07/05/2026 19:36

Sigh

Sigh announce new album 'Goh-ka' for September release

Japanese metal pioneers Sigh are back with news of their new album 'Goh-ka'; a new highlight of atmosphere, technical mastery, and meticulously arranged epics of metallic grandeur. The album willbe out on September 4th, 2026 via Peaceville Records.

Track listing:
Kuso-shi 1, 2, and 3 (09:11)
Jigoku-Zoshi 1: Unkamusho (03:55)
Anzenshokon (06:24)
Kuso-shi 4, 5, and 6 (07:21)
Shoso (00:56)
Unputenpu (05:41)
Jinmenjushin (06:14)
Jigoku-Zoshi 2: Tokatsujigoku (03:06)
Kushukankyo (01:47)
Kuso-shi 7 (01:56)
Kuso-shi 8 and 9 / Mettaijakujo (11:23)

Waltz_of_Ghouls
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Post Posted: 03 Jul 2026 15:19

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Main-man Mirai Kawashima notes that this is as personal an album as ‘Shiki’, both musically & lyrically. From a musical perspective, if you were to place the main ingredients of Celtic Frost, Voivod, Black Sabbath, horror movies & Japan into a cauldron & stir it, you will get ‘Goh-ka’. Numerous additional spices such as psychedelic rock, prog rock & classical music are also evident over the album’s close to one-hour duration.

The primary theme permeating the album is Kuso-zu; a series of Buddhist paintings or illustrations depicting the nine stages of a human body’s decomposition after death, created to encourage meditation on the impermanence of life, the inevitability of death, & the detachment from physical beauty & worldly attachment. It openly shows the harsh reality that no matter how beautiful you are, you’ll be dead & rot sooner or later. And Kuso-shi is a poem based on these paintings. The artworks on the cover & in the booklet of ‘Goh-ka’ are therefore Kuso-zu themselves.

Among the additional contributors to the album, Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth notably delivers a special guest guitar solo on the track, ‘Unputenpu’.

Tracklist :

1. Kuso-shi 1, 2, & 3 (09:11)
2. Jigoku-Zoshi 1: Unkamusho (03:55)
3. Anzenshokon (06:24)
4. Kuso-shi 4, 5, & 6 (07:21)
5. Shoso (00:56)
6. Unputenpu (05:41)
7. Jinmenjushin (06:14)
8. Jigoku-Zoshi 2: Tokatsujigoku (03:06)
9. Kushukankyo (01:47)
10. Kuso-shi 7 (01:56)
11. Kuso-shi 8 & 9 / Mettaijakujo (11:23)

Bonus track : Unputenpu (Nozomu guitar solo version) (05:43)

Main-man Mirai Kawashima notes this as being as equally personal an album as 'Shiki', both musically and lyrically. From a musical perspective, if you were to place the main ingredients of Celtic Frost, Voivod, Black Sabbath, horror movies and Japan into a cauldron and stir it, you will get 'Goh-ka'. Numerous additional spices such as psychedelic rock, prog rock and classical music are also evident over the album’s close to one-hour duration.

The album title 'Goh-ka' has a triple meaning, being: 業火 infernal fire scorching sinners, 劫火 a huge fire that burns down the world at the end of time, and 業果 karma.

The primary theme permeating the album is Kuso-zu; a series of Buddhist paintings or illustrations depicting the nine stages of a human body's decomposition after death, created to encourage meditation on the impermanence of life, the inevitability of death, and the detachment from physical beauty and worldly attachment. It openly shows the harsh reality that no matter how beautiful you are, you'll be dead and rot sooner or later. And Kuso-shi is a poem based on these paintings. The artworks on the cover and in the booklet of 'Goh-ka' are therefore Kuso-zu themselves.

Joining Mirai Kawashima and Dr Mikannibal along with guitarist Nozomu Wakai, are Frédéric Leclercq (Kreator) on bass, plus renowned US drummer Mike Heller. Among the additional contributors to the album, Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth notably delivers a special guest guitar solo on the track, 'Unputenpu'.

'Goh-ka' was recorded across multiple studios, and once again mixed and mastered by Lasse Lammert at LSD studios in Germany.

(source: Peaceville Records)