RYOJI SHINOMOTO - Lake Bodom (Official Playthrough Video) | Napalm Records

RYOJI SHINOMOTO, of Japanese Samurai Metal unit Ryujin, will release solo covers album, Children of Bushido, on April 8,2025 – a love letter to the late Alexi Laiho/Children of Bodom’s distinct brand of death metal. Releasing on April 8, 2025!
Pre-order now: https://lnk.to/RyojiShinomoto-Childre...

Ryoji Shinomoto on Children of Bushido:
Alexi Laiho—an extraordinary rock star, guitar hero, and composer (Children Of Bodom, Bodom After Midnight)—passed away in 2020. His influence was immense, not just in the West but also in Japan. Anyone who sees me now as a lead guitarist and vocalist in a metal band can easily understand how much he impacted my musical journey.
Last year, when I released Raijin & Fujin with Matt from Trivium, I came across a comment on Napalm’s video calling it Children Of Bushido. That sparked an idea—what if I played COB’s music in RYUJIN’s signature Samurai Metal style?
I envisioned replacing the synthesizers with shamisen, koto, and traditional flutes, adding taiko drums to create an even more symphonic sound. I also thought about transforming the harmonic minor and pentatonic scales into unique Japanese scales, like Hira-choshi, which I often use in RYUJIN’s music.
The songs I chose for this album are the very same ones I played on stage as a student, long before RYUJIN—back when my band was still called GYZE, and even before that, when we were known as Suicide Heaven, performing as a COB cover band.
Alexi’s music continues to live on, even in Japan, far from Finland. Children Of Bushido is a testament to that.

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