Reviews list for Saidan - Visual Kill: The Blossoming of Psychotic Depravity (2024)

I love this record here. I haven't looked into the guys behind this record too much, but on the surface this album comes off as over-the-top fun. Not to take away from the black metal vocals, but they flow so well with they melodic power guitars that still give off a black metal vibe while also sounding like an anime or video game soundtrack. I have kept coming back to this album multiple times and I just enjoy putting on almost any song and have a good time rocking out to this. It doesn't have the classic fuzzy guitars of classic black metal but it's still moody and foreboding. it's heavy as hell and just a good time, if you are not and old school black metal purist this is worth your time. Especially if you're trying to get into the genre at all this is it.

In a futile attempt to clean up my metal listening in 2024, December (and likely into January) is the month I will be bolstering the more extreme clans here at Metal Academy that I frequent the least (i.e. Fallen, Horde and North), so there are going to be a lot of short little blurbs about a handful of records I heard in 2024. Hopefully, I'll be able to do something a little bit more timely come 2025.

From Nashville, Saidan are making black metal that has ties classic heavy metal sounds with the catchy guitar riffs, complimented by visceral vocals, pummeling blast beats and a relentless energy. Visual Kill is a grandiose album, but gives the listener some breathing room with some post-rock interludes on "Switchblade Paradise" that sound amazing, The key is the tunefulness and I haven't heard a black metal album this tuneful since...probably Sojourner's Premonitions in 2020. Production wise, it is black metal so the treble in the guitars, shrieking vocals and the bell chime of the ride cymbal sound great, but a underwhelming low end means that the overall power feels restrained. Overall if you're looking for an album that is melodically epic as well as musically intense, Saidan might have what you're looking for.

Best Songs: Desecration of a Lustful Illusion, Switchblade Paradise, Veins of The Wicked, Visual Kill