Review by Adam M on December 3, 2012.

Here is a quick follow-up to the excellent "Edge Of The Earth" that treads a very similar path to its predecessor. There are better production values and crunchier guitar riffs, but some of the innovation for their style has worn off unfortunately.

Regardless, the atmosphere of Hardcore influenced melodic metal is as strong here if not stronger than ever. "Monolith" has the same cascading riffs that have tendencies towards Thrash as the predecessor. The nature of their massive guitar licks is to be very memorable and addictive to the listener and this is the case here as well. The songs are still epic in nature and the album is very long in length, which should appeal to fans of the old Metallica type of thinking. Vocals of the hardcore variety are the same as what was present on the last album. The fiery nature of the musicians is more present on this nature than the last, leading to a more venomous portrayal of their art. Sylosis are a band that has a very great grasp of their style, but I expect them to push their sound in interesting new directions in the future because this album is sounding a bit too similar to the last one.

There are still enough refinements and tweaks to make it a necessary listen for fans of the band, but I think the band would be best served to take a bit more time off before conceiving a new release next time. This is still top of the line heavy metal with great song-writing and a powerful, melodic and gripping nature and recommended to all metal fans.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 8.5
Production: 8.5
Originality: 7
Overall: 8.1

Rating: 8.1 out of 10