SIGH Scorn Defeat

Artist: SIGH
Title: Scorn Defeat
Year of Release: 1993
Label: Deathlike Silence Productions
Format: CD

I picked this up on vinyl a few years back when Hammerheart's sub-label made a pressing available. The reason I got rid of it in favour of this classic DSP CD version is that a classic album like this should NOT be padded out with bonus tracks and the like and that's exactly what had occurred to that LP version. Not only were there bonus tracks, but there was one at the end of side A and then at the end of side B. That may seem a logical place to put them, but like I said, this album is truly immortal and should be respected as such.

Does anyone wanna hear those bonus tracks on the end of 'Reign In Blood'? Fuck no! Same logic applies here... it ain't rocket science, and it isn't increasing the 'value' of these releases. You can take my word for it!

Without question, Sigh have reigned as one of the most unique BM bands, and their debut, 'Scorn Defeat' was not alien from that statement. They started out with an avant garde approach which has increased for the most part over their almost 20 year existence.

Despite being named after a lyric from the Venom track 'Welcome To Hell', 'Scorn Defeat' is a heavily keyboard laden affair that doesn't completely ignore the band's 80's BM influence, though it does little to come across sounding like a pastiche. Sigh do what many Japanese bands do extremely well with their Western influences, taking them to seemingly bizarre and previously unexplored degrees, though unlike other bands from their part of the world, Sigh also draw heavy inspiration from Japanese tradition and folklore. This is before you consider that the music, though on this occasion seemingly primitive where the guitars and drums are concerned, is also deeply rooted in classical direction.

A great primal sound is on offer, though its never muddy, or raw for the sake of being raw and a fine balance of instrumentation is made available to the listener. A host of catchy riffs propel the majority of the album which is interspersed with classical piano pieces and the occasional acoustic guitar.

There is no simple way to describe what it is that makes Sigh the revolutionary act that they are, though for my mind, their 'do what thou will approach' is the quickest explanation.

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