Band:	Sujin
Album:	Save Our Souls
Style:	Melodic death metal, Metalcore
Release date:	February 2024

01. ...---…
02. Save Our Souls
03. Ashes From The Abyss
04. Dead World Beyond
05. Wasted Progress
06. Bleeding Chains
07. Throne Of Chaos
08. Dagon
09. Scavengers
10. Insanity
11. Winter Breeze

With Save Our Souls, Sujin aren’t in any need of saving; however, they could maybe benefit from a little bit of help.

Sujin is a brand new name, but not quite a brand new band, instead being a rebrand of Whisper Night. The French ensemble, which lay firmly in metalcore territory (with a hint of 00s American metal groove) on Whisper Night’s two EPs, have broadened their horizons a touch on debut album Save Our Souls, venturing into the genre’s melodeath roots and exploring the influence of acts such as Arch Enemy like many of the earlier metalcore acts did. Melodeath-heavy metalcore was delivered in fine fashion last year on For I Am King’s Crown, and with the positive response received by that record, there’s clearly still an appetite for such takes on metalcore at a time where the genre is more populated by djenty, technical acts.

As for how well Sujin (a name inspired by Suijin, the God of water in Japanese mythology) go about delivering their take on modern metal, they’ve made some considerable steps forward from their Whisper Night days, not least in achieving a far more refined production. On top of that, there’s also greater fluidity to their songwriting, as the group flow seamlessly between chonky grooves, hooky faster riffs, and meaty breakdowns on the opening title track. The vocal style on Save Our Souls is predominantly screamed (with odd growls and squeals), but there are also some cleans used in opportune moments; unfortunately, it is here that the record falters a tad early on.

Given how full-sounding and lively “Save Our Souls” is for the first minute or so, there’s something about the delivery of the clean singing in the chorus that almost sounds... embarrassed, like it’s trying to hide away? Whoever’s doing the singing, they’ve opted for quite a muted approach, and the vocals also sound somewhat buried in the mix compared with the screams and instrumentation, almost like it’s trying to hide. It’s an odd decision from the band, and the lacklustre vocal melodies do little to compensate. It’s a shame, as it rather curtails the attempts by the otherwise respectable title track to establish some early momentum on the record.

Beyond this first song, the cleans remain an infrequent feature, at least in a leading role; when they do appear, such as briefly in “Dead World Beyond” and “Dagon”, they’re a bit more convincing than on “Save Our Souls”, but still don’t add much to proceedings. Considering how well For I Am King pulled off a record in the same subgenre with exclusively harsh vocals, one wonders if Sujin would be better served by taking the same approach (or at the least keeping the cleans firmly as a backing element adding texture to the mix, as on “Wasted Progress”) and instead letting the instruments carry the melody. When they bring melodeath and metalcore together on a song such as “Ashes From The Abyss”, where metalcore chugs and breakdowns are paired with tasty melodic guitar leads and solos, it sounds more natural and does a good job of getting listeners on board.

When Sujin are on form, they’re fairly accomplished at what they do. The odd song on Save Our Souls comes and goes without making much of an impact, such as the dry chugger “Throne Of Chaos”, but the highlights are firmly with merit. “Scavengers” is a lively romp, driven by meaty grooves but with nice guitar textures in the chorus (not to mention some startling ultra-deep growls and whale-like sounds in its bridge), while “Insanity” plays around with rhythm a bit more than most of the other songs, to good effect. Everything is capped off quite nicely by “Winter Breeze”, which features some very pleasant guitar leads and solos.

Sujin have already advanced considerably from their Whisper Night days with Save Our Souls; however, they’re not yet the complete package. Any future attempts to incorporate clean sung choruses will need some work with the planning and execution, and if they’re to compete with more renowned names in the genre, the songwriting needs to either become a tad more original or produce more standout heavy-hitting tracks. Still, if they continue on their current trajectory, there’s every chance that they could make that next jump up in quality.