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Ryujin: Samurai Metal
“It’s the Samurai metal sound!” Ryoji Shinomoto says with a laugh. This is perhaps the best and most succinct way to describe the enticing sound of RYUJIN. With a debut album now out in the wide world, people can now get stuck into this exciting power metal band expertly blending in traditional Japanese soundscapes. However, there’s more to learn about the quartet.
Beginning their musical journey under the name GYZE, RYUJIN are a bit of a reinvention of themselves. It can sometimes be tricky for a band to change their name and presence; Ryoji explains the very simple catalyst for the change. “Well, I am proud of GYZE’s activities. I’m proud of what GYZE does, but it seems to be hard to pronounce and I’ve always been told (it sounds like) ‘guys’. Matthew (Heafy) also didn’t understand how to pronounce it at first, so we talked about changing the name. He suggested RYUJIN, after my name.”
Sometimes it seems a name change can be as simple as that, but this can also present new challenges in a world of linked accounts. “The issue was that changing names and linking to past works on Spotify and other sites did not work well.” Not necessarily a cautionary tale, but always worth bearing in mind!
In terms of changing up their sound and potential challenges that can present, Ryoji goes on to explain, “as a challenge, there were more clean vocals than before. This was Matt’s idea.” For those already familiar with the album, there is a lot of collaboration evident from TRIVIUM’s Matt Heafy, but it’s cool to see that the partnership runs deeper than simply guest appearance on a selection of songs. It was almost a bit of a chance meeting the way Ryoji tells it, a great example that sometimes meeting musical heroes can lead to great outcomes.
“At first, after a recent interview, the reporter and Matt were talking about us on X. It was around the time that his IBARAKI was released, and he was also talking about the three tones. Both he and I were using the shamisen. We saw them talking and got in touch! I asked him to be my guest at first and he agreed to do more. He is so comfortable that at times he is more Japanese than us! He’s a legend, yet he’s polite and has never once acted like a pompous ass. Of course, he is half Japanese, but more than that, he himself knows more about Japan than we Japanese do, and I never felt uncomfortable with him in any way. He is one of the finest gentlemen I have ever met. I am sincerely grateful and would like to learn a lot from him, not only his music but also his attitude.”
While his presence is obvious on the tracks within the album, musically, Heafy’s style doesn’t overpower that of RYUJIN and it’s clear to hear and from Ryoji’s explanation it’s a very natural partnership.
As from Ryoji’s own explanation of the sound being like Samurai metal, the record is full of traditional Japanese musical influence. “It was a genre that no one had ever done before,” Ryoji explains, before going on to breakdown the foundation of how they achieved the sound. “Japanese music and Eastern music are unique, and they don’t all go together well. However, the shamisen is a percussive stringed instrument that adds energy. Taiko drums produce deep bass sounds that cannot be obtained with regular drums. The ryuteki, hichiriki, and sho of gagaku create a very mystical and mystical space. The Chinese erhu also plays melodic lines with a completely different approach than the violin. Also, many of the scales are unique, so adding a little essence to them will make them very familiar to Japanese people. Integrating it with metal requires a lot of knowledge and ingenuity. In the first place, ancient Japanese music was from different ethnic groups with different musical theories!”
On the surface, the album presents a very well blended mix of familiar metal aspects such as power and symphonic death metal. These in turn are laced with the traditional musical stylings discussed, but as Ryoji details, there is so much more beneath the surface than simply picking aspects that sound okay together and running with it. It’s clear from the way he tells it that a very detailed approach has been taken to ensure the individual aspects work harmoniously while still retaining their own identity.
It’s not all plain sailing though, mixing instrumentation and playing styles that could be considered worlds apart presents unique questions that require different approaches. Ryoji is very forthcoming when laying out the potential pitfalls. “There are times when it is impossible to play due to the structure of the instrument, and it is frustrating when that happens. For example, Japanese flutes are not very fine and are not suitable for fast scales. Unfortunately, it’s not included in this album, but the single Oriental Symphony that I released last time was composed using gagaku instruments, so I recorded the entire song itself at 430khz. However, it is difficult to practice, so I don’t really recommend it. In other words, ethnic instruments are sometimes not suitable for tonal music, so it was difficult to balance that.” But balance it they have and the self-titled album is a testament to the hard work and perseverance of these highly talented musicians.
Of course, RYUJIN are not alone in fusing traditional music from their native country with that of metal. There are several other artists such as THE HU and BLOODYWOOD making a significant mark doing just that. Ryoji only sees this as a positive, a great way for wider, more diverse audiences to be introduced to music they would otherwise have overlooked through lack of exposure to it. “There are bands from many different countries in the world that fuse the music of their own country with metal! This is very exciting. I hope to see more samurai metal from the West and other countries emerge in the future!”
In terms of what the future holds for RYUJIN, Ryoji sums things up nicely. “Hopefully we can do a worldwide tour. We are planning to perform at some European festivals. We are also writing some new songs, because I got a lot of inspiration from going on tour at the end of last year!” So, we can certainly expect more Samurai metal and hopefully some greater live exposure which can only be for the greater good.
Ryujin is out now via Napalm Records.
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