RYUJIN – RYUJIN
Release Date: 12th January 2024
Label: Napalm Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Melodic Death Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Folk, Japanese Instrumentation.
FFO: Children of Bodom, Trivium, Dragonforce, Dream Theater.
Review By: Rick Farley
Welcome to my first review of 2024, and it also just happens to be your and my introduction to the world of Samurai metal. Formed in 2011 under the name Gyze, this Japanese melodic death metal band returns in 2024 reincarnated as Ryujin. The Japanese king of dragons is the perfect name for these thrashing, melodic, power metal slinging warriors. Using traditional Japanese instrumentation, combined with a healthy dose of incredible guitar shredding pushes the various genres of folk, power, and melodic death all inspired by everything from ancient orchestral Gagaku and even modern anime themes to the absolute brink of blistering yet tasteful, accessible extremes. Honestly, it’s incredibly early in the year, but this album will be hard to top in the sheer listening fun factor. Self-titled Ryujin which releases January 12th on Napalm Records has a certain amount of coolness factor and swagger that’s hard to not grin from ear to ear while jamming it. Headbanging, metal horns flying, moshing, and lighters up in the air, Ryujin has it all. Metallic, epic, and soaring. Check, check, and check.
To put it into a simple way of understanding what you’re getting into here, just picture Children of Bodom, Dragonforce and Dream Theater fighting on the streets of Japan with guitars, microphones, and drumsticks, while Ryujin shows up with samurai swords and kicks all their asses. Huge sing along choruses, ferocious breakneck riffs, glorious melodies, pianos, power ballads, skilled musicianship, harsh vocals, and beautiful harmonies. This is Samurai metal.
Ryujin have definitely developed their own identity, expressed with many elements of their homeland. Blending both Japanese and English lyricism, the albums tracks feature titles based on the words of the Ainu people of Hokkaido, as well as famous painting and idioms. Raijin and Fujin (Featuring vocal contributions from Matthew K. Heafy) was my first taste of this incarnation of the band, and it’s a total ripper. Power metal tinged thrashy guitars with Japanese melodies at break neck speed. The harsh versus get punky before balancing into cleanly sung harmonies that are ridiculously catchy and impossible not to sing along to. Blazing leads from vocalist/guitarist Ryoji Shinomoto shred and tear through the mix like they’re on fire, before settling back into that infectious hook. Truly a highlight of many on this record. Track eight Gekirin is a heavier and darker song that easily transitions into a nautically inspired shanty that again is insanely catchy. There are oceanic musical themes that weave seamlessly throughout the album, as Ryujin is a dragon of the sea in Japanese mythology. Powerful bass and drums from Aruta Watanabe and Shuji Shinomoto keep the tracks intensity high. However, the band is clearly not afraid to slow things down with the inspiring rock-opera-like ballad of Saigo No Hoshi. Sappy and sugary to the bone, but damn it’s just a good fucking song. The album also features a bonus English version of Saigo No Hoshi with Matthew K. Heafy on vocals, I prefer the original, but this is still very cool. Any other band could not pull off the diversity of this album, but Ryujin does it effortlessly. Hell, they even included a thundering version of Guren No Yumiya – widely known as the opening theme of popular anime series Attack on Titan.
In short, you should check this band out if you like your metal fresh and exciting with fearless swagger. Well-crafted songs, which bring brutality, guitar ferocity and a lot of heart to anyone within earshot. If you need to have a label, on the surface Ryujin would classify as a melodic death metal band, but that sells this short by a mile, so give this gem a spin and thank me later. 
(4 / 5)
