Sometimes I hear a release that’s so refreshing that I know if they can keep churning out content of that quality in relatively quick succession they have a sincere chance of making something off their music, and I don’t mean playing local bars to 20 people a night. I mean making something off their music. Today I am talking with some of Detroit’s finest, today I am talking to Syphoned.
Syphoned are a fun, frantic, energetic mix of progressive thrash and death metal, blended with vocals that sit somewhere in between death and black metal. Trying to define their sound to a single genre would do them a disservice as both of their releases have combined an array of styles into a sound that is instantly recognisable as their own.
From blistering thrash inspired riffing to thumping and intricate passages that sound like some of the best long lost Individual Thought Patterns riffs you’re yet to hear, Syphoned mix genres in a way that gets me excited in ways I have not been for a while.
To complete this already tasty cake, Syphoned’s vocals are also instantly recognisable and land as a shriek sitting somewhere between black and death metal that screams in both harmony and contrast with the smashing riffage that frets away underneath, making for a uniquely venomous vocal delivery.
Syphoned are genuinely one of the projects I’m most excited to see a new release from as it’s almost a band designed for my specific tastes. Upbeat, energetic, technical riffing, with a unique vocal style. The last time I got this excited for anything with thrash riffs Vektor had just released their debut.
But hopefully, if you’re reading this, then you’re already well aware of how good Syphoned are and you don’t need me to continue hyping them up. Today we’re joined by the guys to discuss influences, recommendations, and the future.
Let’s get into it!
Syphoned, February 2025 (Interview by D)
Still being fairly new to a lot of people, especially on this side of the Atlantic (well, at least for now!), why don’t we start by telling us a bit about the project? Who are you, and how did the project all come together?
Syphoned is currently composed of Erik Swindlehurst (lead vocals and
guitar), Sam Corless (lead guitar), Caleb Schneider (bass guitar) and
Carter Bradley (drums). In 2023, all four members socially came together
to form the current lineup of the band after having known each other
since 2021.
I’ve already paid you my compliments long before this interview, so it’s no secret I’m a big fan of Syphoned’s music. All of the songs hit for me with the right level of energy to the point where every song feels either toe-tappingly catchy or straight-up headbang worthy; if not a combination of the two through an entire track. It is a chaotic mix of sounds, with the closest thing I can describe it to is if Vektor’s Black Future and Death’s Individual Thought Patterns had a baby which also had Atheist as a distant relative. But that’s only my interpretation, why don’t you tell us a bit about your influences? It certainly seems to be a varied combination of styles and influences.
As a collective, we all love heavier styles of music, but we all waver pretty
drastically as individuals. There is a small list of bands we all like as a
group, but we try to each draw inuence from bands we individually like
to create a unique sound for our band. On our own, we listen to pop and
jazz to technical metal, video game OSTs, etc.
a. Erik’s inuences: Death, Nevermore, Fates Warning
b. Sam’s inuences: Trivium, Children of Bodom, Angel Vivaldi
c. Caleb’s inuences: Rush, Atheist, Cynic
d. Carter’s inuences: Slayer, Exodus, Sylosis
With so many variations in styles, I wonder how the songwriting process looks for you guys? Is there a main songwriter or is it more of a group process?
Erik will present songs to us as a group and we are free to create our own
parts and arrangements. For example, Erik came in with the intro to
Convergence, and we as a collective helped trim the fat, added the
transition to the verse; we pretty much do that with all our songs.
What musical equipment are you guys currently using? And what equipment are you planning to add to your arsenal moving forward?
As far as our guitarists go, they both just made the leap to using the
Neural DSP Quad Cortex. Erik uses Gibson Guitars and Peavey Amps, Sam
uses Kiesel Guitars and EVH Amps (and his trusty computer and guitar
plugins), Caleb recently acquired a custom Kiesel 6-string fretless bass
and uses a Peavey Amps, and Carter uses Pearl Drums, Evans
Drumheads, and Vic Firth drumsticks.
Something bands don’t do enough is work their best songs. Especially in metal, it seems like you get one chance to write a song and that’s it set for life. However, you guys took the approach of re-working some of the demo tracks from Eulogy to reappear on the Convergence EP. What influenced you guys to take the same approach with your work?
They were re-recorded because we wanted our fans and listeners to hear
them with our new lineup. Those two songs o Eulogy get played live the
most, so it felt like a natural decision for us to make.
Following on from the last question, what do you have against Avoiding the Inevitable?! (haha)
When Erik and Caleb started rehearsing with Carter for some shows in
late 2022, that song was intended to be played live, but we could never
get it to sound right. We played it live maybe once, it could have gone
over better. By the time we started having band practices in 2023, Erik
had brought in End of a Time and Convergence, so we basically stopped
playing Avoiding in favor of the new material.
I’m always torn between I Am Heretic and End Of A Time for my favourite Syphoned song, but I’m curious, what is yours and why? Is this song also your favourite song to play live?
Our favorites to play between the four of us have to be Thought and End
of a Time. End of a Time was the rst song we started working on with our
new lineup, and Thought has a ton of variety that we all enjoy. We are
really stoked about our new songs for our album, they have been super
fun to rehearse!
I’ll admit, I need better education on the Detroit scene. Who are some of the local bands or artists in your area who you think deserve some recognition? Who else should I know about from Detroit or Michigan?
We’ve been spoiled in the Michigan scene, there have been a ton of great
show packages with a lot of variety genre-wise. Some of our favorite local
bands we’ve played with are Convulsis, Phyrxian Sun, Nethergate,
Recorruptor, Illusion of Fate, Manic Outburst, Darkeater, Ten Thousand
Teeth, Passing Thought, and many others.
Outside of the US, which countries have been first or most prolific to recognise and appreciate Syphoned?`
Eulogy was featured in the Nihilistic Webzine in France, Convergence was
getting some love from Russia and Eastern Europe on a YouTube upload,
and we have some Spotify listeners in the United Kingdom, Germany,
Mongolia, and Finland.
So far, what has been the most unexpected or rewarding experience for you as part of this project?
Opening for Cynic and Atheist was one of the most unexpected
experiences we have had as a band, and meeting our inuences in those
two bands was the utmost rewarding. As a whole, having audiences
experiencing our music has been emotionally gratifying, especially
hearing what people have to say about it. Selling t-shirts to children and
seeing their smiles hit the roof is also very cool!
What does 2025 look like for Syphoned? What plans do you guys have planned for the upcoming year?
2025 for us will be the year of starting to work on our debut album. We
have a few shows booked in March, and aim to schedule more for later in
the year. If we’re not getting ready for a gig, we will be practicing, writing,
demoing, and recording.
I’m stealing this question from one of the guest writers here, but I think it’s a good one so I’m going to use it (shout out Zero). What is some media we should be checking out? Be it books, movies, music, video games, etc, what does Syphoned recommend?
Erik recommends: Trailer Park Boys (TV show), Absolute Elsewhere by
Blood Incantation (music), and The Politics of Ecstasy (Timothy Leary,
book)
a. Sam recommends: Charlie Robbins (music), Sorroweater (music)
and Berried Alive (music)
b. Caleb recommends: The Wheel of Time (book series), The Sopranos
(TV show) and Praises to the War Machine (Warrel Dane, music).
c. Carter recommends: Resident Evil 4 (2023, video game), Desolation:
A Heavy Metal Memoir (Mark Morton, book) and Arcane: League of
Legends (TV show).
Thanks again for your time today. I’m genuinely looking forward to whatever comes next. I don’t say this often, in fact, never previously, but I sincerely believe that if Syphoned continues to release solid, stomping records like they have been doing, it is not going to be long before you are taking on shows in the EU. Watch this space, Syphoned are inbound!
Guys, any last words?
We’d like to thank you guys very much for asking some good questions
and for having us! One day, we would love to come to the EU and play for
you guys, it’s denitely been a dream of ours. Just keep on listening to
good music, keep on living your life, and let the metal ow. We would love
to do this again some day! Our door is always open.
Appreciate it!
BOSTKTB,
HTBLOF.
Mithraic Magazine 
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