SIGH — The Curse of Izanagi (review)

SIGH — The Curse of Izanagi album cover EP · 2010 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Conor Fynes
'The Curse Of Izanagi' - Sigh (7/10)

In tandem with the release of their eighth studio album 'Scenes From Hell', Sigh put out this EP to give their rabid fans something extra to chew into. 'The Curse Of Izanagi' is a four song EP from these guys, and I have to say, even though the band was not setting off to do anything groundbreaking for their career here, they have created a charismatic batch of tracks here that shows the strange style of Sigh in full. Like most people, I tend not to take EPs with the same serious intent that I would a full-length album, and while there is not the sort of depth here that I would find on a full record by this band, there is certainly enough here to keep a listener engaged through to the end.

The first song here is the title track, and it really shows Sigh moving back to their roots of black metal. Saturated with screams, blastbeats, and a level of speed where I was thinking I had a malfunctioning copy that was running twice as fast, 'The Curse Of Izanagi' would actually be a pretty incomprehensible short burst of raw black metal, were it not for the symphonic orchestrations that are added overtop. Sigh uses some Japanese traditional sounds here, and it gives the band a more unique and distinctive feel to them. Next is 'War', which is more an ambient track than anything, with eerie soundscapes and a British accented man droning on with poetry that sounds like it could very well be Edgar Allan Poe's. It is a great track for ambiance and atmosphere, but didn't give me that chaotic shock like the first track.

The third track here 'Spiritual' may be the least memorable track of them all, despite being the most melodic. It takes that fusion of Japanese symphonic elements and raw metal that we heard on the first track and goes in a different direction with it, a slower moving track with the keyboards forming a pleasant melody. Despite having grimy chords backing it up, it is actually a fairly optimistic track, and a sharp contrast to the final track. Paying homage to what I can interpret as their equivalent of 'gods on earth' (based on the amount of tributes they have given to them), Sigh covers a track by their favourite band Venom, the song 'Countess Bathory'. Here, we hear Sigh as raw and filthy as they were at the start of their careers, and while the song is incredibly simple (it actually reminded me of a black metal rendition of Nirvana, goat help me...), it is memorable as hell, ending the EP on a powerful note.

Although it will certainly be fans that will get the most out of this record, 'The Curse Of Izanagi' is a great EP from Sigh, and shows some of metal's most innovative personnel doing what they do best. There is still nothing groundbreaking here, but there is more than enough here to impress me.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Rot Stink Rip Death Metal
TOMBSTONER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Human Rosin Melodic Metalcore
HATE BREEDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Through The Hell Hardcore Punk
ENEMY 906
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lightmatter: Rebirth Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Eye Of Horus (Lightmatter EP Pt. 2) Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 5 days ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 6 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed