Interview: Josh Middleton of Sylosis Talks Australian Tour

British metal titans SYLOSIS are set to make a thunderous return to Australia, marking their first visit since their killer performances at Soundwave 2013.

With a reputation for delivering energy-packed shows, SYLOSIS has been a driving force in the metal scene, and their return Down Under is highly anticipated. As they prepare to unleash their relentless energy on Australian shores in February 2025, we had the incredible opportunity to chat with frontman and guitarist Josh Middleton, to find out more about what fans can expect from the upcoming shows and much more.

SR: What have you been up to lately?

JM: We’ve been busy. We just did a two-week European festival run, and then moved house two days later. So, busy but pretty good—can’t complain.

SR: What kind of music have you been listening to lately?

Honestly, I’m one of those rare people who genuinely just listens to metal all the time. I usually stick to my favorite stuff that I’ve always loved and grew up on, like early Sepultura, Morbid Angel—that kind of thing. Lately, I’ve been going down memory lane, listening to early Korn records from when I was a kid, feeling nostalgic. Not a ton of new stuff. There are some new bands that I do like, but the sort of metal I enjoy isn’t as common anymore.

SR: You are an amazing guitar player. I could go to your shows just to be mesmerised by your playing. How many hours do you spend practicing each day?

JM: None. I think I went through a period of two months recently where I didn’t touch a guitar, and then I had to get back into it a few days before the festival run. I just hope that I can maintain the standard I have. I haven’t really progressed much since I was a teenager, and I never really did more than two or three hours of practice a day at most. One thing I always tell people who are starting out or want to get better is to focus on their practice. I would sit in front of the TV in the evenings and just run scales, letting muscle memory take over. Most of guitar playing is just movements, so you don’t always have to sit down and practice formally. You can watch TV while practicing, as long as you’re mindful of what you’re doing. So, I never did anything too crazy, and these days, I don’t play much unless I’m writing.

SR: A majority of your fans are based in Australasia. What are you looking forward to the most when you come back and play Down Under?

JM: Everything! It’s one of my favorite places to tour and play—the weather, the food, the coffee, and the people. I think the UK and Australia share a similar sense of humor and personality types, so we get on really well with Australian bands. It’s all great, but obviously, when something is that good, it has to be coupled with something really bad, and that’s flying! A day on a plane sucks, and two back-to-back flights? I hate that. But everything else about Australia is fantastic! I can’t wait!

SR: Your latest album is entitled “A Sign of Things to Come.” To me, that means the next album is only going to be bigger and better. Do you feel immense pressure when writing new material, or do you just let it flow naturally?

JM: A bit of both, depending on where I’m at. Sometimes when I’m writing, I think these songs are really good, and I don’t feel much pressure. Once your singles are taken care of, you can just have fun with the rest. But I do feel a bit of pressure sometimes. I feel like the last record was our best and most focused, so I definitely want to make sure the next one is even better if possible. So yeah, the pressure is on a bit.

SR: Speaking of pressure, my friend in the UK loves you guys. He said you played Bloodstock Festival earlier this month and had technical issues that delayed the set by about 10 minutes. He mentioned that you handled the situation very well, even though it was slightly awkward. He said you came back without your guitar and just did vocals, and it still worked. What goes through your mind when difficult situations like that happen?

JM: Unfortunately, I think my mind turns to mush. I’m usually just trying to figure out what the problem could be or telling my guitar tech what the issue might be, but we couldn’t figure it out in time. I know what the problem is now, but it is too late now. I wanted the show to be as good as it could be, so I decided not to waste time and just did some songs without the guitar. And if I’m honest, it’s super fun not playing guitar. Doing just vocals is great because you get to move around more.

SR: I feel like a lot of metal bands today sound the same, and I often hear similar things from different bands at festivals. I feel like Sylosis stands out because of your hard-hitting riffs and strong professionalism. What other elements do you think set the band apart from the others?

JM: I wouldn’t say our music is completely unique, but I think we have our own sound. As I mentioned earlier, there aren’t many bands playing the type of music we do these days. We grew up listening to 90s metal like Machine Head, Sepultura, Pantera, and later bands like Lamb of God and Chimaira. That middle lane of metal feels unoccupied these days; there aren’t many bands doing that sort of thing. There’s a lot of death metal and hardcore coming out, but in terms of bands that do what we want to do, there aren’t many. I guess we stand apart because we stick to what we do.

“… We grew up listening to 90s metal like Machine Head, Sepultura, Pantera, and later bands like Lamb of God and Chimaira…”

SR: I saw that your wife is a psychologist. Does she help guide and support the band through any difficult times?

JM: Definitely not with the other guys, no. But she helps me personally, though there’s not much to deal with psychologically within Sylosis. Everyone is pretty chilled and on the same page. For me personally, yes, she’s hugely helpful, and I’d be lost without her. In terms of band stuff, that’s separate, but I guess some things I’ve learned from her feed into that as well.

SR: Yeah, it’s important to have a good mindset, and she probably helps you look at things differently.

JM: Yeah, I think a lot of people want to be like psychologists and try to figure things out, but until you’ve had real training, you’ll miss things that a real psychologist—a Doctor—would catch. When she says, “Well, no, that’s not the case because of X, Y, and Z,” you realize, “Oh, right, that’s why you’re a doctor and not just someone on Instagram trying to be a counselor or psychologist.” You see that a lot—people trying to dish out mental health advice without any training.

SR: What’s a weird item you’ve signed for a fan?

JM: I wouldn’t say a weird item, but one of the craziest things is signing someone’s arm or leg, and then they go and get it tattooed afterwards. That’s happened twice, I think. On our last tour, I signed a prosthetic leg—it didn’t belong to the person; they just brought it along to shows to get it signed by people. I guess they found it in the trash somewhere. But nothing else comes to mind.

SR: How do you think the new album has been received? Do you think you can progress even further from it?

JM: Thank you! Yeah, I’d like to think we learned a lot in the process of making that one, so we’ve got a better understanding of how to execute our ideas. That was a big learning curve. I do feel confident that we can get better and keep progressing, definitely!