Saidan unveil their most textured and thrilling album of gothic, melodic black metal on FANGDRILLER: Scars Beneath Memory’s Wrist.
Release date: June 19, 2026 | Avantgarde Music | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp
Enter once again, my friends, to a grim and melancholic world where internal emotional struggle is pitted against blood cults and vampiric dangers of lust, love, and longing where only staying true to yourself and your ambitions can lead to success. This is a world of black metal, yes, but we are swapping Eurocentric mythologies and devout connections to frost encumbered forests for Japanese-inspired adventure and a street punk attitude. This is the world of Saidan, a group I have been a fan of since hearing their 2022 LP, Onryō II: Her Sprit Eternal, a record I received as part of a series of donations after I tragically lost my record collection. I was naturally skeptical of the random records from bands I had never heard, but this one blew me away seconds after the wax hit the platter.
Saidan occupies an interesting niche in the black metal world. The raw black metal and often punked-up riffage that accompanies it is there, but there is a brightness to Saidan that aligns with contemporaries like Deafheaven, Bosse-de-Nage, and Agriculture, albeit without the shoegaze influence. The brutality mixed with black’n’roll that the Nashville duo brings is special, and across two full-length albums, they have formed a trilogy that not only sounds unlike anyone else, but also demands a high cost of entry for vinyl collectors on Discogs, indicating that Saidan‘s story of blood cults as gained a cvlt following. Now they conclude their concept arc with FANGDRILLER: Scars Beneath Memory’s Wrist.
“Razorblade Temptation” immediately launches into a triumphant guitar and synth lead that echoes battle-themed metal and dungeon synth as much as it could be an intro-riff to an anime. Splatterpvnk’s vocals sound as menacing as ever and Hundosai’s drumming wields blast beats and fills like a katana against an army of demons. The epic feeling of this track isn’t a one-off. Most of the album is an outrageously good time, despite lyrics that were inspired by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Splatterpvnk’s dealings with heartbreak and depression. The gothic, emotive lyrics and rollicking music contrast in a way that reminds me of My Chemical Romance‘s “Welcome To The Black Parade”. I know that could be a turn-off for black metal fans, but that song is like the pop-punk “Bohemian Rhapsody” where the high points come together in such a magically explosive catharsis that there are few other tracks in any genre that are comparable.
Again, nearly the whole album is like that. The tandem synth and guitar licks on “Immersed By Eternity’s Blade” feel like a MegaMan level soundtrack, granted Saidan employs enough dynamics to keep things interesting. There are slower moments here and there, like the somber ending to “Kara No Bara”, classic rock guitar solos, and a favoritism to filtered drum beats that remind me of Slipknot‘s first album at times. “Womb of Hatred” starts off this way, and true to the vile implications of the title, there is an utterly savage sounding verse. None of these comparisons should deceive you into thinking this isn’t black metal, but it is, like shockingly fun black metal in a way that makes me want to see it live and throw my aging body’s common sense to the wind to jump in the pit and fuck shit up.
The centerpiece of the album is “Stained Glass Sin//Fang Driller” which begins with a keyboard nocturne, slowing the pace of the album down momentarily, but the pay-off is the most complex interplay of guitar and synth on the record, like a Castlevania boss fight with the effects set to trve cvlt 11. The mid-point breakdown feels thrashy for a moment before Halloween sounds beckon the oncoming brutality that tapers off into a brief, pretty interlude before guitar heroics fly into the best solo I have heard this year. The heavy goth influence of the keys sounds incredible over the d-beat drum passages on “Ethereal Blood” sandwiched between one of the catchiest black metal choruses I have ever heard. The only song that lets off the gas is the closing track, “Mortuary”, which is a lo-fi acoustic ballad that leans into Saidan‘s emo influences the hardest, as if Davey Havok wrote a Dashboard Confessional song. It is an ambitious move, but it works as a touching coda to a run of three albums that consistently deliver a very specific brand of goth/punk/black metal entertainment.
FANGDRILLER: Scars Beneath Memory’s Wrist takes everything Saidan has done up until now and ramps it up into their most exciting and enjoyable album to date. Just like their previous work, I was left with a big dumb smile on my face, but their talent has grown. The execution is nearly flawless, as each track captures their specific sound and energy at every high point. The band is tighter and more technical than ever without losing their raw punk edge, and the combination of all of their elements delivers one of the most fun black metal records I have ever heard. Saidan are an underground powerhouse that need to be on your radar.
