is a Japanese experimental metal band from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, formed in 1989. They gradually shifted from a traditional extreme metal sound to a more experimental,

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

style employing

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

, world music, and

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

elements. Their most recent album, ''Shiki'', was released in 2022.

History

Sigh was founded as a Nordic-influenced

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

band in 1989, with bassist/vocalist/keyboardist Mirai Kawashima, guitarist Satoshi Fujinami, and drummer Kazuki. The band has since experienced many lineup changes, but Kawashima and Fujinami remain in the band to the present day and each has played many different instruments. The band's first demos were recorded in 1990. Their first EP ''Requiem for the Fools'' attracted the attention of Norwegian black metal musician and producer

Euronymous Øystein Aarseth (; 22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the N ...

, who signed Sigh to his label

Deathlike Silence Records Deathlike Silence Productions (DSP) was a Norwegian independent record label founded in Oslo in 1987 (initially as Posercorpse Music) that focused on black metal. DSP supported the Early Norwegian black metal scene, black metal revival in the ea ...

. That label released Sigh's first full-length album '' Scorn Defeat'' in 1993, shortly after Euronymous's murder. The album has since been praised for its revolutionary combination of black metal with

elements. Deathlike Silence Records then ceased to exist and Sigh signed with Cacophonous Records, which released their next three albums. Those albums increasingly incorporated elements from classical and

music. In 1995 Sigh contributed to a

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

tribute album. After disputes with Cacophonous over promotion and album rights, the band eventually found a new home at

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...

. Their 2001 album with Century Media, ''

Imaginary Sonicscape ''Imaginary Sonicscape'' is the fifth studio album by Japanese black metal band Sigh, released on July 4, 2001. Produced by Sigh, it was the band's first record released on Century Media Records. The musical styles of ''Imaginary Sonicscape'' fur ...

'', was further praised for pioneering a new genre of surrealist black metal. Sigh later released albums under Candlelight/Baphomet Records and The End Records. Their 2007 song "Inked in Blood" from the album ''

Hangman's Hymn ''Hangman's Hymn: Musikalische Exequien'' is the seventh studio album by the Japanese heavy metal band Sigh. It is their first album for The End Records. Audio samples on The End website suggest Sigh have kept their clean vocals style as shown o ...

'' was named number 31 on

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

's list of the Top 21st Century Metal Songs. The band is featured in the 2008 documentary ''

Global Metal ''Global Metal'' is a 2007 documentary film directed by Scot McFadyen and Canadian anthropologist Sam Dunn. It is a follow-up to their successful 2005 documentary, '' Metal: A Headbanger's Journey''. The film's international premiere took place ...

''. By the end of that decade, the band's lineup solidified with the addition of drummer Junichi Harashima and saxophonist/backup singer Dr. Mikannibal (Mika Kawashima). Second guitarist You Oshima (formerly of Kadenzza) joined in 2014. In the 2010s, Sigh's albums continued to experiment with various genre elements, and increasingly turned toward progressive metal. Their eleventh full-length album, ''Heir to Despair'', was released in 2018 and was noted for its incorporation of instruments and compositional styles from traditional

Japanese music In Japan, music includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. The word for "music" in Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comfort). Japan is the world ...

. Band leader Mirai Kawashima learned to play flute for this album, and it also incorporates Middle Eastern and Central Asian sounds.

Members

;Current * Mirai Kawashima () –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s, sampling, programming,

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

(1989–present), woodwinds (2010–present),

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(1989–2004, 2022–present),

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(2004–present), orchestral arrangements (2007–present) * Dr. Mikannibal (Mika Kawashima, ) –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

, vocals (2007–present) * Nozomu Wakai (望若井) –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s (2022–present), * Satoshi Fujinami () – bass (2004–2021),

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(1992–2004, 2008, с2015), guitar (1989–1992, 2008, с 2015), ;Former * Kazuki Ozeki () – drums (1989) * Shinichi Ishikawa () – guitars (1992–2014) * You Oshima () – guitars (2014–2021) * Junichi Harashima () – drums (2004–2021)

Discography

The band's major releases follow an

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

pattern of the word "SIGH" repeated: ''Scorn Defeat'', ''Infidel Art'', ''Ghastly Funeral Theatre'', ''Hail Horror Hail'', and so on. ;Studio albums * '' Scorn Defeat'' () (1993) * '' Infidel Art'' () (1995) * ''

Hail Horror Hail ''Hail Horror Hail'' is the third studio album by the band Sigh. It was released by Cacophonous Records originally in 1997. The album is the band's first full-length release to feature an avant-garde/experimental sound not normally associated wi ...

'' () (1997) * '' Scenario IV: Dread Dreams'' (1999) * ''

'' () (2001) * '' Gallows Gallery'' (2005) * ''

'' () (2007) * '' Scenes from Hell'' (2010) * '' In Somniphobia'' (2012) * ''Graveward'' (2015) * ''Heir to Despair'' () (2018) * ''Shiki'' (2022) ;EPs * ''Requiem for Fools'' (1992) * ''

Ghastly Funeral Theatre ''Ghastly Funeral Theatre'' (Japanese 葬式劇場, ''Sōshiki gekijō'') is an EP by the band Sigh. ''Ghastly Funeral Theatre'' marked the beginning of Sigh's progressive and avant-garde experimentation prior to the release of ''Hail Horror Hai ...

'' () (1997) * ''A Tribute to Venom'' (2008) * ''The Curse of Izanagi 7"'' (2010) ;Demos * ''Desolation'' (1990) * ''Tragedies'' (1990)

History

Members

Discography

References

External links