The second album from New York’s Sylar, Seasons crystallises in 2016 their brand of nu metalcore laced with rap and pop hooks. The band stacks bouncing riffs, scratches and the rapped flows of Jayden Panesso before tipping into sung choruses built for crowds. The production is clean and punchy, squarely aimed at immediate impact.
That openly worn recipe is both the record’s strength and its ceiling. When the songs bite, as on Assume or Deadweight, the energy is contagious and the groove unstoppable. Elsewhere the formula repeats itself and the writing loses a little of its surprise. A generous, sincere album, emblematic of a nu metalcore scene that Sylar helped revive.
