HAIL HORROR HAIL

Within the musical landscapes of Hail Horror Hail, Sigh breaks with tradition in almost every song concerning the ultra-serious black metal genre by tossing in some unexpected elements that not only add variety and depth to the proceedings, but, in my case at least, lots of humour (intentional or not) as well. It's not like the band isn't trying to play good black metal of the first generational variety (Venom and early Celtic Frost as opposed to the Norwegian stuff of the early 90s) with added symphonic elements, it just seems like they can't help but throw in something really off the wall somewhere in many of their tracks...unique for sure, but not always fitting. That isn't to say this album is not an artistic accomplishment...it certainly is...but it's not for all tastes, including many fans of black metal who would scowl and curse the night sky at the xylophone melodies in "Curse of Izanagi" or the keyboard runs mimicking a saxophone in "12 Souls".

What helps make this album work is the seeming seriousness of the lyrics. They are the typical evil sadistic and devil worshipping variety of verse, shrieked out with abandon by Mirai to the point where he sometimes sounds like he's exhausted towards the end of certain tracks. This, along with the doom influenced black metal template they follow sets the landscape. The goofy things such as the slo-mo robotic vocals and bombastic cheesy and rather happy sounding symphonic passages are like a giant rump in the sky...something that shouldn't be there, but it is, and it's up to you to decide what to think.

Two songs deserve special mention. The opening track is a killer. It plays more like a doomy hard rock track with a powerful guitar sound and some serious kick-ass blues solos. Blues solos! The lyrics are dark, but the music is so much fun that it reminds me that Satan hasn't often been so groovy since Black Widow's Sacrifice. The other track is "Invitation To Die". It's a one-of-a-kind for sure as Mirai shrieks and rasps over beautiful, sweet and peaceful synthesizer melodies. It's ridiculous, yet ridiculously entertaining. Although the rest of the album isn't quite at that level of insanity, it's an interesting yet somewhat bizarre piece of artwork.

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