ADifferentShadeOfBlackMetalZine: Sigh

Showing posts with label Sigh. Show all posts

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Sigh/Infidel Art/Cacophonous/2016 CD Re-Issue Review

Sigh are a band from Japan that has albums reviewed by this zine and played an avant garde form of black metal on this release and this is a review of their 1995 album "Infidel Art" which will be re-issued in November by Cacophonous.

Heavy guitars start off the album along with some 80's metal style guitar leads and a few seconds later black metal screams become a part of the recording along with the riffs using a great amount of melody and the solos are also very melodic at times and when the music speeds up a decent amount of blast beats can be heard.

All of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and the keyboards also gives the songs more of a symphonic and progressive feeling along with touches of classical and when clean vocals are utilized they give the music more of an operatic feeling and a great portion of t he tracks are very long and epic in length.

All of the songs also get very experimental and avant garde at times and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and the culture and music of Japan is also a very huge influence on the recording and on tracks brings in acoustic guitars and the bonus tracks are original versions of a couple of songs that appeared on the original version of the album..

Sigh played a style of black metal on this recording that was very original, experimental, avant g arde and symphonic for its era and also helped influence a lot of later bands with this album, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover Shinto Mythology, Occultism, Suffering, Insanity and Death themes.

In my opinion this was a very great sounding recording from Sigh and if you are a fan of the avant garde and symphonic styles of black metal, you should check out this re-issue. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Izuna" "The Last Elegy" and "Beyond Creatures". 8 out of 10.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Sigh/Graveward/Candlelight Records/2015 CD Review

Sigh are a band from Japan that has been featured before in this zine and plays a very symphonic, experimental and avant garde from of black metal and this is a review of their 2015 album "Graveward" which will be released in May by Candlelight Records.

A melodic guitar lead which also dominates throughout the album and symphonic sounds start off the album along with the guitars using a lot of old school metal riffs and after awhile high pitched black metal screams and deep growls are added onto the recording and you can also hear a decent amount of clean singing vocals in certain sections of the recording.

At times the music can be very avant garde and experimental and the songs also mix in a lot of traditional Japanese music elements in with the heavier parts and there is also a good mixture of both male and female choir vocals present throughout the recording and at times both the solos and synths bring in a heavy influence of 70's psychedelic and progressive rock and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them.

As the album progresses Japanese folk instruments can be heard at times and some of the later tracks also bring in spoken word parts along with an influence of noise music being brought in at times and the heavy parts also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with a decent amount of blast beats and thrash influences while the saxophones enhances the avant garde side of the bands musical style and they also bring in a couple of tracks that are very long and epic in length.

Sigh creates another album that is still very heavily rooted in black metal but just like with previous efforts the music also remains avant, garde, symphonic and original sounding while the band has gotten back a lot of their heaviness over the years, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover horror movie themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Sigh and if you are a fan of this band, you should enjoy this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Graveward" "The Molesters Of My Soul" "The Casket Burner" and "Dwellers In Dream". 8 out of 10.

http://www.earsplitcompound.com/site/2015/04/17/sigh-legendary-japanese-avant-extreme-metal-quintet-to-release-tenth-studio-album-via-candlelight-next-month-new-tunes-posted/

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Sigh/In Somniphobia/Candlelight Records/2012 CD Review

Sigh are a band from Japan that has one of their older albums reviewed before by this zine that plays a very symphonic and experimental form of black metal and this is a review of their 2012 album "In Somiphobia" which will be released by Candlelight Records.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast playing with some blast beats being thrown in at times as well as some tribal sounding percussion, while the keyboards bring a very symphonic, experimental and psychedelic feeling to the music mixed in with some violins and saxophones that bring out the Japenese culture in addition there are some avant garde noise effects, as for the bass playing it has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that is coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast melodic sounding black metal riffs that utilize a lot of influences from thrash as well as a variety of many different musical styles, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding guitar solos and leads that do not stick to one genre and you can hear the influences from their own culture.

Vocals are a mixture of black metal screams, deep growls and clean singing male and female vocals with a brief spoken word part being utilized on one song, while the lyrics cover dark themes, as for the production it has a very strong, powerful, heavy and professional sound to it.

In my opinion this is another great album from Sigh and if you are a fan of this band you should enjoy this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Purgatorium" "The Transfiguration Fear Lucid Nightmares" "Far Beneath The In-Between" and "Amongst The Phantoms Of Abandoned Tumbrils". RECOMMENDED BUY.

https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2012/02/14/join-sigh-far-beneath-the-in-between/

Friday, June 11, 2010

Sigh/Ghastly Funeral Theatre/Cacophonous Records/1997 CD Review

Sigh are an avant garde symphonic black metal band from Japan and this is a review of their classic 1997 album "Ghastly Funeral Theatre" which was released by Cacophonous Records.

Drums are mostly mid paced beats throughout the album with no fast playing or brutal blast beats, there is a small amount of saxophone on this album and the orchestra on this recording sounds very symphonic and avant garde with influences from 70's progressive rock, as for the bass playing it follows the riffs that are coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars are a mixture between fast riffing mixed in with a small amount of black metal riffing that contains a lot of melody, while the lead guitars are very melodic and bring in a lot of 70's rock into the guitar solo's.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams with some deep growls mixed in with some clean singing male and female vocals, while the lyrics touch on the darker side of Shintoism which is an ancient Japanese religion,

In my opinion Sigh are a very talented band and this was one of their best albums, if you are a fan of symphonic/avant garde black metal chances are that you have already heard this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Doman Seman" and "Shikigami". RECOMMENDED BUY.