Album Review: Sijjin - Helljjin Combat
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Sijjin are new to me. But they have been gathering wider attention as of late, especially considering how social media has been all over this upcoming release. Formed in 2019, with members arrayed across Germany and Spain, the band’s name is derived from a prison or torturous restraint found within the depths of Islamic hell. A Demo was released the same year and by 2021 Sijjin were already signed on to Sepulchral Voice Records in time for their first studio album, Sumerian Promises, to see the light of day. It’s been four years and now Sijjin return once more for their second album, continuing their partnership with their record label to release Helljjin Combat due out April 25th. I’m curious about Sijjin for whilst they’re a death/thrash metal act they’re still this interesting hybrid who are thoroughly dissimilar to many acts of their kind. I thus went into Helljjin Combat with equal measures of fascination and hype.
Against the utter myriad of thrash metal records we’ve heard already this year, and shall yet receive, you’ll likely find their own mixes will keep all the vocal and instrumental elements tightly bound together, hardly allowing any room for movement. That’s where Sijjin differ; the mix here has granted the band to play cohesively together but it never feels like the band have been unnecessarily forced into some overtly compact space. It sounds as if the band has been given a tremendous space to work with yet their individual performances have still been strung together to establish that collective assault so vital to extreme metal. Although each member of the band feels spread out from the others, their impact is just as prominent; Helljjin Combat’s mix is rather loose and isn’t looking to bind everything together so completely that it threatens to suffocate the band. By doing so it ensures we the audience can’t too constrained either, establishing Sijjin as a name we can rely on for a thoroughly ferocious experience minus the additional weight on the senses. As a result the band are free to go utterly rampant and thrash out some deliciously ripping riffs and solos without worrying about their audience’s attention waning since we’ve been given free rein to be at ease. This record doesn’t demand anything from you except the request to join it for the ride ahead.
This is aided also by the light guitar tone applied to the album. I felt an acutely blackened quality implemented within whereby Sijjin aren’t merely playing with their fists clenched, but with razor blades hidden between their knuckles too. Now, given that some tracks are longer than others, their songwriting changes things up periodically, however the band make themselves clear that speed and ferocity is the name of the game with their performance. Therefore as their riffs continuously pick and maintain wilder tempos, their impact is more akin to industrialised slicing and carving as opposed to simply bludgeoning alone could achieve. As riffs and chords are strummed their resonance doesn’t linger and thus the band don’t have the option of a bulldozing, rolling momentum other acts take advantage of, Sijjin’s attack is instead characterised by rapid-fire strikes that succeed one after the other and due to the lighter tone utilised we get songwriting that cannot sit still. But the easier guitar tone also polishes their riffs since messier, more bombastic timbre simply isn’t included. It means that every hit the band want you to feel you’ll receive exactly as they intended.
Extreme metal can be particularly unforgiving, but we come to yearning for that unmerciful release. It’s the half the reason therefore why I appreciate the vocals applied herein. Too often on these kinds of records you get vocal deliveries that come barrelling down on you or looking to leap down your own throat, whereas Sijjin’s own vocals are more median in projection and whilst there’s an obvious snarl latched onto the delivery it’s not something those unused to such a performance will wince from. In truth, with the songwriting and mix taken into consideration too, it makes for an oddly relaxing thrash experience since even with the volume cranked to the apex Sijjin aren’t actively looking to destroy you. Vocally the band remind me of what Abbath has done throughout his own solo work, where the vocals possess a cadence that’s much steadier than most deliveries. What does in turn is slow the rest of the band down, including the drums, since the vocals, evidently a key factor in Sijjin’s record here, regulate the band’s tempo even as the faster riffs and blast beats assail us. In doing so, the record slows down the rate by which we interpret their performance too for it lets us really breathe and absorb all the smaller minutiae Sijjin inject here. Many may come away from Helljjin Combat many degrees more satisfied than they would with more breakneck releases.
Sijjin are the kind of band where they’re constantly asking us: What’s the rush? Do you have somewhere to be? Their songwriting suggests they don’t, for though they play with speed and have a number of lengthier tracks the band are hardly rushing us from one track to the next in excitement of what they’ve prepared. Every track Sijjin unveil to you feels like an event due to how much care and writing seems to have gone into them. There’s hardly a single track here where the band are solely committed evisceration alone; there’s often something unique in tempo or development they’ll throw your way and it’ll likely raise your eyebrows since they will just forgo aggression entirely for something more cerebral. They may also slow their riff sequences down too whilst retaining this gradual pace the track is moving with, revealing licks and glorious solos with more abundant light than if they had just raced past them with total abandon. Its as if Sijjin give you a magnification glass to view their record with instead of simply slamming it right in your face, enabling greater appreciation of what they’ve put together.
In conclusion, Sijjin’s second album is an eye-opening work of thrash/death metal primarily because it really respects the attention that you’re putting towards it. Helljjin Combat might be nearly fifty minutes long, and its songwriting might not be as rapidly-paced as other thrash acts will be, yet the record never outright feels that long owing to the enjoyment one will get out of this record. Where bands will often race you by each track in some blistering spree, Sijjin slow the performance right down and really allow you to stew within the vortex of their creation. To the band, thrash is a long-distance marathon, not a race, and should we be moved too quickly too soon we will inevitably lose steam far faster than the band mean us to. Its why their steadier, in-the-moment approach to songwriting feels so rewarding when they’re arguably not implementing anything extra than other bands would. Pick any track and it’ll feel preciously crafted and sculptured for your entertainment, where every turn or new development feels all the more deliberate because the band slow down the pace enough for you to take especial notice of it. Its why Helljjin Combat comes off as so rewarding, there feels to be far more to be discovered and appreciated within since Sijjin took the steps to show exactly how much was waiting for us. In truth this was a great experience and it’s the kind of album where you can easily go about your day all the while this record plays on and still come away aspiring for that second or third repeated listen. This is certainly a band to watch out for.
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