is a Japanese

experimental metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

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 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 ''Scorn Defeat'' is the first full-length album by the Japanese black metal band Sigh, released in 1993 by Deathlike Silence Productions. It is the band's most traditional black metal album, taking on a formula lyrically compared to their Scan ...

'' 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'', was further praised for pioneering a new genre of surrealist black metal. Sigh later released albums under Candlelight/Baphomet Records and

The End Records The End Records is a record label in Manhattan that specializes in rock, heavy metal, indie, and electronic music. Early years (1998–2005) The End Records was founded by Andreas Katsambas in Pasadena, California, with the goal of helping ...

. Their 2007 song "Inked in Blood" from the album '' Hangman's Hymn'' 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 Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

. 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 Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

(2010–present), bass (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 * ''

'' () (1993) * '' Infidel Art'' () (1995) * '' Hail Horror Hail'' () (1997) * '' Scenario IV: Dread Dreams'' (1999) * '' Imaginary Sonicscape'' () (2001) * '' Gallows Gallery'' (2005) * '' Hangman's Hymn'' () (2007) * '' Scenes from Hell'' (2010) * '' In Somniphobia'' (2012) * ''Graveward'' (2015) * ''Heir to Despair'' () (2018) * ''Shiki'' (2022) ;EPs * ''Requiem for Fools'' (1992) * '' Ghastly Funeral Theatre'' () (1997) * ''A Tribute to Venom'' (2008) * ''The Curse of Izanagi 7"'' (2010) ;Demos * ''Desolation'' (1990) * ''Tragedies'' (1990)

History

Members

Discography

References

External links