Sigh - Insomniphobia

One thing’s certain about Sigh these days: They’re not a black metal band. Not that they were ever really a group even the most moronic fucktard would’ve even considered pigeonholing. But, seriously, ever since Imaginary Sonicscape it’s seemed like the moment you start to grasp what Sigh are doing musically in a song (or in a greater sense of the band’s history) they flip completely and you’re presented with a brand new amalgamation of musical styles to unravel. I certainly wasn’t expecting the shift to power metal on Gallows Gallery, although it was possibly more confounding how they managed to make a power metal album that I liked. Anyway, on In Somniphobia, Sigh have curbed a bit of the aggression that was displayed on the previous two full-lengths and gone back to the moog-wild madness we witnessed on Imaginary Sonicscape. There is a strong hint of the power/heavy metal that crept in with Gallows Gallery as well.

But, hell, that’s just the rawest basics. I feel it’s demeaning to do a track-by-track review of Sigh albums (or just in general, actually) because it spoils one of the band’s greatest assets: The fact that you never know what is coming next – the lucky dip factor. I will tell you though that influences here are as disparate as Darkthrone and Simon & Garfunkel, Clutch and J.S. Bach, Metallica and Danny Elfman… You get the picture. Guitar and moog work are sublime as usual. As far as hating goes, the only problems I see with this album are Mirai Kawashima’s vocals which could use a more serious delivery and the overuse of classically influenced metal riffs that feel a little boring sometimes in such a wildly variant record.

Sigh have been criticized for fusing genres together poorly. People who take this stance do not understand what Sigh are trying to get at. This band is not about fusion, it’s about juxtaposition. The beauty of Sigh is the way that they boldly slap styles together to create something unstable and surprising, and Sigh are still good at what they do. Sigh are probably Asia’s biggest extreme metal band, and they showcase a certain kind of unhinged, modern, distinctly Japanese experimentalism which I’ve always found wonderful. Also this Sigh have taken a big step up with cover art here, too, I’m sure you’ll notice. This album has two thumbs up from me.

In short: In Somniphobia is happy, it’s melancholy, it’s beautiful, it’s ugly, it’s electronic, it’s organic, it’s all the fucking rest of it. Put simply, it’s classic Sigh.

Standout tracks: The Transfiguration Fear, Lucid Nightmares IV) Amnesia

Score: 8.5