When Sigh mainman Mirai Kawashima offered to do a series of blogs from the studio where the band is recording their new album, Scenes from Hell, it was an opportunity too cool for us to pass up. Below find Mirai’s latest report; here are links to his previous entries:

PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6

Enjoy!

Hello everybody. This is not a studio report actually.

Finally, here we reveal the cover artwork for our eighth studio album, Scenes from Hell. It was designed by Eliran Kantor (Testament, Mekong Delta, Gwar, etc). We’re truly proud of the artwork. This is the perfect descrition of what the album is about – namely War, Hell and Death!

The End Records has set January 19, 2010 release date for this album.

Click to read more…

It’s Labor Day weekend here in the U.S., which means we’re shuttering the Mansion early this week, and won’t be back ’til Tuesday. We’re sure you’ll find some way to live without us.

Here’s some shit that happened this week:

• We debuted a new track from Salome.
• Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima sent in his final guest-blog from the studio, and revealed the track listing for the band’s upcoming album, Scenes from Hell.
• We chatted with Trivium’s Matt Heafy, The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad, Job for a Cowboy’s Brent Riggs, and All That Remains’ Phil LaBonte.
• We celebrated the triumphant return of Beavis & Butt-Head, and decided that in their particular relationship, Vince is the Beavis to Axl’s Butt-Head.
• Tom Araya thinks Dave Mustaine is a dick, Kerry King thinks Dave Mustaine is a dick, Scott Ian thinks Kerry King is a dick, and everyone in Dimmu Borgir thinks that everyone else in Dimmu Borgir is a dick.

Alright. I’m going to enjoy a little sunshine while I still can. See ya Tuesday!

-AR

When Sigh mainman Mirai Kawashima offered to do a series of blogs from the studio where the band is recording their new album, Scenes from Hell, it was an opportunity too cool for us to pass up. Below find Mirai’s final report; here are links to his previous entries:

PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5

Enjoy!

I’d like to start the final studio report by announcing the great contribution to Scenes from Hell by David Tibet from Current 93. Not only did he write the excellent text for us, but he also recorded the spoken words for the record. It gives a truly amazing atmosphere to the album.

The album has finally been mixed and mastered. We were supposed to finish mixing it by the end of June, but it was not easy at all. Of course I knew it’d be tough to mix all those orchestral instruments properly, but it was much harder than expected.

Click to read more…

Todays I ams havings dim sums for brunch. I knows the Chineses are different from the Japaneses, but as my daddys used to say, wes all pinks ons the insides.

-NC

Vince is in Kentucky scouting land for a SECOND MetalSucks Mansion and against the advice of Gary Suarez and my own instincts, I’m off to see Terminator Salvation. We shan’t be posting Monday ’cause it’s Memorial Day, but we’ll be back Tuesday. In the meantime, here’s some shit that happened this week:

• We did a video interview with IWRESTLEDABEARONCE! We also spoke with The Haunted’s Peter Dolving, God Forbid’s Doc Coyle, and Unholy.
• We stole Daath’s Eyal Levi away from Headbanger’s Blog.
• Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima graced us with another totally excellent studio blog.
• Corey Mitchell says this is the best album of the year so far.
• Fuckface Durst finally went too far.

As Baz would say, “I’ll be Bach.”

-AR

When Sigh mainman Mirai Kawashima offered to do a series of blogs from the studio where the band is recording their new album, Scenes from Hell, it was an opportunity too cool for us to pass up. Below find Mirai’s third entry; you can find his first one here, his second one here, his third one here, and his fourth one here. Enjoy!

OK, this time we’ll give you the real studio report. So there’ll be no Dr. Mikannibal’s nude. I’m very sorry about that.

We’ve been in the studio for a while. Well, it’s a good studio. The engineer is great, so is the equipment. But the problem is the smell. The studio is in the basement and it smells very bad, it’s got a typical “basement” smell, you know, something truly musty and stale. And what’s worse is that the smell haunts you even after you leave the studio. I’ve already washed my hair twice, but I can still detect it…

Click to read more…

Seriously. Ever since Metal Hammer gave us that Web of Death thing, I’ve been knee-deep in pussy. Incredible. It’s amazing that I’m even able to type right now, I’m so worn out. And that’s why you start a website. For the groupies.

Which brings me to my next point: now that we’re famous, we don’t want to be friends with you anymore. Don’t take it personally, we just prefer to rub elbows with other fabulous, famous people. You were great on the way up, but now? Fuck you. M’kay?

Here’s what else went down this week:

• We spoke with Lacuna Coil’s Christina Scabbia, and managed to get through it without embarrassing ourselves too badly.
• Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima wrote another awesome guest blog from the studio, begging the question: is Dr. Mikannibal’s diet hot or not?
• The Haunted’s Peter Dolving lashed out against Lamb of God; you lashed out against Peter Dolving.
• NEW CONVERGE SONGS! NEW CONVERGE SONGS! NEW CONVERGE SONGS!
• Someone actually played IWRESTLEDABEARONCE’S “Tastes like Kevin Bacon” for Kevin fucking Bacon.
• How many Andrew WKs are there, anyway?

Alright. I’ve got like ten girls clawing at me right now, beckoning me back to bed. I’ll see you Monday, if they’ll give me a rest, already.

-AR

When Sigh mainman Mirai Kawashima offered to do a series of blogs from the studio where the band is recording their new album, Scenes from Hell, it was an opportunity too cool for us to pass up. Below find Mirai’s third entry; you can find his first one here, his second one here, and his third one here. More will follow in coming days and weeks. Enjoy!

OK, this time I’d like to talk a little bit about Dr. Mikannibal’s favorite foods first. As we reported before, her preference of foods is slightly different from others. Just take a look at the above photo of the noodles with those giant worms. She eats anything from gross bugs to bull’s penis. She even keeps hundreds of cockroaches to eat! Well, at first she was keeping them as a bait for her pet Gecko, but now they’re her important protein suppliers. According to her, “Roaches taste just like a shrimp.” Don’t get me wrong, this ain’t a Japanese culture or anything, it’s just her!

Click to read more…

You bitched and moaned about daylight savings time, even though you were asleep when the clocks changed and you get an extra hour of daylight every day until November. You are all retards.

Here’s what else happened this week:

• Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima gave us another studio report (no naked Dr. Mikannibal pics, sorry), Early Man’s Mike Conte got his cheesesteak on, and Neuraxis’ Alexandre Leblanc gave us his final tour blog.
• We spoke with Darkane’s Christofer Malmstrom, Meshuggah’s Marten Hagstrom, Soilwork’s Peter Wichers and Ross the Boss (ex-Manowar)
• Our man-crush on Trent Reznor grew ever greater.
• You argued over who was the most important member of Metallica, past and present.
• We looked at new releases by Razor of Occam and Karl Sanders.
• It was a big week in the Norwegian courts… the Gorgoroth case was settled, and Varg was granted parole.
• Crazytown and Skunk Anansie are getting back together.

Next week Kip and I take off for Austin, TX on Wednesday. We’ll be live-blogging whenever possible. To everyone else, have fun not being there, suckazzz!!

-VN

When Sigh mainman Mirai Kawashima offered to do a series of blogs from the studio where the band is recording their new album, Scenes from Hell, it was an opportunity too cool for us to pass up. Below find Mirai’s third entry; you can find his first one here and his second one here. More will follow in coming days and weeks. Enjoy!

First of all, our apologies to people who were looking forward to the sequel to Dr. Mikannibal’s recording rules for the serious studio report this time. She’s still working on the vocals, naked as usual.

Well, the biggest difference between the recording of Scenes from Hell and the previous albums is definitely the use of orchestral instruments. There were a few of “real” trumpet parts on Hangman’s Hymn, too; however, this time they fill the album from the beginning to the end.

Obviously the real instruments sound way more powerful, vivid and emotional than MIDI or synthesizers. But handling them isn’t easy at all.

Click to read more…

Here’s of brief history of me and my love for Sigh: I reviewed Hangman’s Hymn in 2007. Prior to that, I had heard of Sigh, but for whatever reason, never really heard any Sigh. I admit it. I was a Sigh virgin. But…

…when I fell in love, I fell hard, dude. It got all, like, serious n’ shit pretty quickly.

So: I am coming to the recent reissue of Sigh’s 2001 album, Imaginary Sonicscape, with very fresh and very eager ears. And if I was gonna talk about this album someone else who, like me, was a fairly newish Sigh fan, I’d tell him or her what long time Sigh fans must already know: once upon a time, Sigh were a completely different – but somehow equally awesome – band.

Click to read more…

I’m ’bout to go party at a triple-birthday event then get rowdy at an outdoor winter BBQ tomorrow afternoon (Bacon Explosion, anyone?). But not before I can tell you what went down on MetalSucks this week:

• Dallas broke the silence on Earthsblood and told the “Blabberbitches” to fuck off.
• Zakk Wylde recorded on a Dope song, throwing his last shred of cred out the window. Yeah, Dope.
• Metal Hammer released a shady list of the best death metal songs ever. But at least Metal Hammer is still around: Metal Edge and Metal Maniacs bit the dust for good.
• David Draiman hit the singles market. J-Date.com, here comes the sickness!
• We spoke with Sunn O))) mainman / Southern Lord Records founder Greg Anderson and Sylosis’ Josh Middleton.
• We told you what we think about the new release by Dimension Zero while we asked you what you think about Lamb of God’s latest.
• Sigh’s foxy Dr. Mikannibal got naked and drank cow’s blood.
• We took shots at Camp Kill Yourself and Insane Clown Posse, and their fans took shots at us.

Peace in the mideast.

-VN

When Sigh mainman Mirai Kawashima offered to do a series of blogs from the studio where the band is recording their new album, Scenes from Hell, it was an opportunity too cool for us to pass up. Below find Mirai’s second entry; you can find his first one here. More will follow in coming days and weeks. Enjoy!

At the moment, we are recording the vocal parts. This time, a half of them are taken care of Dr. Mikannibal.

To get the best result, she sets several strict strange rules on her during the recording.

The first rule is: Get naked when you record the vocals.

Click to read more…

When Sigh mainman Mirai Kawashima offered to do a series of blogs from the studio where the band is recording their new album, Scenes from Hell, it was an opportunity too cool for us to pass up. Below find Mirai’s first entry; more will follow in coming days and weeks. Enjoy!

OK, before we start the actual studio report, we’d like to begin this blog by talking a bit about our 8th album, Scenes from Hell.

Yes, now it’s simply entitled Scenes from Hell, instead of Scenes from Hell/Tempore Belli/Vanitas. There are several reasons that we cut the title short, but the biggest one is that the length was pretty much annoying! There are going to be eight tracks on the album, with titles such as “The Sould Grave,” “The Red Funeral,” and “L’art de Mourir.” The musical direction is not that far from that off from Hangman’s Hymn, but the songs are longer, more sinister and a bit more varied, and they all are about hell, war and death! This will be the perfect score to old war movies or Godzilla (The first one, of course!).

Click to read more…

The hottest women in metal are signed to The End Records. That might sound crass, but it’s true: my big crushes of ’08 are, without a doubt, Made Out of Babies’ Julie Christmas and, now, Sigh’s Dr. Mikannibal. We got to see the good doc in action the other night as part of the MetalSucks co-sponsored Sigh/Unexpect tour, and while Sigh clearly killed in every way imaginable (no big shock there), I think it’s safe to say that all eyes were on Mikannibal. She wears tight, short leather outfits, she dances, she headbangs, she plays the sax, and, oh yeah, her death metal growl is every bit as good as that of Sigh mastermind Mirai Kawashima.

I’m saying I wanna marry this chick.

Headbanger’s Blog has an excellent write-up of the show, complete with photos of Kawashima, Dr. Mikannibal, and the rest of the gang in action. But why just read about it when you can experience it for yourself? There’s still six dates left on the tour! The band plays all your favorites – “Death with Dishonor,” “Me-Devil,” “Inked in Blood,” even their cover of Venom’s “Black Metal” (which, at this point, is probably better than the actual Venom’s live version of “Black Metal”), and, like I said, you also get to ogle Dr. Mikannibal.

Get the remaining tour dates after the jump!

Click to read more…

Instead of continuing to debate back and forth about the new Metallica album, why not devote some time to metal that won’t suck donkey nuts and then lick up every last drop of the gravy like it’s an oasis in the desert?

Japan’s premiere black metal outfit, Sigh are having a big week; their Tribute to Venom is released today, and then their MetalSucks co-sponsored tour with Unexpect starts on Saturday. Brooklyn Vegan has an mp3 of their version of “Black Metal” for free download, which means, at the very least, you have no excuse not to check it out before you go back to pretending that “Cyanide” is a good song. Then skip after the jump for Sigh’s complete U.S. tour itinerary with Unexpect.

Click to read more…

Zimmers Hole have backed out of their MetalSucks co-sponsored U.S. tour with Sigh and Unexpect. I know because I read about it on Blabbermouth. I feel about as well informed as the Bush administration right now.

Click to read more…

Speaking of tours we’re co-sponsoring, Sigh hit the road in just a few weeks for a U.S. trek with Zimmer’s Hole and Unexpect. While you wait with baited breath for this kick-ass tour to begin, why not consider putting your high school marching band dork skills to some good use and help out one of the best black metal acts in the world today?

Click to read more…

So I’m a day late on this one, but when it comes to a band as cool as Sigh, better late than never.

Sigh have officially announced a September 2 release date for their aptly titled Venom tribute, A Tribute to Venom, via The End Records. A one-pressing-only limited edition will be available, with an LP with an etching as well as the CD. And, oh yeah, as if all of that wasn’t cool enough, Napalm Death’s Shane Embury and Brutal Truth’s Dan Lilker also make guest appearances on the album.

You know what? That cover art is fucking bad assed, man. What a perfect amalgamation of Sigh and Venom’s personalities. In fact, I wanna start a petition for that son of a bitch to be on a t-shirt, pronto. If the band managed to get that kind of sensibility into the music, too, this fucker is gonna slay.

Sigh are also gonna hit the road with Zimmer’s Hole (who are awesome) and Unexpect (who I don’t know but hear very good things about). Get tour dates after the jump.

Click to read more…

Holy crap, dude. Did you hear about this awesome new tour? It’s gonna be rad, dude. It’s Desaster with Throwdown, Airbourne, and Trivium are the headliners. It’s called the “Close Your Eyes” tour, ’cause if you close your eyes, you’ll think you’re at some awesome show with Venom, Pantera, AC/DC and Metallica. For reals, dude!

What’s that, dude? Oh, you don’t know Desaster? Yeah, they’re these totally smart black metal dudes. Like, while those chumps in Sigh were off recording a tribute to Venom, this band just made an album that sounds exactly like Venom – and they don’t have to pay any of the royalties! I know, dude, it’s totally sick, isn’t? Totes sicko.

Cool, dude. So I’ll see you at the show. And, hey, did I mention the best part? Each ticket comes with a free blindfold! WICKED!

(one and a half out of five horns)

-AR