Artist: Sigh
Label: Century Media
Release Date: 7/24/01
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Title: Imaginary Sonicscape Artist: Sigh Label: Century Media Release Date: 7/24/01 |
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Abyss's Review:
Do you find a lot of today's metal stagnant? Are you constantly searching for something new? Well, sigh no more, Sigh has been sig(h)ned to Century Media, and you may never look at metal the same way again. I actually heard of this band a long time ago, and had always been curious about them, but alas, I was never able to get my hands on a copy of any of their earlier works. From what I’ve read, this new album is quite unique from their earlier efforts, as it seems this is a band that thinks evolution is far too slow of a process, and as such they change their sound significantly from album to album.
Originally billed as a black metal band, they remain true to their roots in many ways, it’s just so hard to tell because of all of the other stuff either heaped atop, or stuffed into their Black base. It’s hard not to draw comparisons to Mr. Bungle here. While the sound of this band is completely different from Their Bungleness, the complete lack of structure and affinity for drastic dynamics is similar. Make no mistake, Mr. Bungle are impossible to copy, but it would also appear that Sigh are as well.
"Oops, actually I just pissed myself, but I still like this album a lot anyway. Hey, any album you soil yourself for must be damn good. Right? One word review: Killer." Everything about this album, from its conception to its outcome, is impressive. Jazz, Black, Thrash, Classical, Free-Form, you name it, it's all here in some form or another, and I feel stupid trying to convey in words what this music is. Seriously, remember when people first tried to describe what Disco Volante sounded like? I bet no matter how many ten-dollar words they used, you were still unprepared for what came out of your speakers. So is the case with Sigh.
Okay, so there’s a lot I don’t know. What I do know is that this album is awesome. I also know that the puny week I get before my deadline is not nearly sufficient time to fully wrap my head around this one.
Do you remember the first couple of songs off of Wake Up and Smell the Carcass (by Carcass, of course)? Remember that those songs were left over from the Swansong sessions (and each of those songs were better than almost everything on that album). Well the lead track here, “Corpsecry - Angelfall” reminds me of those songs and gives me a warm feeling all over… oops, actually I just pissed myself, but I still like this album a lot anyway. Hey, any album you soil yourself for must be damn good. Right? One word review: Killer.
Death's Review:
Cheech and Chong crossed with Star Trek crossed with Evil Dead crossed with Yellow Submarine performed by an all-Japanese cast on an acid binge bordering on burnout. How about Monster Magnet meets Anal Cunt meets Rammstein meets Kovenant meets Bongzilla meets Faith No More? Sigh are not for those who afraid of the experimental, that's for sure.
I like it, I respect that they're doing their own thing, and I'm glad that some of you out there in the heavy metal underground are really digging this band right now. I also think that while Sigh are experimental, they are experimental in the way that means long, extended television soundtrack-sounding passages and Moog organs over 4/4 beats which, in some songs ("Corpsecry... Angelfall"), never vary from the same simple midtempo, uninspired drumbeat which just goes on and on and on...
"Well, this isn't exactly a musicians' album: simple, repetitive riffs with simple, pointless melodies repeated over and over and over and over and over." I understand that there is something pretty neat about Japanese guys using psychedelic imagery and underground punk/hardcore bravado to further their insanely niche-oriented cause of blackened thrashers who worship at the altars of Satan, Mike Patton and John Zorn, in that order. What's not to like, right?
Well, this isn't exactly a musicians' album: simple, repetitive riffs with simple, pointless melodies repeated over and over and over and over and over. Sure, it's catchy, and if you like the idea of Cradle of Filth morphing with Rob Zombie, Nine Inch Nails, Fear Factory and Britney Spears, you'll enjoy the insanely catchy "Scarlet Dream," (but again, 4/4, simple guitar line, etc.), which is probably Sigh's most successful track. I like the Wish You Were Here feel to parts of "Neitzchean Conspiracy," but the balance of the track just sounds fucked up, out in left field, and definitely not anywhere near the fucking ass kicking I'm looking for from a heavy metal record, that's for sure. I don't want to come across as anti-intellectual, I just get bored with all this fucking around bullshit which is all over this record and the inclusion of which (along with the Moog sounds) goes a long way toward explaining why everyone thinks these guys are so god damned original and unique in the first place.
"I just get bored with all this fucking around bullshit... the inclusion of which goes a long way toward explaining why everyone thinks these guys are so god damned original and unique in the first place." If you're a Sigh fan and you're reading this review, you can tell I don't get it just by my having referred to anything on this record as "Sigh's most successful track." Wrong way to look at it, right? This is some tripped out, evil, stomping, fun, original, whacked shit. Yet it is also very much extreme metal: extreme metal meets Mr. Bungle. It's great to be different, and to bring different sounds and styles together. I just don't really like any of the sounds I hear here, either together or apart.
In the end, I don't really love or hate this shit. I know that, even the parts I do head bang to, I don't really get into that much, although I'm sure if I was hanging with you right now and we were partying and listening to Sigh and you were way into it and playing air shouting the lyrics along with the lyrics, trying to get me into it, I'd totally succumb and jam right along with you. But while I like parts, there is so much other bullshit strewn throughout the record (piano interludes, spaghetti western sounding stuff) that, in the end, I don't like them enough.
It comes down to the fact that, whatever the math on paper, musically, I am not enamored with this lo-fi, lo-energy hodgepodge of weird underground shit. This is adventurous stuff. Your friends will think you are cool and hip and underground and open-minded if you listen to it. I'd rather hear sick riffs and thrash around my apartment. I'd rather scream along with powerful lyrics as I walk through the streets of New York at 3 am listening to shit on my discman. This album just makes me wonder why I'm not cool enough to like it as much as I wanted to.
"I'm bored a good 50% of the record." I'm bored a good 50% of the record.
Hel's Review:
Favorite tracks: "A Sunset Son" and "Bring Back the Dead"
One thing I've noticed as a recurrent theme among musicians - they invariably are reluctant to describe their music. And the more complex the music is, the heavier the sigh they release as they begin to try. Sigh must emit one hell of one before their attempt commences. And god bless 'em - cause that's a hell of a task in this case. I like the imagery of the attempt made in their press release, and I feel the need to quote it: "So three Japanese thrash metal fiends eat some mushrooms (they're legal in Japan!) and head to the cinema to check out a cannibal-zombie flick featuring a score by John Zorn…Okay, so maybe that's not exactly the way it happened, but it might as well be a true story."
"It's, like, groovy, man, and totally metal too. "
I can't really explain this Sigh, and it's a lot more fun to listen to than trying&133 If I were to get imaginative, I could say that it's almost as if they pick a theme for each song, and go with it. In some ways, each song is radically different, yet at the same time, there are commonalities to be found in each. It's, like, groovy, man, and totally metal too. The two most recurrent roles seem to be the death metal vocal influence and the trippy-hippy keys. And even that's not particularly consistent.
"Experimental, psychedelic and heavy - that's the most explaining I'm going to do about Sigh. " What is consistent throughout this album is the outstanding ability of the musicians. As radical and bizarre as they decide to be, their skills are up to the task. And that makes it fun to listen to. This is certainly a serious work of musicianship presented in a not-so-serious fashion. Experimental, psychedelic and heavy - that's the most explaining I'm going to do about Sigh. If you have an open mind, a sense of adventure, a darkened room, and an hour or so to sit around and stare at the ceiling - go buy Sigh!
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