Japanese band Sigh will release their eleventh studio album Heir to Despair on November 16 via Candlelight Records.
While the previous album Graveward (2015) was rather symphonic and orchestral, Heir to Despair is pointing in the completely opposite direction. Heir to Despair is a heavy, psychedelic, and exotic album filled with vintage keyboards and flute. It is heavily inspired by progressive bands like Brainticket, Embryo, Agitation Free, Between, Gentle Giant, Os Mutantes, Modulo 1000, and Black Widow.
With this album, the band depicts the world through the eyes of madness. Yes, the album is about insanity. Music throughout is varied as a mad man’s thoughts. It starts with the psychedelic and exotic “Aletheia” yet the following track “Homo Homini Lupus” is a rather straightforwardly thrashy song with the typical Sigh twist. “In Memories Delusional” is a brutal tune with heavy Asian touches, while “Heresy Trilogy” is a representation of pure madness. The album ends with the title track — a 10-minute long, progressive, and epic song.
Heir to Despair can be viewed as Sigh’s first attempt to intentionally take in a Japanese/Asian musical feel. Kawashima used some Japanese traditional singing techniques and Kevin Kmetz, formerly of Estradasphere and master of the traditional Japanese instrument, the shamisen, is featured on several tracks.
Moreover, 90 percent of the lyrics are in Japanese, which has never happened on previous Sigh albums.
The cover artwork, which exactly fits the concept of the album, was drawn by Eliran Kantor. Eliran did the artworks for the past Sigh albums such as Scenes from Hell (2010) and In Somniphobia (2012).
Kawashima adds, “I just suggested to Eliran that the album is about insanity and gave him some Japanese psychotropic drug advertisement from the ’60s and ’70s, which I love, to show him what kind of artwork I wanted. The result was perfect. The woman on the artwork looks ostensibly happy but the plant she’s watering is withering, and her room looks like a mess. This is what true insanity is about. This is what true horror is about. These days people are trying to pretend to be as happy as possible on SNS, but what kind of darkness do they have in their mind? You cannot draw the line between sanity and insanity anymore.”
Track list:
01 Aletheia
02 Homo Homini Lupus
03 Hunters Not Horned
04 In Memories Delusional
05 Heresy I Oblivium
06 Heresy II Acosmism
07 Heresy III Sub Specie Aeternitatis
08 Hands of the String Puller
09 Heir to Despair
SIGH IS:
Mirai Kawashima — Vocals, Flute, Piccolo, Keyboards, Guitar, Taishogoto
Dr. Mikannibal — Vocals, Alto Saxophone
You Oshima — Guitar
Satoshi Fujinami — Bass
Junichi Harashima — Drums
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/SIGH-official-page-227550909275/
https://www.facebook.com/candlelightrecords/
