring, the reward is great and these songs are sure to be devastating in the live setting. A fierce, memorable step forward that proves Sylosis have lost none of their fire.

The New Flesh is released on 20th February 2026.