strange

The mysteriously monikered “I Bow Candles” (an obvious wordplay on I Blow Candles) are a UK/Greek trio, (featuring members of Versus Heaven and Wild Machine among others), that performs a very odd and eccentric, one could even say eclectic, mix of rock music, with many bizarre elements tossed into the mix. There are electronic parts, acoustic parts, eerie keys, odd rhythmical parts, off key and off the wall pseudo-choirs, nursery rhymes and rather paradoxically executed over the top vocals that, intentionally, seem to verge on salacity and have often a sarcastic, off-key character. All intertwined, they remind of a very obnoxious but strangely alluring mix between the Mars Volta and the Tiger Lillies.
 

Sigh have been around for over 20 years. Although they’re coming from Japan, they managed to overcome all those difficulties that a non-European or US band was facing at the time and become a respectful name in the metal scene. The band’s black metal days have long gone but that does not mean that they lost those extreme metal elements they had since the beginning in any case. It is true that every new album from this band is a surprise… not matter if you dig it or not. I still remember when I listened to “Imaginary Sonicscape” back in 2001… how impressed I was by the band’s creativity and skills. Perhaps, this is the band’s best work up to now.