History Music / Sigh

* AvantGardeMetal: ''Definitely'', and possibly one of the ''weirdest examples of the genre''. You're not going to confuse a Sigh album for much else.

* RockMeAmadeus: "Requiem - Nostalgia" ends with a StandardSnippet of Music/FryderykChopin's Minute Waltz. Similarly, ''Hangman's Hymn'' quotes liberally from Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart's Requiem in D Minor.

* Gus G. (Firewind, Dream Evil, Ozzy Osbourne) - lead guitar on "Confession to Be Buried" and "Silver Universe" (''Gallows Gallery'')

* Mike [=McKenzie=] (The Red Chord) - guitar on "In Devil's Arms" (''Hangman's Hymn'')
* Kam Lee (ex-Death, Bone Gnawer, The Grotesquery) - guest vocals on "L'Art de mourir" (''Scenes from Hell'')

* Damian Montgomery (Ritual Carnage) - guest vocals on "Iconoclasm in the 4th Desert", "Imprisoned" (''Scenario IV'')
* Gus G. (Firewind, Dream Evil, Ozzy Osbourne) - lead guitar on "Confession to be Buried", "Silver Universe" (''Gallows Gallery'')

* Mike McKenzie (The Red Chord) - guitar on "In Devil's Arms" (''Hangman's Hymn'')
* Kam Lee (ex-Death, Bone Gnawer, The Grotesquery) - guest vocals on "L'art de Mourir" (''Scenes from Hell'')

* AlteumVidetur: Heavily used in ''Hangman's Hymn'', which makes sense as the album is structured as a funeral mass of sorts.

* ''Hangman's Hymn'' (2007)

* UncommonTime: They use this pretty frequently. For example, 7/4 segments (or multiples thereof) show up in "Izuna", "Intro: Soushiki", "Outro: Higeki", "Hail Horror Hail", "42 49", "A Sunset Song", and "In Devil's Arms" (this list is undoubtedly not complete). They're still using compound meters in new songs as of ''Graveward'' (in "Kaedit Nos Pestis", for example).

** ''Graveward'': The US/Europe version is [=DR6=], but not clipped at all. The Japanese version is [=DR3=] and badly clipped, making it the band's absolute worst example of this trope to date, but also has several bonus tracks that extend the running time of the album by over 25 minutes. Interestingly, guitarist You Oshima did both CD masters for this album. A vinyl version on Blood Music remains forthcoming, so time will tell how that one turns out.

** ''Graveward'': The US/Europe version is [=DR6=], but not clipped at all. The Japanese version is [=DR3=] and badly clipped, making it the band's absolute worst example of this trope to date, but also has several bonus tracks that extend the running time of the album by over 25 minutes.

** ''Scenes from Hell'': The band's absolute worst example of this trope at a very clipped [=DR4=]. There was later a remaster of this album by Maor Appelbaum (available on the Mort Productions reissue) which came out to [=DR5=], but without much clipping this time. The production is also ''much'' clearer in the Maor remaster. ''Scenes from Hell'' has also been issued on vinyl, where it seems to have more dynamic range (with most tracks in a typical rip coming out in the [=DR7-DR9=] range); unfortunately, this is based on the original, lo-fi version of the album.

** ''Graveward'': The US/Europe version is [=DR6=], but not clipped at all. The Japanese version is [=DR3=] and badly clipped, but also has several bonus tracks that extend the running time of the album by over 25 minutes.

** ''Graveward'': [=DR6=], but not clipped at all.

* Shinichi Ishikawa - guitar

** ''Scenes from Hell'': The band's absolute worst example of this trope at a very clipped [=DR4=]. There was later a remaster of this album by Maor (available on the Mort Productions reissue) which came out to [=DR5=], but without much clipping this time. The production is also somewhat clearer in the Maor remaster. ''Scenes from Hell'' has also been issued on vinyl, where it seems to have more dynamic range (with most tracks in a typical rip coming out in the [=DR7-DR9=] range).

* StylisticSuck: ''Scenes from Hell'' was given an intentionally lo-fi, claustrophobic production. The 2CD Mort Productions reissue has an alternate mastering that sounds less muffled, but is still extremely loud (just not quite as loud as the original).

** ''Hail Horror Hail'': [=DR8=], clipped. There is once again a 3LP Dark Symphonies reissue, with a "rough mix" of most songs from the album as a bonus (and an instrumental version of "42 49".

** ''Gallows Gallery'': The original is [=DR9=] and not clipped, but not mixed all that well, with the result that the instrumental clarity isn't that great. The End remastered it in 2007 and it became [=DR6=] with clipping, but it was clearer. The version that finally gets it right is Blood Music's 2CD/2LP reissue, which is [=DR8=] on CD (probably higher on vinyl) and sounds great. (Note, however, that the untitled instrumental that closes the album and the David Harrow mix of "The Tranquilizer Song" are omitted from Blood Music's version; in their place you get demo versions of the entire album except for "Pale Monument").

** ''Gallows Gallery'': The original is [=DR9=] and not clipped, but not mixed all that well, with the result that the instrumental clarity isn't that great. The End remastered it in 2007 and it became [=DR6=] with clipping, but it was clearer. The version that finally gets it right is Blood Music's 2CD/2LP reissue, which is [=DR8=] on CD (probably higher on vinyl) and sounds great.

** ''Gallows Gallery'': The original is [=DR9=] and not clipped, but not mixed all that well, with the result that the instrumental clarity isn't that great. The End remastered it in 2007 and it became [=DR6=] with clipping, but it was clearer. The version that finally gets it right is Blood Music's 2CD/2LP reissue, which is [=DR8=] and sounds great.

** ''Hail Horror Hail'': [=DR7=], clipped. There is once again a 3LP Dark Symphonies reissue, with a "rough mix" of most songs from the album as a bonus (and an instrumental version of "42 49".

** ''Scorn Defeat'': The original Deathlike Silence Productions does not suffer from this trope, being a solid [=DR12=]. It was later remastered by Enucleation Records with five bonus tracks, and came to a rather {{egregious}} [=DR5=], though the mastering engineer took care not to clip it. And then Hammerheart Records remastered it again two years later. This time it came out to [=DR9=], but with a caveat: the original album was clipped. The bonus tracks, however, were free of clipping and came out to similar dynamic range as the CD. There is also, of course, the 3LP Dark Symphonies version, which will probably be many listeners' preferred version if they can track it down.
** ''Infidel Art'': [=DR7=], clipped. There is also a 3LP Dark Symphonies reissue.

** ''Hail Horror Hail'': [=DR7=], clipped. There is once again a 3LP Dark Symphonies reissue, with a bunch of demos of the album.

** ''Imaginary Sonicscape'': Original album is [=DR7=] and clipped. Was later remastered with two bonus tracks and an extended version of "Bring Back the Dead", which is [=DR6=] and also clipped. This is the final album to receive a 3LP Dark Symphonies reissue (which has all the bonus content from the remaster as well as some other goodies).

** ''Scenes from Hell'': The band's absolute worst example of this trope at a very clipped [=DR4=]. There was later a remaster of this album by Maor which came out to [=DR5=], but without much clipping this time. It has also been issued on vinyl, where it seems to have more dynamic range.

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: Several albums have been reissued with bonus material in varying formats. The most extravagant have typically been 3LP or 4LP reissues by Dark Symphonies. Several albums have also gotten 2CD reissues.
* LoudnessWar: [[http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=Sigh&album= Most of their recent albums to some extent]], but the two worst offenders: ''Hangman's Hymn'', at [=DR5=], and ''Scenes from Hell'', at [=DR4=]. Most of their [=CDs=] going back to ''Imaginary Sonicscape'' are pretty blatant victims, including remasters of their older material (the 2009 remaster of ''Scorn Defeat'', for example, is [=DR5=] compared to the original's [=DR12=], though the 2011 remaster is nicer at [=DR9=] on the first disc and [=DR8=] on the second); the original CD of ''Gallows Gallery'', at [=DR9=], is an exception, as is Blood Music's remaster, which is the first version of the album to get the sound right (The End's 2007 remaster, on the other hand, is a typical brickwalled mess at [=DR6=]). Additionally, while the albums going back to ''Infidel Art'' aren't as badly affected by this trope as a lot of recent material, there is still some clipping, though ''Scenario IV: Dread Dreams'' and ''Ghastly Funeral Theatre'' at least were given a lot of room to breathe at [=DR10=] and the clipping probably won't be noticeable to casual listeners. On the positive side, it is worth noting that there is a [=2CD=] reissue of ''Scenes from Hell'' with an alternate mastering of the album that is somewhat (although not radically) quieter, and several of the albums were given vinyl releases, which often have different masterings. As for the [=CDs=], ''Graveward'' is the first Sigh album since ''Gallows Gallery'' not to be badly clipped (although it is still brickwalled, at [=DR6=]).
* MetalScream: Both Mirai and Mika use this as their primary vocal style to the point where their vocals are usually pretty much indistinguishable. An exception to this is ''Gallows Gallery'', which contains entirely sung rather than screamed vocals. However, SopranoAndGravel is not uncommon on their recent black metal albums either, as clean vocals are used in a number of their songs since ''Scenario IV: Dread Dreams'', either with clean backing vocals (often female, as on "Diabolic Suicide", "Infernal Cries", "In the Mind of a Lunatic" "Scarlet Dream", "Ecstatic Transformation", and "Requiem Nostalgia") or with Mirai or guest vocalists providing sung vocals (see "Requiem - Nostalgia" (again), ''Hangman's Hymn'', and ''Graveward'').

* SopranoAndGravel: Most of their vocals are the typical MetalScream of black metal, but they use clean vocals on several albums as well. ("Requiem - Nostalgia" is a good example of this, as is nearly all of ''Hangman's Hymn''. ''Gallows Gallery'' is ''not'' an example as there aren't any HarshVocals on that album, except for bonus tracks).

* ProgressiveMetal: Many of their albums have elements of it. ''Infidel Art'' may be the best example, with an average song length of about eight minutes. ''Imaginary Sonicscape'' and ''In Somniphobia'', with their various multi-part suites, are also good examples.

* StylisticSuck: ''Scenes from Hell'' was given an intentionally lo-fi, claustrophobic production.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Frequent on their albums, but nowhere near so much as on ''Imaginary Sonicscape'', which could also pretty much be described as musical GenreRoulette, what with oddities like disco and dub reggae breaks being thrown into the middle of almost every song. Not to mention the obligatory classical snippet (an excerpt of Music/FryderykChopin's Minute Waltz) overlaid with what appears to be several hundred samples of giggling babies that closes the album. ''In Somniphobia'' probably doesn't carry this trope out quite as much as ''Imaginary Sonicscape'', but it's probably close.

* MetalScream: Both Mirai and Mika use this as their primary vocal style to the point where their vocals are usually pretty much indistinguishable. An exception to this is ''Gallows Gallery'', which contains entirely sung rather than screamed vocals. However, SopranoAndGravel is not uncommon on their recent black metal albums either, as clean vocals are used in a number of their songs since ''Imaginary Sonicscape''[='=]s "Requiem - Nostalgia", especially on ''Hangman's Hymn''.

* MoodWhiplash: They do this a lot. A prime example is on "Requiem - Nostalgia", which starts as a stately PowerBallad and ends with several hundred samples of what sound like giggling babies over a flippant classical snippet.
* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Frequent on their albums, but nowhere near so much as on ''Imaginary Sonicscape'', which could also pretty much be described as musical GenreRoulette, what with oddities like disco and dub reggae breaks being thrown into the middle of almost every song. Not to mention the obligatory classical snippet overlaid with what appears to be several hundred samples of giggling babies that closes the album. ''In Somniphobia'' probably doesn't carry this trope out quite as much as ''Imaginary Sonicscape'', but it's probably close.