SIGH Prove Why They’re Still Japan’s Most Enticing Extreme Export On ‘Goh-Ka’
Japanese extreme metal band SIGH have released their 14th album, “Goh-Ka”, built around “Kuso-zu”, Buddhist paintings showing the stages of a body’s decomposition. The record extends the band’s long-standing mix of extreme metal, classical music and jazz, with compositions that shift across genres; it underlines why SIGH remain unusual in the Japanese metal scene.
Founding member Mirai Kawashima is joined by vocalist and saxophonist Dr. Mikannibal and guitarist Nozomu Wakai, with Frédéric Leclercq on bass and Mike Heller on drums. Kawashima says Heller had a major impact on the album, and describes its theme as reflecting the Buddhist idea that nothing lasts forever. Formed in 1990, SIGH are now 36 years into a career spanning black metal, classic metal and other styles.
- SIGH have released their 14th album, “Goh-Ka”.
- Its theme draws on Buddhist images of bodily decay.
- Guest drummer Mike Heller made a major impact.
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SIGH are a Japanese metal band formed in 1990 by founding member Mirai Kawashima. They began in black metal, a style known for harsh vocals and a deliberately raw sound, and have since drawn on classical music, jazz and other forms of metal.
Kawashima is joined by vocalist and saxophonist Dr. Mikannibal and guitarist Nozomu Wakai, alongside bassist Frédéric Leclercq and drummer Mike Heller. The band’s changing line-up and wide range of influences have made them an unusual presence in Japan’s metal scene.
The Buddhist paintings known as kusōzu depict a body’s decomposition after death. Their subject connects with the Buddhist idea that nothing lasts forever, a theme that gives context to the band’s use of these images.