There are only a handful of bands who consistently release new material that makes me wonder what the fuck everyone else is doing, but Japan’s Sigh are high among them. The outfit’s mixture of black metal, psychedelic rock, and cinematic soundtrack music is always more compelling than 95% of the other stuff out there. So I’m excited to hear they have a new album on the way — and to listen to its first single, which is a whirling mindfuck of epic proportions.
Sigh’s new album Shiki will drop on Peaceville Records on August 26th. The album is available for preorder. The first single, “Mayonaka No Kaii,” was released via an animated video by the inimitable Costin Chioreanu, and sounds like a ’70s rock outfit and an extreme metal act having simultaneous seizures midway through a Battle of the Bands.
Says vocalist and keyboard player Mirai Kawashima:
“The song is kind of a culmination of what Sigh have been up to. Whistle scream, throat singing, Uriah Heep like vocal harmonies, vocoder, flute solo, shakuhachi solo, Hammond solo and the great guitar solo by Fred – it’s got everything! Although it’s only 5-minute long, it’s a very dramatic song with many aspects. The title stands for ‘a strange incident at midnight’, and it’s based on actual weird experience I had.
“Long story short, I experienced midnight twice in one night! You can read the details at the end of the video. We have been working with Costin for a long time, so we were 100% sure that he’d be the best guy to visualize my eerie experience, and how did it turn out? You all see for yourselves!”
Check out “Mayonaka No Kaii” below, and scroll down for the album’s tracklisting and cover.
Sigh’s Shiki:
1. Kuroi Inori
2. Kuroi Kage
3. Shoujahitsumetsu
4. Shikabane
5. Satsui – Geshi No Ato
6. Fuyu Ga Kuru
7. Shouku
8. Kuroi Kagami
9. Mayonaka No Kaii
10. Touji No Asa
