Sigh - Graveward

Artist: Sigh
Album: Graveward
Release date: April 13, 2015
Label: Candlelight Records
Genre: Weird-ass black metal. Wouldn't call it avant-garde though.








WHAT THIS IS ABOUT
Sigh are a Japanese band. And you've got to love the way Japanese musicians put three or four completely unrelated Western styles in a giant blender and drink the result with glee in their eyes. Formally they do play black metal, but they make heavy use of synths and vocoders and they have a saxophonist. The result is surprising - not particularly heavy, with a lot of guitar work, guest vocalists and symphonic ideas thrown here and there. Sigh have this thing where they name their releseas to form the band's name, so this starts with G, the previous one was In Somniphobia and the next one will most likely begin with H (they've done it twice already).

WHAT IT DOES RIGHT
If you think Devin Townsend is crazy, wait till you hear The Tombfiller. It's at least as insane as Ziltoid and with three times the stylistic variations. The whole record has a strong symphonic vibe, which combined with the occasional clean vocals (courtesy of Dr. Mikannibal, who as the name suggests is a girl) gives a bit of a Dimmu-Borgir-when-they-were-good vibe. Of course, then you have tracks such as The Molesters of My Soul which flaunts crunching beats in the vein of Meshuggah and vocoder creativity on par with Kanye's (check The Message for another taste of that). Why is there a tzigan violin part in Out of the Grave? I have no clue, but it sounds great. Every keyboard part is amazing and mind-boggling, and the John Zorn-ian sax doesn't hurt either. There's power metal-style guitar work, too.

WHAT IT DOES WRONG
Absolutely nothing. Disagree, and you're a heretic.

VERDICT
One of the most entertaining releases of the year. There's about a thousand different things going on at the same time, and it still sounds like black metal. There is no excuse for not listening to this album. Go!

Sinners Moon - Atlantis

Artist: Sinners Moon
Album: Atlantis
Release date: April 10, 2015
Label: Inverse Records
Genre: Symphonic Power










WHAT THIS IS ABOUT
Best idea ever: what if we took a girl with a soprano voice and paired her with a nasty growler? Oh, it's been done already. A lot. Sinners Moon don't care, and they do it anyway. Considering this is their first record, I'd say let's cut them some slack. Through most of the songs there is very little growling anyway, so it does not reek of archeology. They're published by Inverse Records, which I think is the largest label specialized in bands I've never even heard of. My bad.

WHAT IT DOES RIGHT
These six Slovenians are heavily focused on melodies, which is always a good thing - it keeps the album enjoyable. They can clearly write good songs, such as Memento Mori, a good example of simple things well done. There is a good balance between the keyboards and the heavier sounds, so that it doesn't sound flat but the melodies are allowed to shine. Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica delivers a good performance (in an otherwise forgettable song)

WHAT IT DOES WRONG
First of all, there's the chance you might be tired of the formula. Personally, I think that as long as the melodies are good, there is nothing to complain about, but to each his own. Granted, Sinners Moon are often treading some dangerous middle ground, with some good Edenbridge moments (Falls of the Neverland) and other songs with less clear intentions. They aren't crafty enough yet to make their longer songs particulary good - there are interesting ideas here and there, but there's no sense of frugality.

VERDICT
Well done. It's a genre that has been going downhill for some time, so it's harder to shine. Sinners Moon don't try to reinvent the wheel, but they don't steal someone else's project either. Atlantis puts them on the map as a promising band with a good ear for melodies - they will, of course, have to find their own way in a more decisive manner next time, but so far so good.