Before Sylosis' set, though, the growing crowd were treated to sets from two up-and-coming British metal bands. Up first were Harbinger, a London-based band who, to me, sounded closer to deathcore than anything else - but there was also a bit of a melodic death metal influence present given their inclusion of plenty of lead guitar moments. Whilst I liked this guitar approach, and there were some pretty technical riffs and melodies scattered throughout the band's set, I struggled with the band vocally. I have never liked deathcore at all really, and this is largely down to the vocal style. The deathcore vocal style really grates on me - and it is strange as generally I am not opposed to harsh vocals. There is just something unappealing about those fast-paced, almost rapped, screams and pig-like growls that tend to be present in deathcore - and frontman Dilan Alves did stray into those territories quite often. As such, then, Harbinger are never going to be for me. That being said, though, musically I did find the band to be quite interesting at times. Joel Scott (drums) really impressed, and I thought that his playing throughout the band's set was excellent. The drums were well-tuned, and his playing was so tight and interesting. So often, especially live, drumming for this sort of music can sound mushy - but Scott's playing was clean and precise - which helped me to enjoy the band's set. I also liked the aforementioned approach to guitar playing, which was much more lead-based and shreddy than is often the case when it comes to bludgeoning and one-note deathcore. If the band focused more on the melodic death metal side of their sound then I would probably like them more - but the strong deathcore vibes vocally turned me off ultimately meaning that their half an hour or so on stage was a mixed one for me.
Up next were the London-based death metal four-piece Burner - who's set seemed to really fly by. There were elements of hardcore in the band's sound, too, but generally they just played a modern brand of death metal - with plenty of political lyrics and another great drummer in Jack Bryant whom impressed with his blast beats. The type of death metal which I tend to gravitate towards is that which is more old-school sounding, but I found myself enjoying much of Burner's set and was surprised when they announced their last song as it seemed as if they had only just started. Their last song was actually fairly lengthy, which likely made it seem like the rest of the set had been longer than it was, but it is always a good sign when a set does not seem to drag. That being said, Burner are not the sort of band whom I am ever likely to listen to in my own time - but live they sounded great. The drumming again was excellent and I thought that frontman Harry Nott was also a strong presence - and it was good to see that their songs generally dealt with interesting and thought-provoking topics, which is not always the case with extreme metal. It would have been nice to have had a bit more variation from a guitar perspective, though. More modern death metal does not seem to put much stock in leads or solos - and Nathan Harlow largely just stuck to riffs. His riffing was great, and I did appreciate the handful of murky, clean guitar intros which some of the songs had, but it would have been nice to have heard a few leads or solos to mix things up somewhat. This is typical of the genre, though, but it did mean that once each song started proper it was generally relentless from the off with little shade - and it would have been nice for a few more dynamic arrangements. It would be hard to argue that Burner did not deliver on their chosen sound, though, and they certainly impressed during their half an hour on stage.
When Sylosis kicked off the venue was rammed and the Reading-based band hit the stage with plenty of fire. Back to full strength on this tour with Alex Bailey (guitar) back following sitting out of the Malevolence tour due to the arrival of his child, the band really hit the ground running - with two tracks from the latest album kicking off a 12-song set which included half of that album, some old favourites, and a couple of deeper cuts. Despite fighting through a chest infection, Middleton sounded great vocally. He has improved as a vocalist hugely over the years, and his Bristol performance was excellent - with his screams in opener Poison for the Lost really filling the venue. He has always been a masterful guitar player, though, and his shredded solos were spot on from the off. I think, though, that Bailey is a great foil for him, though, and his role in the live band seems to have grown over the years. He now seems to handle most of the leads during the songs themselves, which allows Middleton to focus on rhythms and his singing, before stepping back to allow Middleton to solo. Children of Bodom did something similar towards the end, too, and Bailey's lead playing has likely allowed Middleton to improve as a vocalist. For the next hour or so, then, the band really impressed. The punishing Pariahs saw plenty of singing from the capacity crowd during the chorus - whilst the anthemic chorus of the groovier I Sever also featured plenty of shouting along. There was a bit of a change of pace during the more metalcore-inspired and melodic Descent - which was debuted live on this tour. It is one of the more varied pieces from the latest album, and it features a more obvious chorus hook than the band have often been known for. It was well-received by the crowd, though, before the band looked back to 2008 and their debut album Conclusion of an Age for a couple of classics in the form of The Blackest Skyline and Stained Humanity. Both have been played live pretty regularly by the band over the years, but they never fail to excite the crowd - and it was great to hear the dual guitar melodies of the latter live again. One of the set's biggest surprises, though, came in the form of Slings and Arrows - a stand-alone single which the band put out in 2012. I had not seen the band play it live before and in truth it is not a song which I am hugely familiar with - but the thrashy track was a great hark-back to that more progressive era of the band. This vibe was maintained with another fairly regular live staple in Altered States of Consciousness - from Edge of the Earth, which is likely still my favourite Sylosis album. The knotty riffing really filled the venue and, whilst the band's newer stuff feels more anthemic, I do hope that this more progressive approach is revisited at some point. Middleton has recently said that he is working on two albums currently, one of which feels like a bit of a successor to Edge of the Earth - so it sounds like his progressive side will be on display again at some point. Another surprise came in the form of Withered from the first album, which had not been played live for many years, but the rest of the set was largely as expected - with the epic A Sign of Things to Come perhaps generating the biggest sing-a-long of the night thanks to its murky verses and explosive chorus. The relatively recent single Worship Decay then pummelled the crowd - before the band's latest anthem in Deadwood brought an impressive set to a powerful and hooky close - which those in attendance really lapped up. The setlist was:
Poison for the Lost
Pariahs
I Sever
Descent
The Blackest Skyline
Stained Humanity
Slings and Arrows
Altered States of Consciousness
Withered
A Sign of Things to Come
Worship Decay
Deadwood
It was great to see an extended set from Sylosis again after many years and the sold out room generated a strong atmosphere from the off - with plenty of singing and moshing keeping the energy levels high. Given the success of both this tour and the Malevolence tour, I am really hoping that Sylosis are propelled on to bigger and better things from this point. They are a band that deserve the success and with that aforementioned news that Middleton is currently working on two albums it is safe to assume that hearing something new from Sylosis might not take as long as it has done in more recent times - and I am already looking forward to the next chapter.
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