Sigh still has that unholy fire.
For this fourteenth album, titled Goh-ka, Mirai Kawashima (vocals, Cut Throat, ex-Necrophagia), Dr. Mikannibal (vocals/saxophone), and Nozomu Wakai (guitar, Ashrain, Destinia) have enlisted Frédéric Leclercq (bass, Kreator, Loudblast, Sinsaenum…) and Mike Heller (drums, Black Hole Deity, Malignancy, Raven, ex-Fear Factory…), as well as label Peaceville Records.
The album opens with the highly unusual Kuso-shi 1, 2, and 3, a composition that takes us on a journey through unsettling electronic sounds and elements of Japanese folk music, but which gradually grows darker, particularly when the visceral vocals kick in. There’s however an intoxicating diversity to the track that makes it so unique and unpredictable; then the band really lets loose as they transition into Jigoku-Zoshi 1: Unkamusho, a much more aggressive track with a Black Metal-oriented rhythm section, while incorporating highly melodic Heavy Metal touches in the lead guitar parts. The break provides a moment of respite before returning to that Old School fury, then moving on to Anzenshokon’s soothing introduction, a track that starts out fairly minimalist but becomes far more theatrical and imposing when the distortion resurfaces, once again ensuring a perfectly balanced duality and using its length to prolong both facets. The ceremonial final leads us to Kuso-shi 4, 5, and 6, which in turn adopts a rather heavy, almost solemn tone while allowing itself to navigate between different musical roots, letting Mirai scream from time to time or weaving in a few ethereal choruses between two mesmerizing riffs. Horror-movie-style anxiety sets in with Shoso, a sinister interlude lasting just under a minute, but Unputenpu quickly takes over to offer us much more infectious tones, drawing on Costin Chioreanu’s style for a gloomy visual animation that perfectly complements the band’s musical experimentation. It’s back to calm, but also to darkness with Jinmenjushin, which blends noise elements and Folk influences before the first riffs kick in, followed by a series of successive accelerations that skillfully set the track’s rhythm and even create some highly unifying passages alongside others that are much more subdued, such as the one leading into the infernal Jigoku-Zoshi 2: Tokatsujigoku. Once again, you have to hang in there to weather the band’s onslaught, deeply rooted in devastating Black Metal made up of growls and blast beats, but the track is unfortunately a bit short, quickly giving way to Kushukankyo and its dreamy tranquility. After this interlude, we return to the anxiety of Kuso-shi 7, a Noise Rock track that’s also quite fast, and then the album concludes with the very long Kuso-shi 8 and 9 / Mettaijakujo, the final composition featuring retro-futuristic keyboards complemented by uneven, jerky, and at times very heavy riffing, as well as those diverse Sigh-characteristic vocal interventions which can shift from screams to unsettling choruses in the blink of an eye, or even to death rattles before the noise-oriented tones return, leading into a much more soothing final.
Very difficult to approach but incredibly rich, Goh-ka isn’t just another Sigh album; it’s a true as chaotic as saturated interpretation of Kuso-zu, the nine stages of decomposition according to Buddhism. It’s violent, it’s macabre, and at times it’s even hard to stomach, but the experience is simply mind-blowing.
90/100
A few questions to Sigh’s thinking head, Mirai Kawashima, about the release of the band’s fourteenth album, Goh-ka.
Hello Mirai, and thank you very much for taking the time to talk with me. How do you feel?
Mirai Kawashima (vocals): Very welcome. Well, actually I’ve just come back from the US tour, so I feel pretty much tired, but it’s okay.
So first question, how would you describe Sigh‘s music without using any Metal subgenre like Avant-Garde Metal, Black Metal, or stuff?
Mirai: I think that the biggest, the most important thing about Sigh’s music is the contrast between beauty and ugliness. So it’s always about the contrast. Contrast is the most important thing in our music, so I guess it is something like a mixture of ugliness… ugliness and beast, ugliness and beautiness. That’s probably the best way to describe what we are doing in a very, very simple word, I guess.
That’s really interesting to me. Back in time, the band was first named Ultra Death, then quickly changed for Sigh. What did motivate the change and how do you still link the name Sigh to the music you play now?
Mirai: Well, because you know, Ultra Death was almost a fun band. We just played cover songs from bands like Whiplash, Death, Darkthrone, Napalm Death. We were just a cover band, but we changed the name because we started writing our original songs, and again the band’s name Sigh is about the contrast because Sigh means a lot of things. This can describe something beautiful and at the same time this can describe something very scary. You breathe like a breath of relief. So yeah, this means a lot. So the word Sigh is very close to the music we are playing. I guess that’s why we chose the word Sigh for the new name when we started writing our original songs in 1990.
Sigh will soon release its 14th album named Goh-ka. How do you feel about the album?
Mirai: Well, it’s basically a musical and lyrical continuation from Shiki, released in 2022. So it’s… I can say it’s a mixture of what I love, Thrash Metal from the 1980s and Japanese traditional stuff and horror movies and some 1960s and 1970s Prog Rock stuff was added as a spice on top of that, so I think it got everything I have been loving for the past 40 years or something, so I can’t say it is a very, very personal album again, so I am not sure how it will sound to the fans, but this is something I wanted to create. This is something I wanted to listen to, myself.
The word Goh-ka has three meanings: “infernal fire scorching sinners”, “a huge fire that burns down the world at the end of time” and “karma”. How do you link the three meanings to the album concept?
Mirai: The biggest one is “the infernal fire burning the sinners”, because two of the songs, the song number 2 (Jigoku-Zoshi 1: Unkamusho) and the song number 8 (Jigoku-Zoshi 2: Tokatsujigoku) are based on the Buddhism hell paintings, which shows how sinners are burned in hell. And also the album title had to start with G because we have the “SIGH” cycle. So that’s why I chose Goh-ka as the title because it is linked to two of the songs’ themes.
How would you sum Goh-ka identity in only 3 words?
Mirai: I don’t know, only 3 words… It’s difficult…
You can add another one if you want.
Mirai: Wow, that’s a difficult one. It’s “the music about myself”.
That really fits!
Mirai: Yeah, I guess so!
Goh-ka is released only one year after the previous one, which was the reinterpretation of Hangman’s Hymn. How does it feel composing something new instead of reworking old stuff?
Mirai: You know, the Hangman’s Hymn re-recording, it was just a re-recording, so I didn’t have to write any new songs. Of course, I changed some arrangements, just a little bit, but basically the songs stayed the same, so I didn’t have to write anything new. So it’s a totally different procedure. So writing new songs is totally different from re-recording something old. But re-recording Hangman’s Hymn affected Goh-ka a little bit, because on the last album Shiki, I didn’t use any orchestration, symphonic arrangement because I didn’t like the album Graveward, which has a lot of orchestration. So after that I tried to avoid the symphonic elements. So the albums Heir to Despair and Shiki didn’t have any orchestral arrangement, but after I did Hangman’s Hymn’s re-recording, I thought about bringing it back a little bit. So that’s why Goh-ka had some orchestra stuff. So I think that is one of the biggest differences between Shiki and Goh-ka, I guess.
So maybe you noticed some changes into the composition process?
Mirai: Yeah, because when I wrote the songs for Shiki, I didn’t know Mike Heller or Fred Leclerc would play drums and bass, so because back then, I was planning to work with the Sigh members, but the lineup changed. But when I wrote the songs for Goh-ka, I knew Mike would play the drums and Fred would play the bass, so the way to compose the songs were a little bit different because having those super musicians in mind, I didn’t have to set any limitation because they can play anything and I know they will add something fresh and new to my songs. So in that sense it was easier for me to write the songs for Goh-ka.
Sigh definitely stays true to its sound, melting Avant-Garde elements, Black Metal, Thrash, you also said Prog stuff. Maybe you are inspired by something new nowadays?
Mirai: Yeah, I can probably say the Japanese traditional stuff, the Japanese traditional music. I wasn’t into that kind of stuff when I was younger, but as I got older, I started liking the Japanese traditional singing and traditional instruments, so I started learning some. Japanese instruments like shakuhachi or koto. So yeah, that is totally new to size stuff because in the early days I didn’t want to take in the Japanese elements musically on purpose, but nowadays I don’t have any hesitation to do it. So I think that is the biggest difference, and those are the new elements inside the music, I guess.
As we mentioned earlier, the album is about, Kuso-zu, a series of Buddhist paintings or illustrations depicting the nine stages of a human body’s decomposition after death. How do you approach working on this theme?
Mirai: Well, at first I was planning to write like a 30 minute long song depicting 9 scenes, but when the first song reached 10 minutes, it was obvious the song was done. It didn’t require anything more. So instead, I wrote 4 songs, whose themes are about Kuso-zu, so I put it in from of the songs 1 (Kuso-shi 1, 2, and 3), 4 (Kuso-shi 4, 5, and 6), 10 (Kuso-shi 7) and 11 (Kuso-shi 8 and 9 / Mettaijakujo), I guess. So yeah, because, Kuso-zu is the essence of Buddhism, which is namely “nothing lasts forever, so you should not stick to anything including your own life”. So I just wanted to express my view on life and death through the lens of Buddhism, and I wrote all those four songs too, but it is not a message or anything, it is just my naked feeling, just to express how I feel, you know, now I’m 56 and death is getting closer and closer. I have been writing about death since when I was 20 or 30, and of course I could have died at the age of 20, but uh that was just a fantasy back then. But now it is not fantasy anymore, you could die even today for real. So I just wanted to express my fear of death through the Buddhism art, that’s what Goh-ka is about.
Maybe you have a favorite song on Goh-ka?
Mirai: I think that personally the song number 4 (Kuso-shi 4, 5, and 6) is the best. I don’t know how fans will feel because, every time, my favorite is different from fans’ favorite, but at the moment I think the song 4 is the best on the album.
And which song was the hardest one to complete?
Mirai: Well, the song 7 (Jinmenjushin). It was very, very hard. At first it was much, much shorter, but I felt something was missing and I kept adding a lot of elements to the song. It ended up in 6, 6.5 minutes long, but still I am not sure if that was the right answer. So the song number 7 is the hardest one, and still, I’m not sure if that was completed perfectly.
So maybe you think you improved yourself as a composer, musician, and vocalist with this new album?
Mirai: Yeah, I guess so. Because my vocal is much more emotional. It has a lot… I use a lot of different ways of singing based on some Japanese traditional singing rooted in Buddhism things, and of course as a composer, I think I grew up a lot and I’m quite sure my composition is the best on Goh-ka for sure. So I can say I grew up as both a musician and as a vocalist, and composer and and as a person too, I guess.
Let’s talk about live shows now. How do you live a live show from your point of view? What happens inside of you and which mindset do you enter the stage?
Mirai: I’ll always try to make it as theatrical as possible. It’s “live” show, it’s not just about playing music, but we try to look very… we have our costume and the stage set has to be something that represents our music too, so yeah, it’s has to be very visual and of course the music itself is very important, so it’s got everything and when we can, we use fire and blood and everything, because I have been a huge fan of the bands like Kiss and Merciful Fate. The stage is always theatrical and it’s nothing more. It’s much more than just music, so we try to be. We try to do something very close to what they’re doing. I think our live shows are on YouTube, so if you want, you can check it out and you can come see us because we are touring Europe in September.
We will talk about the tour a bit later, no worries! So maybe you have some rituals or habits before or after the show?
Mirai: Actually no, because I know some bands do it, but I have been doing this for 35 years, so I don’t require anything like that anymore. I can get into my perfect mindset for live shows before the show anytime I want.
I was lucky enough to catch your performance in Paris back in 2023. The band was a three piece with you on bass and vocals, Nozomu Wakai on guitar, and drummer. Will you still play this configuration for the next European tour?
Mirai: Next European tour will be the full lineup. Because sometimes we tour as a trio too. This year we toured as a trio in July and did some shows in Europe, but we just played the old songs from the first few albums, from Scorn Defeat to Hail Horror Hail. So we will do that in the future too, but for September’s tour, it’s gonna be the full lineup.
So maybe there will be some Goh-ka song on the new setlist?
Mirai: Yeah, of course, because this is going to be the tour to support Goh-ka. So we will have some tracks from the new album for sure!
As you said, you will now tour with a full band, sometimes they include your son and your daughter. How do you build a stage presence and all the music with them on stage with you?
Mirai: We had to take them on tour because you know, when parents go on a tour, nobody will take care of them. So at first we were just taking them on tour, but someday they started saying “oh we want to be on the stage too” so we started having them on the stage. At first they were just holding a skull and doing nothing, but now they both are in a brass band and they play the trumpet and percussion and so now I think they can musically contribute on stage too, they can also do some other prop stuff like a smoking book and that kind of stuff, so I think they will do much more things in the future stages because they’re growing up and getting older and now they can take care of a lot more things than they used to be.
So for the next European tour, you will tour with the band Devil Master. Maybe you already knew them before they were announced?
Mirai: Yes. Their new album is coming out in September too, and I played the keyboard for one of the songs too. So I met them in the US last year when we played at Maryland Deathfest. So we have been in contact with them for a long time now. We have been talking about touring together for years now. So finally, it will come true. Their music was heavily influenced by Japanese culture too, so it’s like… I think the perfect combination to tour together.
That’s really great! So the last show of the tour is Paris again at the same place as you did before. Did you enjoy this place?
Mirai: Yeah, because I’m a lot into French culture too, so I even speak a little bit of French, and France is always a big inspiration to me too. So I love a lot of French composers like Dubusy or Olivier Messen and Eric Satie. Of course I love Gainsbourg. So yeah, I always love to visit France. France is one of my favorite countries for sure.
Maybe you know if you will have some free time to visit again?
Mirai: I hope so, yeah, I’d love to come to France and stay there for a few days. I haven’t done it so far, but I’d love to stay there for a while.
So what will come next for Sigh after the album release on the European tour?
Mirai: Well, I don’t know, there are some talks about touring worldwide, but I don’t know, for the time being, we have to support the new album. Then I have to think about what to do next.
This will be my last question and the most funny one: last time we talked, I asked you to compare Sigh’s music with a dish and your answer was “pasta, curry, or ramen”. Now my question is: is there a movie or a book you think would be similar to Sigh?
Mirai: It’s a difficult question, but my personal favorite is Italian cinema, zombie movies from the eighties, like in the Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento, and I love the composers like Fabio Frizzi and Goblin and those movies and soundtrack are big inspiration for Sigh. So probably I can say Beyond the Gates of Hell, it’s the best example. It shows what we are doing musically.
I’m a huge fan of horror movies too, so I agree. As I said, that was my last question, so once again, thank you very much and the last words for the interview are yours!
Mirai: Thank you very much for the interview, we are coming back to Europe in September, so if you are around, don’t miss it!
I will not miss it. Thank you very much, Arigato gozaimasu!