SIGH have released their new album “Goh-ka” through Peaceville. The Tokyo, Japan, avant-garde metal band recorded a work running for just under an hour, combining the influence of Celtic Frost, Voivod and Black Sabbath with psychedelic rock, progressive rock, Japanese music and classical elements. Its themes centre on impermanence and death, drawing on the Buddhist visual tradition known as Kuso-zu.
Death in Buddhist imagery
“Goh-ka” follows SIGH’s continuing move beyond their early black metal foundations. The band formed in Tokyo in 1990 and has built its sound around extreme metal alongside progressive, orchestral and traditional Japanese ideas. Earlier albums included “Heir to Despair” in 2018 and “Shiki” in 2022, while the 2025 album “I Saw the World’s End - Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV” preceded the new record.
Dr. Mikannibal’s saxophone
Dr. Mikannibal sings and plays alto saxophone in SIGH, and has been a member since 2007. Her saxophone adds one of the band’s clearest departures from a conventional extreme-metal line-up. Outside SIGH, she has worked with 29Jaguar, Providence and Self Spiller.
The current line-up also features founding member Mirai Kawashima on vocals, keyboards, bass, percussion, orchestrations and woodwinds, alongside guitarist Nozomu Wakai, who joined in 2022. “Goh-ka” is SIGH’s latest release on Peaceville.
