Japanese black metal legends Sigh have become synonymous with some of the most creative, eccentric, and truly avant-garde metal releases over their thirty-six years in existence, but according to band leader Mirai Kawashima, it never would’ve happened without help from halfway across the globe. After starting as a band playing Venom covers and then starting to create a brand of black metal inspired by the ‘80s thrash he loved, Mirai began sending demos to any record label he knew existed in the world. A copy of that demo would wind up in the hands of Euronymous, the now infamous and departed guitarist of Mayhem, after he found it amongst Dead’s possessions after the lead singer committed suicide in 1991. Scorn Defeat, Sigh’s 1993 debut album, would be released through Euronymous’ Deathlike Silence Productions a few months after his own demise after an well-documented encounter with Varg Vikernes, the culmination of many events that brought to metal world’s focus to Norway and the music of the second wave of black metal.
Without that tape being found at Dead’s place, Mirai says that Sigh would’ve just been another demo band and his life would look very different now. Their mythical status in the genre is a testament to Mirai’s willingness to push boundaries on what can be encompassed under the umbrella of metal. Incorporating instrumentation and sounds that are traditional in Japanese culture, alongside lyrical content echoing horror films and themes of death, has transformed Sigh from the more-traditional group you hear on Scorn Defeat to one of the most truly unique metal bands that are still active today. In recent years, the focus of Sigh’s music has become intensely personal, with Mirai’s lyrical content on both 2022’s Shiki and their newest record, Goh-Ka, focused intently on his own mortality. Due out on September 4th through Peaceville Records, Goh-ka’s artwork and themes are based largely on Kuso-zu, a series of Buddhist painting depicting the nine states of a human body’s decomposition through death to encourage meditation on the impermanence of life and the inevitability of death.
Ahead of the release of Goh-ka, I had a chance to speak with Mirai about this latest evolution of Sigh, along with a number of other topics, including:
- the multiple meanings of the album’s title and it’s relation to Shiki, explaining the concept of Kuso-zu and how it permeates throughout the album’s lyrics and artwork, and his original plan to write a long-form song related to Kuso-zu before deciding to break it up into pieces.
- the shift from using English as the primary language for vocals to his native Japanese, the lead single’s sinister lyrics, and how he finally got his long-time friend Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth to play on a Sigh song.
- how Frederic LeClercq from Kreator and Dragonforce fame came to contribute to the last two albums, where the band is pushing into new territory on Goh-ka, and the group’s recent appearance at Fire in the Mountains on their first U.S. tour in 18 years.
- the cultural significance behind Sigh’s stage show and how it was partly inspired by KISS and Mercyful Fate, the huge role Venom played for Mirai in his early years, and his experience performing with Mantas and Abaddon in Japan.
- the story behind Euronymous finding the original Sigh demo, being encouraged to burn churches by Varg Vikernes, reflections on how long Mirai will continue making music, and why 2030 might be the perfect year for Sigh to call it a day.
You can view the entire interview HERE:
Mirai was very gracious with his time and a pleasure to speak to about the evolution of Sigh and the history of the band. Though death has been a theme throughout the band’s career lyrically, it seems that after being at it for close to four decades has caused Sigh’s frontman to reflect even deeper about his mortality and it becomes more of a reality. Using music as his outlet, he has created another incredibly unique work of art where he pushes his band further into more creative and outlandish instrumentation that come together beautifully as something that can only be described as a Sigh album.
To preorder Sigh's Goh-ka, check out a number of bundle options at the link below.
