Monolith (Sylosis album)

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Monolith
SylosisMonolithAlbumCover.jpg
Studio album by
Released8 October 2012 (2012-10-08)
Recorded2011–2012 in Monnow Valley Studio, Wales
Genre Thrash metal, melodic death metal, progressive metal
Length71:12
Label Nuclear Blast
Producer Romesh Dodangoda
Sylosis chronology
Sylosis Live At High Voltage
(2011)
Monolith
(2012)
Dormant Heart
(2015)
Singles from Monolith
  1. "Born Anew"
    Released: 7 August 2012
  2. "A Dying Vine"
    Released: 7 August 2012

Monolith is the third full-length album released by British heavy metal band Sylosis. It was released on 5 October 2012, in Europe and 9 October 2012, in North America.

Contents

Background

On 31 March 2012, Sylosis released a teaser on YouTube simply entitled Sylosis III which featured clips of the band performing in a studio. Later, it was revealed that Sylosis had indeed started work on their third studio album just over a year after the release of Edge of the Earth. Sylosis continued to tease the release of the new album by posting another video on YouTube, it was revealed in the video that the band were recording the new album at the Monnow Valley Studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. [1]

Release and promotion

On 7 August 2012, Sylosis provided free download of "A Dying Vine" via their website, and their song 'Born Anew' was first played on "Rock Show with Daniel P Carter" on Radio 1. As of 2 October 2012, the album was streamed on MetalSucks in its entirety. [2] As part of the promotion of the album and to celebrate its release, Sylosis played a hometown show in Reading, UK on 7 October where fans could purchase a copy of the album a day prior to its official release as well as perform a few of the songs from the new album live. On 3 December, the music video for "Fear the World" was released. [3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Blistering Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Kerrang! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Metal Hammer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg
Rock n Reel Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [7]
Terrorizer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [8]

The album has received very positive reviews from music critics. A review from MetalSucks stated that "A little more than halfway through “Out from Below,” the opening track from Sylosis’ Monolith, the band breaks out what must be one of the best Metallica riffs that Metallica never wrote; then, just twenty seconds later, the band suddenly-but-seamlessly transitions into what might actually be the best Metallica riff that Metallica never wrote. Fans of thrash that feels traditionalist, but not retro, will find themselves completely unable to turn Monolith off from that point forward; the album has now sunk its hooks into your skin like a Cenobite, and you are just going to have to hang there and go with it." [9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sylosis [10]

No.TitleLength
1."Out from Below"6:58
2."Fear the World"5:20
3."What Dwells Within"5:02
4."Behind the Sun"5:01
5."The River"5:33
6."Monolith"5:02
7."Paradox"6:08
8."A Dying Vine"5:56
9."All Is Not Well"4:29
10."Born Anew"3:48
11."Enshrined" (includes 10-minute silence from 4:56 to 14:56 and hidden track)19:16
Total length:71:12

Personnel

Sylosis
Production and design

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References

  1. "Sylosis To Release New Album "Monolith" Overseas In September". Theprp.com. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  2. EXCLUSIVE FULL-ALBUM STREAM: SYLOSIS’ MONOLITH
  3. "SYLOSIS: 'Fear the World' Video Released". 29 November 2012.
  4. "Monolith - Sylosis : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic .
  5. "Blistering.com Review: Sylosis - Monolith".
  6. "Kerrang Review - Monolith". Archived from the original on 21 February 2013.
  7. "Sylosis - Monolith - Rock n Reel Reviews".
  8. "SYLOSIS - Monolith". Archived from the original on 22 February 2013.
  9. "Sylosis' Monolith Ignites the Flame Inside". 27 September 2012.
  10. Track listing Nuclearblast page.