19th January 2025

Review: “Borderland” by Sypha

Having already accumulated 108k streams on Spotify and YouTube alone across just a handful of singles, we think its fair to say that Brighton Alternative Metal quartet Sypha are a band riding the crest of a wave after just twenty four months in the game. Building on that, the summer of 2024 saw them reach the grand final of Metal 2 The Masses, narrowly missing out on the opportunity to play the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival, while enhancing their reputation with their energetic live performances. Threatening to get 2025 started with a bang, a debut EP titled “Borderland” with cover art depicting murder most horrid has landed in our laps…

While they haven’t left the roots of their early singles behind, it’s clear from the outset that debut EP “Borderland” showcases an evolved, heavier sound with darker lyrical content and bolder atmospherics. Taking a Nu-Metal template and building it out with bright clean verses, sing-a-long choruses and heavier guitars “Dirty Floor” then finds vocalist Alicia Pilling adding harsh unclean vocal phrasing to push the sound to the limits. A chunky breakdown passage adds insult to injury, ensuring that the four piece could well be the next faces of Kerrang! Magazine and a gateway band for young Metal heads all over this green and pleasant land. Repeating the trick while lyrically referencing the two other tracks on the record, “Limbo (See You On The Other Side)” confirms that Sypha are far from a one hit wonder. Using a catchy chorus to full effect, the haunting whisper adds intrigue before the harsh vocal moments in the final throes underline their song writing prowess and expertise in creating Pop infused Metal with bite that builds to a crescendo. Sumo Cyco vibes creep into the first half of “The Afterparty” before the cut gets substantially heavier as it plays out. More aggression and darker lyrics arguably make it the heaviest cut of the three, the earworm main riff not letting go once it takes hold. All in all this one feels like the best three cuts taken from an album to be used as a promo for label shopping rather than anything else [7/10]

Track Listing