Sigh are hailed as one of the first Japanese Black Metal bands. While they have their roots in Black Metal though, the early new millennium release of Imaginary Sonicscape brought a new element to the mix though, adding in a heavy dose of Progressive textures. Adorned in stoner/hippie style cover art, the album was originally released via Century Media Records. This version has been released by The End Records and contains an extended version as well as two additional tracks that were cut from the original album.
What I have always enjoyed about this album is that Sigh obviously did whatever they wanted with this album. After milling for a decade or so around small labels, the band was signed to Century Media and this was to be their big opportunity. So what did they do? Yep, they made a heavily progressive record that not only flew in the face of their roots in many ways, but also kicked a whole lot of booty.
Songs like “Corpsecry-Angelfall” and “Dreamsphere” are heavy but accessible tunes with lots of groove that are easy for any hard rock fan to embrace while others, like the dark and experimental feel of Nietzschean Conspiracy,” take some getting used to but if you give it some attention you’ll be well pleased with the result. It’s the combination of the “Slaughtergarden Suite” and “Bring Back the Dead” though that makes Imaginary Sonicscape a must own. The two are wildly impressive back to back sounding a lot like what I imagine Attila Csihir might sound like fronting Led Zeppelin with Tony Iommi as an additional guitarist.
Overall this is an excellent album if you are looking to expand your musical palette. It is dark, progressive, accessible, groovy, and has just a tinge of extreme to it to silence the naysayers. The additional tracks bring completeness to the album that is very noticeable if you are familiar with the original. The original never felt incomplete to me until this version appeared on my desk, it’s worth buying again.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
