Japanese horror‑inspired USBM entity Saidan has revealed details of its highly anticipated fourth album, FANGDRILLER: Scars Beneath Memory’s Wrist, set for release on 19 June via Avantgarde Music. To mark the announcement, the band has released the first single and accompanying video, “Kara no Bara.”
A prequel to 2023’s Visual Kill, FANGDRILLER follows the story of The Student (Junko) as she attempts to mend her fractured heart. Isolated, vulnerable, and haunted by a quiet ache, Junko becomes the ideal target for a mysterious cult known as Ethereal Blood — a force that twists longing into obsession and solitude into danger.
Vocalist and multi‑instrumentalist Splatterpvnk explains the emotional weight behind the new single: “‘Kara no Bara’, which translates to ‘Empty Rose’, highlights Junko’s struggles with isolation before her encounter with the cult Ethereal Blood. It also serves as a metaphorical reflection of my own battles with loneliness and depression.”
While lyrically steeped in themes of heartbreak, loss, depression, and emotional disintegration, the album’s sonic palette draws heavily from the lo‑fi aesthetics of classic Visual Kei and the gothic edge of black metal. Saidan aim to craft a sound that feels nostalgic for an era that never truly existed — a phantom memory of a musical past that haunts the present.
Expect blistering solos, deranged vocals, anthemic riffing, and diabolical drumming, all violently fused with shards of modern breakcore and wrapped in a black‑metal‑infused haze. The result is something both eerily familiar and boldly unique, a fever dream of styles stitched together into Saidan’s most ambitious work yet.
With FANGDRILLER, Saidan continue to expand their cinematic, horror‑driven universe — a place where emotional wounds become myth, loneliness becomes ritual, and memory cuts deeper than any blade. Link
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"Art isn't meant to always be pretty and make us feel comfortable and good about ourselves. I'm not afraid to broach difficult emotions and to express the beautiful ones too." - Martin Saint
"You know, the music and songs just come, and we don't distance ourselves from the music that comes out." - Jyrki 69
"This time we're trying not to complicate things too much. We want to have a simple message, but that doesn't mean there will be fewer arrangements or less songwriting..." - Pedro Paixão
"The whole thing for us with the lore we have created is inspired by Greek Mythology and the stories of Atlantis." - Phil Primmer
