Review: Sigh ‘Goh-Ka’
Goh-Ka is the latest full-length from Japanese avant-garde legends Sigh. Following on from 2022’s Shiki, this is yet another very personal album for main man Mirai Kawashima. Beginning life as a black metal act back in the early 1990s, they have developed their sound over the decades and are not easy to pigeonhole as they continually evolve.
The album finds them parking close to the progressive metal ballpark via traditional Japanese instrumentation, a pinch of Sabbath-style riffage, and so much more. This opus finds them taking inspiration from Kuso-zu – a series of Buddhist paintings depicting the nine stages of the decomposition of the human body after death.
Track one, titled Kuso-shi 1, 2, and 3, is a nine-minute banger that shows you everything you need to know about modern Sigh in one song. Starting and finishing with an ‘80s sci-fi/horror soundtrack feel – all Neo-Tokyo stuff – we get traditional Japanese instrumental breaks, including flutes, beautiful piano parts, and melodic, proggy guitar riffs. There’s even a cool guitar solo alongside classic Sigh vocals, all sung in Japanese.
Jigoku-Zoshi 1: Unkamusho is a brisk, four-minute, no-nonsense, fast and blasty metal track with lots of technical guitar wankery included. Next up, we get Anzenshokon, a six-and-a-half-minute epic clash of traditional and modern sounds featuring multilayered harmonies, great bongo work, mid-paced chuggy riffs, and a guitar and flute solo.
This is simply sublime and everything progressive metal should be…
Back to Kuso-shi, this time with parts 4, 5 & 6 featuring more proggy goodness with an ominous tone. A minute-long electronic interlude called Shoho follows before Unputenpu – the most upbeat track on the album – greets us with its great, catchy keys and an immense guitar solo from the legend that is Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth.
Jinmenjushinstarts with more traditional Japanese stringed instrumentation—possibly a shamisen—then morphs into a fast, prog rock stomper with loads of keys and a Hammond organ solo. Jigoku-Zoshi 2: Tokatsujigoku brings back the fast, blasty side of Sigh, chaotic with vocals laced with, ahem, Venom. There’s a change of pace with Kushukankyo: two minutes of chilled acoustic guitars with pan pipes that feel straight from a movie soundtrack.
The record finishes with the last three parts 7, 8 & 9 of Kuso-shi. Starting with a few minutes of sci-fi effects, lots of water dripping, and abrasive digital sonics with alarms echoing in the background, over ten minutes follow of stunning soundscapes. It flows from heavy riffs to breakdowns with beautiful piano pieces and some off-kilter, Voivod-style guitar riffage. This is simply sublime and everything progressive metal should be. The album finishes with Mettaijakujo, which incorporates audio clips of nature that (possibly?) signify when the body fully decomposes and becomes one with the earth.
I must admit, I was a huge fan of Shiki, and I gave it a few spins before listening to this album. I honestly think Goh-Ka is a better, more complete listening experience. It’s even more diverse, and like all the best albums, it gets better with every spin, and you hear something new each time. Sigh are still relevant and still feels fresh. I’ll be grabbing a copy of this on vinyl – this review is written from listening to MP3s – as I think it will sound superb cranked up loud on a decent stereo.
Label: Peaceville Records
Band Links: Facebook | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: John McMeiken
