There are not many bands that attempt to blend modern groove metal riffing with folky melodies, and even less that do it quite as successfully as Beijing-based Song of Chu. In fact, their debut album ‘Yan Huang‘ does so well at combining the contemporary and the traditional that it makes you wonder why this particular mix of styles isn’t far more common than it is. ‘Yan Huang’ is a dynamic set of powerful songs that has the potential to appeal to audiences far beyond Chinese borders, especially because Song of Chu transcends the novelty status of some other East Asian folk metal bands.

What makes ‘Yan Huang’ such a pleasant surprise to me above all is the fact that it manages to avoid all the pitfalls of the genres Song of Chu is tackling. Groove metal often consists of monotonous riffing and too much tough guy posturing in the vocal department. Starting with the latter, Hán Méng alternates his mid-range barks with a surprisingly rich baritone that can really carry a strong vocal melody. Guitarists Mèng Xiángwěi and Geir Nevjen, meanwhile, know when to put pulsating riffs front and center and when to pull back to let the traditional instruments take over.

On the other hand, the traditional melodies never go at the expense of the intensity of the metal side of the band. This could be because Chinese folk melodies lend themselves better to actual metallic arrangements than the loud drinking songs the lesser part of the European folk metal scene succumbs to, but that alone would undermine the creativity Song of Chu displays here. And the power of drummer Jiǎng Nà. ‘Yan Huang’ is a metal album first and foremost. The album really feels like the riffs were written together with the folky melodies and Yáng Tiānguāng’s keyboards rather than having the former adapted to the latter or vice versa.

Another reason why ‘Yan Huang’ is so good is simply because the level of songwriting is consistently high. ‘Xie Shien’ makes sense as an opening track, because it’s a relatively accessible track that features all of the elements that make Song of Chu’s sound, but really, every song is worth hearing. Hán Méng’s powerful vocal performance on ‘Liu Lang Sheng Si’ might just be my favorite on the album, while the slower ‘Teng Chao’ makes excellent use of space to create a dark atmosphere. ‘Yu Ren’ has an almost industrial undercurrent beneath its melancholic melodies, while ‘Hei Long Dao’ and ‘Kuang Lan’ are fairly simple, yet brutally effective.

If more modern metal albums sounded as good as ‘Yan Huang’, I would not be as critical of the current state of the metal scene as I am. Even sonically; Wáng Xiāobīng’s bass can be heard enhancing the riffs at all times. It’s unfortunate that this 2016 release is – as of yet – the band’s only album, but there are many bands that can only dream of releasing a debut album this good. Sometimes I wonder why there aren’t more bands that incorporate traditional East Asian melodies into their metal, and ‘Yan Huang’ is another piece of evidence that this combination of styles simply works.

Recommended tracks: ‘Xie Shien’, ‘Teng Chao’, ‘Liu Lang Sheng Si’