SUJIN – Save Our Souls

SUJIN – Save Our Souls
Release Date: 16th February 2024
Label: Scarlet Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
FFO: In Flames, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, Trivium, Goira, Jinjer.
Review By: Mark Young

Got to say, I’m getting a little bored of the short intro tracks that are becoming popular at the minute. But, for the sake of reviews, I’ll move on to Save Our Souls, the opening track on this debut album from the artist formerly known as Whisper Night. It’s a decent stomper with odd backing vocals that don’t quite sit right. The build itself takes a lot from the drawer of melodic death metal, which in itself is not a bad thing.

SOS has some cracking riffing going on, sounding like Arch Enemy (think Wages of Sin era) and is a good start, giving you an indication of what is to follow on. I think this is important, because the tracks that follow from Ashes from the Abyss through to Winter Breeze all possess some great ideas. What you do have is a touch of familiarity running through the album. There is a high level of musical intent that carries the mix of melody and heaviness well, but to be honest, it’s not breaking new ground. Dead World Beyond is a ripper, but is not that dissimilar from Ashes. Wasted Progress throws in some absolutely blinding guitar, with the sort of chords that make you go YES. Here they show what they can do where they build some epic movements. Give that one a listen, and you will know EXACTLY what I mean, quality stuff.

Bleeding Chains puts In Flames and Arch Enemy into a blender to good effect and is a lot better than some of the stuff those two have put out recently. It has that urgent approach, and they bring that along for Throne of Chaos, which is a head down exercise in efficient riffing.

As the album progresses, they find their own sweet zone, Dagon being the prime example of this where they move outside of the melo-death and drop in some stunning moments and is one of the high points here. Scavengers sees them douse In Flames (yes, I know) but with their own stamp on it. Winter Breeze closes out the album with an almost ‘happy sounding’ arrangement with some fret-melting going on and a controlled attack, and is a fine song to finish on.

This is one of those albums that grows on you with repeated listens. I know that I’ve said that there is an element of familiarity running through it, and that in terms of originality it does not offer anything new. But what it does do, is move. It’s heavy, and the melodic touches they throw in there are to a great standard and are not shameful homages to anyone else. Yes, there are moments where they do sound a lot like their influences, but they sound as good as those, if not better. It all depends on what you are looking for in your music. 

If you are looking for high-quality melodic death, then here you go. If you are looking for something new, then look elsewhere. If you decide to stay, then you will find some real moments of quality from a band who are slowly emerging into its own prime rather than being the echo of somebody else.

1. · · · – – – · · ·
2. Save Our Souls
3. Ashes from the Abyss
4. Dead World Beyond
5. Wasted Progress
6. Bleeding Chains
7. Throne of Chaos
8. Dagon
9. Scavengers
10. Insanity
11. Winter Breeze

(4 / 5)