Sigh, Corpsecry/Angelfall (Imaginary Sonicscape, 2001)

The following is definitely one of the more approachable Sigh pieces, which I post here in the hopes that more people will help them "spread the plague of Eastern terror", as Msr. Kawashima once wrote. Sigh remain the only band whose recordings have literally terrified animals in my house.



I find this piece interesting because the ending contains some intervals and sounds that sound very classically East Asian (high pitched notes with vibrato, and the bells striking along with those pitched notes are quite atypical to a Western ear). I fear that were Mirai to read this he might take it as an insult to be placed in a tradition of modern East Asian composers (read: charges of unoriginality), to which I can only reply, your fans hold you to high standards sir.

In 2003 I had the rare pleasure of seeing Sigh in Raleigh, North Carolina, after which show Mirai and the boys obliged in signing my back with a Sharpie. I don't read enough kanji to know what it says. My hope is that it was some kind of shamanic or Shinto curse. And when I woke up the next morning, it was gone.



The production improved markedly on Hangman's Hymn, although I think we won't see a return to the "crazier than a shithouse rat" quality (to quote an actual professional review) of Hail Horrour Hail and earlier work. This is fine with me.