Shiki

On their 12th album, Japanese black-metal experimentalists Sigh contemplate mortality. With assistance from vocalist/saxophonist Dr. Mikannibal, bassist Satoshi Fujinami, Kreator guitarist Frédéric Leclerc, and Fear Factory drummer Mike Heller—plus an array of traditional Japanese instruments—Sigh mastermind Mirai Kawashima faces down death on *Shiki*. “This turned out to be a heavy, dark, and very Japanese album,” Kawashima tells Apple Music. “As I wanted to express my fear of getting old and my fear of death as honestly and straightforwardly as possible, I had to use my own language instead of English this time. I always wonder what the point of making extreme music is when you are 50, but I believe this is an album only 50-year-old me could make—and this could be an answer to my own question.” Below, he describes each song. **“Kuroi Inori”** “An album intro that consists of only my voices. The title stands for ‘Black Prayer,’ and my voices are prayers in a fear of death.” **“Kuroi Kage”** “The title stands for ‘Black Shadow,’ which definitely implies death. This is the first track I wrote for the album. At first, I was thinking of making something in the vein of *Scorn Defeat*, and I guess this slow and heavy track has its remnants.” **“Shoujahitsumetsu”** “The title means ‘All the Living Must Die’ or something like that, which reflects a very Japanese/Asian/Buddhist view on life. Yes, I know, but still—I do not want to die. This is the fastest and the most straightforward song on the album.” **“Shikabane”** “The title simply means ‘A Corpse,’ and again, this is about how I am afraid of death. This is another very straightforward song with a strong Celtic Frost or Bathory feel. You can hear a great percussion solo by Mike Heller.” **“Satsui - Geshi No Ato”** “This one is a combination of two totally separate songs—the former means ‘Intent to Kill’ and the latter ‘After the Summer Solstice.’ ‘Satsui’ shows my personal view on the death penalty and ‘Geshi No Ato’ implies a fear of getting old. ‘Satsui’ is probably the catchiest number on the album, while ‘Geshi…’ is pretty much experimental, which means, musically, these two songs are poles apart too.” **“Fuyu Ga Kuru”** “The title stands for ‘Winter Comes.’ Now I am 52, and if a life had four seasons, I’d be in late autumn and winter is coming soon. There’d be no spring after that. Probably the weirdest song on the album, with lots of jazzy saxophones and flute on it.” **“Shouku”** “The title means ‘You Suffer Because You Live,’ which is a very Buddhist way of thinking. The song has a bit of a strange structure, and the second half is based on the rhythm Mike Heller came up with. The ending has a feel of Italian horror movies from the ’80s.” **“Kuroi Kagami”** “The title stands for ‘Black Mirror.’ This is an excerpt from a track which we decided not to use. It turned out that this part was cool enough to be included, though!” **“Mayonaka No Kaii”** “Definitely my favorite song on the album. It’s got everything from a cool guitar solo by Frédéric Leclercq to Hammond solo, flute solo, shakuhachi solo, vocoder, whistle scream, throat singing, and more. So many scenes are layered in this only five-and-a-half-minute song. The title means ‘A Strange Incident at Midnight,’ and this is based on an eerie experience I had to go through. The details are at the end of the video and in the booklet of the album.” **“Touji No Asa”** “This is our album outro, and it’s kind of a reprise of ‘Kuroi Inori.’ It ends with a high whistle played with an instrument named iwabue, which is just a small stone with a hole. The sound of the instrument represents the salvation of your soul.”

THE NEW STUDIO ALBUM FROM THE JAPANESE LEGENDS. AN OPUS OF DARK & ECLECTIC BLACKENED HEAVY METAL, SHROUDED IN TRADITIONAL EASTERN INFLUENCES Cult Japanese black metal legends Sigh formed in 1989/90, featuring mainman Mirai Kawashima, Satoshi Fujinami & Kazuki Ozeki. Following initial demos, Shinichi Ishikawa was brought in to replace Kazuki, and Sigh set about recording the masterpiece debut ‘Scorn Defeat’ for Euronymous’ Deathlike Silence Productions, going on to become one of the country’s greatest and most revered metal exports. With a journey through the strange and the psychedelic, incorporating a whole eclectic mix of genre styles & experimentation throughout their career, Sigh has remained a vital creative force in the avantgarde field whilst maintaining their old school roots. ‘Shiki’ marks the latest chapter in the Sigh legacy, and includes some of the band’s heaviest and darkest material for some years; a fine hybrid of at times primitive black metal akin to early influences such as Celtic Frost amid more epic melodic heavy metal riffing and solos. The album also utilises a whole host of instruments to give further texture and dynamics to the compositions and eerie atmosphere, incorporating traditional oriental instruments such as the Shakuhachi & Sinobue flutes. The word "Shiki" itself has various meanings in Japanese such as four seasons, time to die, conducting an orchestra, ceremony, motivation, colour. The two primary themes for the album are "four seasons" and "time to die". The concept and artwork is based around a traditional Japanese poem, and on ‘Shiki’ Mirai explores how at this stage of life he himself is going through Autumn, with Winter coming soon, and so empathises with the contrasting sentimental feelings from watching cherry blossoms (a symbol of spring) in full bloom. Joining Mirai and Dr Mikannibal for this release are Frédéric Leclercq of Kreator, plus US drummer extraordinaire, Mike Heller of Fear Factory, along with an appearance by longtime member Satoshi Fujinami on bass. ‘Shiki’ was recorded across multiple studios, and mixed and mastered by Lasse Lammert at LSD studios in Germany.

A confounding, psychedelic one-off in a world that often seems full of dreary, grey sheep, SIGH are one of those bands that can always be relied upon to release music that sounds absolutely nothing like anything else you might have heard lately. It was always the way, at least since the Japanese ban...

Rich Webb reviews the new album from the ever-evolving Japanese legends Sigh! Read the review of 'Shiki' here on Distorted Sound!

"Mirai and the gang are still showing off their ability to cohesively genre-slice vast combinations of influences."

Sigh - Shiki review: An unexpectedly steely shot in the arm from one of metal's staunchest oddballs