Sigh — Goh-Ka
Goh-Ka finds these Japanese experimental metal warriors in very fine form, with their genre blending magic at its most focused, technical, and inspired. The eleven-track album somehow manages to perfectly balance metal craft and moody-to- dramatic genre mixing, with often tuneful & decidedly groovy moments.
The album appears on Peaceville- coming as either a CD or a choice of different colour vinyl versions- I’m reviewing the CD. The disc comes presented in a four-panel digipak- for cover art, we have a rather grim, yet oddly mystical illustration of the decaying corpse of a woman in a flowery Kimono lying in a field of in-bloom flowers. The progression of the corpse's decay/ shifting seasons continues inside the release's inlay booklet, which is rather neat, though unfortunately we have only Japanese lyrics- so difficult to tie down what the songs are about.
The album kicks off with the just over nine minutes of “Kuso-shi 1, 2, and 3”. This shifts from early 80’s Tangerine Dream swoon ‘n’ swirl meets oriental string twang. Onto a mix of 80s metal chug & dramatic orchestral darts- with moments of organ simmer, piping flute melodies, and wailing ‘n’ tolling prog metal. With vocals that shift between bayed shouts & 70s J-pop sing-song, and dips into sudden jazzy piano runs, bombastic techno-edged rock topped with cackling baddie laughter.
As we move through the album, we come to “Kuso-shi 4, 5, and 6”. It shifts from uneasy blends of beaded electronics, dramatic drums, and synth-edged rock. To a mix of strummed/ clear guitars, gloomy/ swooning string stabs, bayed-shouty, effect-edged vocals, metallic riff slugs- with touches of acoustic guitar soloing, grooving organ runs, and climbing 70s rock grandness. There’s “Jinmenjushin”, which begins sounding like a twanging oriental stringed instrument meets moodily metal reinterpretation of the theme from a James Bond film. Before taking off into a galloping mix of simmering organ, bounding drums, dark rock churn, and a mix of male ‘n’ female vocals- with sidelines into synth prog/ raising choral chants.
Really, whichever song you land on Goh-Ka, you’re guaranteed a dramatic, wonderfully crafted, and shifting example of metal-edged genre blending of the highest level. Easily one of the metal highlights of 2026, and one of the band's truly great albums.