Shiki - Sigh (2022)

Japanese metal is great, and these guys have been on the scene for a long time. This is the first I’ve heard them, though, and I really dug it.

Sigh is famous (though not to me so much) as an avant garde, experimental black metal outfit. Not knowing much about them, I don’t hear much of that on this record.

The first half is pretty straightforward death metal; call it “blackened” if you like because of the heavy bass drumming. But it’s all about riffs and constantly changing drum patterns, along with enough melodic guitar to land it in the tech death space, to my ears.

The showcase here is drummer Mike Heller, who powers the tech death band Malignancy among other things. His drumming is far up in the mix and you get amazing detail as he tears through these tracks.

The second half of the record stretches out into more progressive territory, with calmer instrumental breaks to expand the sonic palette.

I’m not one to quibble about genre distinctions. I just really enjoyed my listen through this.