mythsofmetal

While Sigh's later music is generally more avant-garde and slightly more accessible, I think you shouldn't discount their earlier albums though I may recommend listening to a couple of their more accessible/later albums before going into their early discography.

The two other albums of theirs besides Imaginary Sonicscape that are their most accessible and avant-garde are probably In Somniphobia from the year 2012 which has some big Jazz and Prog influence, and Gallows Gallery which if I'm not mistaken is entirely sung in clean vocals (besides some bonus tracks which are versions of songs on the standard album except with harsh vocals instead.) Though the vocals on Gallows Gallery are a little bit odd compared to most clean vocals, and the albums main influences could be described as Power Metal and Jazz. Also, if looking to listen to Gallows Gallery, make sure you listen to the remastered version, because the production is quite bad on the original version that was released in 2005, and even the remastered version's production isn't great. The reason for that is likely due to the band's disputes at the time with the label which was upset with Sigh not going in a more Black Metal direction, and I'm pretty sure cut the funding of the album due to that, resulting in the poor production.

Though those three albums may be their most accessible their top 3 imo excludes Gallows Gallery, and replaces it with Hail Horror Hail from 1997 along with the one you listened to, and In Somniphobia. Hail Horror Hail is very atmospheric, with Heavy Metal guitar melodies for a fair few of the songs similar to Imaginary Sonicscape, as well as incorporates various influences in some songs like Imaginary Sonicscape, which may or may not be present in other songs.

Scenes From Hell is another one of their best, released in 2010 and the debut of their second singer/saxophonist who's name is Dr. Mikannibal. Her voice is typically the deeper more Death Metaly voice, whereas on this album Mirai still retains his higher pitched more raspy Black Metal voice. The guitars, bass, and drums are typically very heavy on this album, and make some of the best riffs I've heard in Sigh's discography. There's also a lot of orchestrations throughout the album, I can't put a name on the style of orchestrations, but they're definitely different than the more typical classical influenced orchestrations on some of their other songs.

Another great one is Infidel Art. It's their second album but still a fair bit different from their first. It has some big Romantic Era Classical influence, as well as Doom Metal influence.

I think even their first album, Scorn Defeat, would be good for you to look into. It was actually one of the albums that really got me started into Black Metal. Though, it's probably their weakest in that while it has a few great tracks (A Victory of Dakini, Gundali, Ready for the Final War.) most of the other ones are only good or decent. It definitely is among the more accessible almost pure Black Metal out there, so I don't think you should ignore it and at least give the three best tracks I mentioned a try.

Also, if you want to see the point where they turned from semi-Avant-garde to really avant-garde, then check out their 1997 EP called Ghastly Funeral Theatre. While I don't think it's among their best, it definitely has a few great songs (it technically only really has four, and the first real track I'd consider the weakest on the album, but the rest is a fair bit better than the first, and even the first is very good, imo.) Also, since you liked Impromptu (Allegro Maestoso) then at least check out Imiuta, which is a great piano and synth piece, which imo is much better than Impromptu.

Also, rounding out some information for you on the last two albums of theirs I haven't mentioned yet. I'll start with Scenario IV: Dread Dreams circa 1999 which is probably their most underrated album, but also imo not among their best ones. It is kinda similar to Hail Horror Hail if you took out the more atmospheric elements, it definitely has that Heavy Metal/Iron Maiden riff influence like on Imaginary Sonicscape and Hail Horror Hail. Also, while it has a few great songs which rival their best ones, it probably loses being among their best because it is one of their more inconsistent albums like Scorn Defeat, and the last album I'll get to tell you about which is their 2007 album Hangman's Hymn. Hangman's Hymn is probably their second closest album to a pure Black Metal sound besides their debut album. It basically is like Black Metal plus classical synths with slightly more Heavy Metal/Thrash Metal influenced riffs. One complaint I've heard from some people is that they can't distinguish a fair amount of the riffs on the album from other ones that preceded it, and that a lot of the time they feel the riffs don't really go anywhere. I personally feel I can distinguish the riffs well and if I'm in the right mood they can sound quite great, but it's exactly that I have to be in a more specific type of mood to really enjoy the album.


Also, Sigh is scheduled to release another album this year entitled Graveward. They've recently let a song leak from the new album and I thought I could post it here for you to maybe listen to, but don't feel like you have to listen to or review it just because I posted it here.


Sigh - Out of the Grave (Demo) - YouTube