Japanese avant-garde metal pioneers SIGH have released “Unputenpu,” the first single from their upcoming studio album, Goh-Ka, due out September 4 via Peaceville Records. The track is accompanied by a new music video created by acclaimed visual artist Costin Chioreanu.
The new single features a guest guitar solo from OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt, whose performance adds another dimension to the song’s blend of progressive, psychedelic, and traditionally inspired Japanese metal.
Frontman Mirai Kawashima described “Unputenpu” as the culmination of his own approach to incorporating shuffle rhythms into SIGH’s music, building on ideas explored in earlier songs such as “Shikigami,” “Ecstatic Transformation,” and “Midnight Sun.”
Lyrically, the song explores the concept that fortune and misfortune are governed by forces beyond human control. According to Kawashima, the lyrics were inspired by personal experiences, reflecting on life’s unpredictability and the inevitability of loss.
Goh-Ka continues SIGH’s tradition of pushing musical boundaries, combining influences from Celtic Frost, Voivod, Black Sabbath, horror film soundtracks, Japanese traditional music, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, and classical music into an hour-long conceptual work.
The album’s title carries three distinct meanings in Japanese: infernal fire, the apocalyptic fire that consumes the world at its end, and karma. Its central theme revolves around Kuso-zu, a series of Buddhist paintings depicting the nine stages of human decomposition after death, intended to encourage meditation on mortality, impermanence, and detachment from worldly beauty.
Goh-Ka Track Listing
- Kuso-shi 1, 2, and 3
- Jigoku-Zoshi 1: Unkamusho
- Anzenshokon
- Kuso-shi 4, 5, and 6
- Shoso
- Unputenpu
- Jinmenjushin
- Jigoku-Zoshi 2: Tokatsujigoku
- Kushukankyo
- Kuso-shi 7
- Kuso-shi 8 and 9 / Mettaijakujo
Goh-Ka was recorded across multiple studios and mixed and mastered by Lasse Lammert at LSD Studios in Germany. Alongside Mirai Kawashima, Dr. Mikannibal, and guitarist Nozomu Wakai, the album features bassist Frédéric Leclercq (KREATOR) and drummer Mike Heller.
The album will be released on September 4 in multiple colored vinyl editions, CD, and digital formats. Early pre-orders through the Peaceville and band stores will include the exclusive 10-track Legacy of Horrors sampler.
To support the release, SIGH will perform a series of U.S. and European dates spanning July through September, including festival appearances and club shows across Poland, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, and other countries.