Volcandra and Saidan Battle for Godhood on May 20
By Scott “Mere Mortal” Belzer | May 16th, 2025
Classifications and metal go together like pizza and beer.
Nothing is ever just “metal,” the way things are just “punk” or “pop.” There’s always at least one death, black, stoner, doom, prog, tech, atmospheric, or avant-garde prefix to attach to the label—just to ensure you’re getting the right flavor. The spectrum is endless, and metalheads can be… picky. God forbid you’re an atmospheric avant-garde black metal band as opposed to a second wave black metal band.
And while this all seems like pointless naval gazing (it is), such nuances really help distinguish Kentucky maestros VOLCANDRA. These youngins can’t seem to help themselves from producing what some call blackened death metal or melodic death metal, but what I call atmospheric death metal. And no, I’m not talking about transporting listeners to a serial killer’s basement or the fields of war (some bands do that). I’m talking about evoking emotion through melody. I’m talking about creating an alien world with sound. I’m talking about taking time to build an epic fantasy landscape through tremolo picking, fat-as-Fat-Albert riffs, blast beats, vocal range and song structure that could rival those Canucks in Rush. Except, you know, death metal.
This may sound like Volcandra strays into noodling and wankery but rest assured friends, no member of this quintet overstay their welcome. The rhythms give way to leads, which welcome the bass, which helps guide the vocalist. Hell, even the drums even know how to properly showcase other elements of the band, opting for simpler beats when another instrument is hammering home Volcandra’s epic epicness. There’s an orchestration nerd in Volcandra, but damn, I’ll allow it. He’s doing a great job.
You’ll find all this and more on Volcandra’s latest album, 2024’s The Way of the Ancients, but I’m constantly revisiting the 2022 EP, Border World, because I’m a big EP guy and it’s just so well crafted. Volcandra crafts in under 20 minutes what many bands spend entire discographies only grasping at: world building, emotion, melody, and an overall experience that truly speaks to its listener. Take the trip, man. And if you enjoy it, good news, The Way of the Ancients is twice as long.
It only makes sense that Volcandra is sharing the stage with a band like SAIDAN for the Battle of the Gods Tour, soon to make its way to Boggs Social & Supply. Beautiful, brooding, atmospheric, and melodic-nearing-symphonic, I can only copy/paste what I wrote on my blog (did you know I have a blog? You do now) as part of my top 10 albums of the year for 2024:
Many metalheads classify black metal as either first/second wave (Bathory, Mayhem, Venom, Burzum, Immortal, Emperor, Satyricon, Gorgoroth, Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, and Mercyful Fate)… or simply non-existent. Which is a shame, considering the United States has been pumping out a lot of great melodic black metal over the past few years, with Nashville’s Saidan among them.
This album takes the term melodic to “near symphonic” or “triumphant,” with a heavy emphasis on emotional orchestration over sheer brutality. Each song is an engrossing journey that tugs at your heart strings while also providing pummeling blast beats, operatic tremolo picking and chord progressions, as well as high-pitched vocal stylings. For a lot of trve kvlt edgelords, this album may come off as a bit too catchy or accessible, as Saidan does waver into near-power-metal territory from time to time. But that’s half the appeal for me.
What separates Saidan is how expertly engaging each song is. It’s easy to recreate, worship, or revel in one genre’s distinct sound (especially black metal), it’s quite another to force it forward and make it evolve without sacrificing its essence.
For a band as young (or at least young-looking) as Saidan, they sure have the chops of a much more seasoned band. Their (seemingly) youthful vigor has led to three full-length rippers in the past four years that stay true to their own identity, with Visual Kill: The Blossoming of Psychotic Depravity standing as the most fully realized yet. The kids are indeed alright.
VOLCANDRA and SAIDAN are making their way to Boggs Social & Supply on Tuesday, May 20 with XENOBILE and ÜBERCHRIST opening things up. See you there!
-Scott Belzer