Mirai Kawashima and his band SIGH continue their unstoppable march forward with Goh-Ka. The group has now expanded to a quintet following the (temporary) addition of Frédéric Leclercq on bass (Kreator) and Mike Heller on drums. Both join the other two permanent members (for at least a few years now) Dr. Mikannibal (Mika Kawashima, the bandleader’s wife, vocals and saxophone) and guitarist Nozomu Wakai (who openly declares his devotion to Deep Purple). These are indispensable individual contributions that help define the contours of a work characterized by a clear orchestral/theatrical approach. Not only in the vocal component (with Mirai Kawashima’s shifts in register reinforcing this sense).
Goh-Ka: “Like a new King Crimson turned to extreme metal”
Goh-Ka fits perfectly into the narrative arc established since their 1993 debut, Scorn Defeat. Indeed, an album that can certainly be classified as black metal. Yet already foreshadowed the evolution and the manifest compositional madness that have characterized the Japanese band’s entire career. This madness is a driving force within a context of constant change and evolution—a fact fully confirmed by the eleven new tracks, some very brief, others divided into multiple sections. Never linear in their presentation, SIGH make a point of flaunting an exaggerated display of technique and inspiration. Like a new King Crimson turned to extreme metal—if that classification still makes sense for them (Kuso-shi 8 and 9 / Mettaijakujo).
The Kusi-shi chapters
Key chapters are the four episodes titled Kuso-shi, some of which are structured as true mini-suites (in total, they are divided into nine parts). Kuso-shi is a poem inspired by the Kuso-zu, a cycle of nine illustrations depicting the nine stages of the human body’s decomposition after death, according to Buddhist culture and philosophy. Life is a journey toward Death (already encountered in Shiki from 2022), the inevitability of which is brought to mind by the Kuso-zu. We will leave behind earthly life and all we possess in it; our fleeting beauty will fade; our bodies will decay.
Goh-Ka cover illustration
The cover illustration (and the booklet art) is a Kuso-zu work; images, voices, and sounds come together in a single, inseparable depiction of the anticipation of the inevitable passing. Goh-Ka conceptually presents a threefold meaning: the fire that burns sinners, the fire that burns the world at its end, and Karma.
Goh-Ka: “Free from constraints, intent on creating a work that transcends sound”
Musically, it embodies the ambition of a band once again free from constraints, intent on creating a work that transcends sound. Sound is only one part of SIGH: it evokes, provokes, warns, and coaxes. Even when the development of a single song resolves into a more traditional rock form (Unputenpu with Mikael Åkerfeldt’s guitar solo). Indeed, it traces an oblique line that seems to break apart, as elements of Japanese culture intertwine with a ’70s prog fabric (which we find in more than one track, reinforced by the Mellotron effect), amid keyboard flourishes and guitar work that, yes, draws on the canons of the most self-indulgent hard rock of that same era.
“A constant, stubborn, disciplined search for surprising solutions”
And that Goh-Ka is an album anchored in its roots (the culture of their homeland) yet fiercely avant-garde is reaffirmed by the spirit that drives it—a constant, stubborn, disciplined search for surprising solutions—seemingly convoluted and abstruse, yet always in service of the narrative and the ultimate goal, which is to morbidly draw the listener in (as exemplified by Jigoku-Zoshi 2: Tokatsujigoku). Once again, they are brilliant or mad—but the difference is truly negligible.
Tracklist
- Kuso-shi 1, 2, & 3
- Jigoku-Zoshi 1: Unkamusho
- Anzenshokon
- Kuso-shi 4, 5, & 6
- Shoso
- Unputenpu
- Jinmenjushin
- Jigoku-Zoshi 2: Tokatsujigoku
- Kushukankyo
- Kuso-shi 7
- Kuso-shi 8 & 9 / Mettaijakujo
Line Up
- Mirai Kawashima – Vocals, keyboards, flute, shinobue, shakuhachi, koto, hichiriki and taishōgoto
- Dr. Mikannibal – Vocals and saxophone
- Nozomu Wakai: Guitar
- Frédéric Leclercq (Kreator) – Bass
- Mike Heller – Drums