I received an email on the morning of January 6th that shook me out of my typical morning grogginess, acting like a cup of cold brew. In my inbox sat an email from a reader asking if I could not only review their upcoming EP but also be one of the first to get my hands on it (metaphorically of course. We’re in the digital age now). Happy to have something positive on January 6th that could alter my viewpoint of that date (considering the last momentous January 6th involved an insurrection in America…), I immediately began replying. The email was from CJ Jarvis of the band Soul Syphon from Lewistown, PA, and he outlined what he was looking for, when the EP is set to release, the concepts of the EP, and a handy download link! I asked CJ if the band was a group effort or a solo endeavor (amongst many other questions) and was pleasantly surprised to learn that Soul Syphon is a solo act! CJ began work in 2020, using this passion project to express his experiences with internal conflicts, loss, and resilience - themes that are ever-present throughout the EP. It’s rare in the Metal scene that you come across a Dave Grohl, writing and recording a solo record before having a band to assist. Thankfully, this fact does not serve as a detriment to the EP I listened to.

CJ described the sound as being Metalcore, drawing influences from Kublai Khan TX, Gideon, Knocked Loose, and Traitors. These influences are apparent throughout, but I also pick up on The Acacia Strain and The Ghost Inside. You can hear The Acacia Strain sound with the sludgy guitar riffs and tone all over the EP, giving it a heavier Metalcore sound that leans closer to Deathcore/Grindcore. The unclean vocal style, song structuring, and chugged riffs are similar to The Ghost Inside but don’t sound one-to-one. With regards to the vocals, they’re raw and unfiltered, reminding me of the more stripped-down vocals you’d hear from local Hardcore bands you’d see in a church basement with your buddies, or one of the Up-and-Comer stages at Warped Tour back in its heyday. This is a welcome sound to me, as some of my favorite live performance experiences came from both of those venues! The vocals alternate from lower growls to mid-screams, but they never hit any crazy highs like you’d hear from early Chelsea Grin, early Whitechapel, or early Suicide Silence. I feel that CJ’s vocal style is intentional, helping him preserve his vocal cords (which is wise after seeing what happened to Oli Sykes during the Count Your Blessings era of Bring Me the Horizon). The drum playing on Reality Is Bleak is not overly flashy and serves the music while having a good “punch” to them (especially the snare) despite being programmed! CJ revealed to me that he wrote the drum parts but can’t play the drums himself, so he programmed them in. To my ear, they sound pretty good and fooled me! The EP features several sections with beefy basslines that shake the speakers a bit and add a nice bottom end to the recordings. The EP does not sound overproduced but it also doesn’t sound like it was recorded by that guy in High School who swore he was going to be a producer, only to buy some cheap recording equipment off Craigslist from another failed producer. All right… maybe that was too specific, but I’m sure you get the sentiment! The credit goes to producer Jeremy Jones for producing such a polished product! Finally, the songs are all structured and cohesive and not some giant Metal mess of noise and distortion, which is something you have to be careful of when writing on your own.

The EP kicks off with “Privileged Hands”, which features a slow intro with a fantastic drum fill that’s quick and to the point. Overall, the drums in this song really shine! CJ plays fast and furious in many sections, and I especially love the riding on the bell of the ride cymbal about 1:20 into the song. I also really dug the effects CJ used on the lead guitar riffs in multiple sections. “Disconnection” has another killer intro, having the bass fill and drum fill alternate opposite the main riff before diving into an eerie buzzsaw lead riff that launches the song into a double-time explosion before heading back down into the sludgy valley. The phone call into voicemail spliced in as the breakdown builds is especially badass and helps build the story CJ is trying to tell. “Unsound” carries a classic Hardcore drum pattern for much of the song that will always get my ears to perk up. It’s another track with neat guitar effects that help shape the overall soundscape. The outro fading into the next track, “Volatile”, is a gimmick in music production that I am weak to. “Volatile” builds off the outro from “Unsound” and offers a little variety in the vocal department, which helped break the song up a bit and have it stand out from the rest of the EP. The scream/yell style from the band’s producer, Jeremy Jones, is reminiscent of something you’d hear from a Knocked Loose track. “Half Empty” has my favorite guitar riff on the EP and features cool bass fills that showcase CJ’s talent and ability to find opportunities to fill any music voids. Yet again, CJ wrote a sweet intro that sets the song up for success. The guitar playing in the intro and outro reminds me of something between Within the Ruins and Rings of Saturn (maybe those are two oddball mentions, but hey, I’m going with my gut here). The final track, “Elegy”, has some of CJ’s gnarliest growls on display, making me think this is either the first song recorded for the EP and he was full of energy, piss, and vinegar, or the final track recorded where he decided to go balls-to-the-wall for the end. Either way, I really love the passion and energy heard on this track. The track is a great end to the EP, showcasing many of the music themes heard throughout. There are energetic guitar riffs, more beefy bass fills, sludgy chugging riffs, a great intro, and more solid drumming.

While I appear very high on Reality Is Bleak, this EP is not without some criticisms. Sometimes the songs can feel a bit formulaic, going from a slowed-down intro to a double-time verse, then a slowed-down bridge or verse into a breakdown, and then an outro. It’s hard to break out of the cycle of following a formula, but I’d love to see the band break out of it to separate themselves from the other Metalcore bands coming up in the scene. A lot of the music in the genre is starting to sound generic, mostly due to them sticking to the formula. I’d love to see the band experiment in the future with some melody, whether that be found in a clean vocalist or melodic breaks in the instrumentation. Additionally, I’d love to hear CJ experiment with a wider range of scream styles. His current style is great and serves the music well, but a little variety could help break up some of the monotony and differentiate one track from another more easily. Despite these criticisms, the EP passes the headbanging check. I found myself headbanging throughout the whole EP while shoveling snow, doing some household chores, driving around, and during my write-up. If you can bang your head to it, it’s at least a solid Metal recording.

Soul Syphon will be releasing Reality Is Bleak February 21, 2025, but you can get a taste already with the single “Half Empty”, which is on Spotify and under my Spotlight playlist. CJ plans to form a full band so he can play some shows to support the release of the EP, and already has some ideas of where he’d like to go from here! I’m excited to see where CJ and Soul Syphon end up next. I could easily see them getting some exposure on SiriusXM Liquid Metal in the coming years like many of the band’s influences have, which would be massive! Cheers to the future of Soul Syphon!

Score: 3/5