Sigh - Shiki (2022)^{Release ID: 39320}

*Sigh*... I would've dived into more of this band Sigh's over 3-decade 12-album career if I had more interest in avant-garde black metal with Japanese lyrics. With that said, their new album Shiki has given me great surprises. There are many meanings for the word "Shiki" and this album focuses on two of them; the Vivaldi/Wintersun-like motive of "4 seasons" and the DSBM-like attitude of "wanting to die". However, do they really follow those meanings? Let's find out...

The instrumentation really supports the album well, with guitars and bass by ex-DragonForce member Frédéric Leclercq and drumming by Fear Factory's Mike Heller. Longtime Sigh fans know the band's unpredictable weirdness, but some of them didn't expect the band to take a more serious Eastern progressive metal turn here.

A strange 15-second demon ritual-sounding intro "Kuroi Inori" (Black Prayer) starts the album similarly to the aforementioned DragonForce's debut Valley of the Damned. But in "Kuroi Kage" (Black Shadow), instead of speedy power metal, we have Celtic Frost vibes of slow black-doom-ish guitars with a psychedelic background. It's the soundtrack to a haunting nightmare! The insane high shrieks of vocalist Mirai are actually given more significance by the Japanese lyrics. It's not just slow gloom in this album though, as the black metal part of the sound crashes in "Shoujahitsumetsu" (Death of the Living), one of the fastest tracks of the album. There's also some classic metal influence, especially in the soloing, which is quite amazing, consider Leclercq's occasional soloing contributions to DragonForce.

"Shikabane" (Corpse) thunders through with powerful kick-A drumming. Check out "Satsui - Geshi No Ato" (Murderous Intent - After the Summer Solstice) for more of those thrashy drums and classic metal vibes, all that depart slightly from the avant-garde extreme metal of the earlier tracks. One track that's slightly laughable is "Fuyu ga Kuru" (Winter is Coming), and as if that title wasn't the tip-off, it seems too much like something worth appearing in an Eastern adaptation of the Game of Thrones soundtrack. "Shouku" (Community) is the closest we have to the bass and drums of the band's earlier black metal, while the guitar and background cleans add more melodic variety.

"Kuroi Kagami" (Black Mirror) is another ominous interlude. Then "Mayonaka No Kaii" (Midnight Mystery), despite reminding some of a weird Japanese Jethro Tull tribute at times, is an amazing highlight. Surprising turns in the instrumentation makes this an unforgettable wild ride. Did I mention the amount of surprises this band can pull? The oriental outro "Touji no Asa" (Morning at That Time) will keep you on your seat for what would come next in the future, if there are any more weirdly fun standouts to come...

So, did this band really worship Vivaldi, Wintersun, or DSBM? NOPE. Instead it's based on Japanese poem about Mirai's perilous journey from Autumn, through Winter, to Spring. Interesting concept, and very interesting album. Should there be an English translation though? I personally would hope so!

Favorites: "Kuroi Kage", "Shoujahitsumetsu", "Shikabane", "Shouku", "Mayonaka No Kaii"

I quite liked Sigh when they first hit the scene back in the 1990’s but when I returned to them following my decade-long absence from the metal scene I found that they’d gone way too far with the weirdness & albums like “Scenes From Hell” & “In Somniphobia” left me nothing short of repulsed. As a result, my expectations for their twelve full-length weren’t exactly high if I’m being completely honest but I’ve been left pleasantly surprised because last year’s “Shiki” has seen them dropping their avant-garde side for the most part, instead concentrating on a beautifully produced & well-composed progressive metal sound that's full of chunky riffs, blackened vocals & well integrated references to space rock & traditional Japanese music. The recruitment of session musicians guitarist/bassist Frédéric Leclercq (Dragonforce/Kreator/Loudblast) & drummer Mike Heller (Malignancy/Fear Factory/Raven) have proven to be very positive moves but unfortunately the Japanese-language black metal vocals are somewhat of a limiting factor here as I don’t think they’re powerful or professional enough to allow “Shiki” to reach the heights it was so clearly intended for. As usual I find myself being drawn to the album’s least popular tracks more than its obvious drawcards too with the three shorter intro/interlude/change-up tracks being the parts of the tracklisting that appeal to me the most (particularly the stunning space rock piece “Kuroi kagami”) but there aren’t any weak numbers included & I found “Shiki” to be an intriguing & generally rewarding experience that's probably the best material I've heard from Sigh.