{"id":335603,"date":"2025-12-09T23:48:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T23:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/335603\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T23:48:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T23:48:07","slug":"sigh-i-saw-the-worlds-end-hangmans-hymn-mmxxv-things-you-might-have-missed-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/335603\/","title":{"rendered":"Sigh – I Saw the World’s End – Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Before we start\u2026 yes. Yes, we received I Saw the World\u2019s End \u2013 Hangman\u2019s Hymn MMXXV on time back when it was released this past June. There was a debate behind the scenes whether a complete remake of Sigh\u2019s seventh full-length from 2007, Hangman\u2019s Hymn, justifies a full-length review. At the end of the day, newer, current bands and releases that were created in 2025 needed precedence, and thus a remake of a classic album, one that many feel didn\u2019t necessarily need one, took a backseat. In doing so, many people slept on it and decided to move on. Which would be a shame, as not only does I Saw the World\u2019s End sound a hell of a lot better than the original, it improves upon it in almost every aspect.<\/p>\n

What Sigh mainman\/bassist\/vocalist Mirai Kawashima possessed in 2007 was a plethora of ideas and a hunger to see them to fruition. The Mirai of 2025 still possesses those qualities, but also now has a backing band to see them come to life, and the results are a jaw-dropping improvement. Former guitarist Shinichi Ishikawa and former drummer Junichi Harashima weren\u2019t slouches when Hangman\u2019s Hymn was originally released, but current guitarist Nozomu Wakai and session drummer Mike Heller (Malignancy, ex-Fear Factory) bring so much more to the table creatively. The revamp of \u201cMe-Devil\u201d sees Wakai turn the chorus from a straight-ahead thrash riff to a near-blackened assault. His solos are also a massive departure over Ishikawa\u2019s, soaring as opposed to just being a placeholder.<\/p>\n

\ufeffI Saw The World End (Hangman\u2019s Hymn MMXXV) by Sigh<\/a><\/p>\n

And Heller? Seriously, just listen to \u201cIntroitus\/Kyrie\u201d of 2025 and compare that to the original. While the original kept a straight-ahead marching attack, Heller\u2019s variety, speed, and skill elevate the song, with rolling tom flourishes, blasts, and fill after glorious fill highlighting Kawashima\u2019s songwriting genius. Elsewhere, his near-militaristic take on \u201cThe Memories as a Sinner,\u201d combined with Wakai\u2019s shred-tastic soloing, turns the song into a much meaner tune. In fact, what both men bring to the reworking of Hangman\u2019s Hymn is such a vastly superior improvement that showcasing a few examples was difficult, when they\u2019re all impressive.<\/p>\n

\"\"
It doesn\u2019t hurt that the Lasse Lammert production cleans things up where they\u2019re needed (especially in the bass and live brass instrumentation), and beefs things up where necessary (the drums and guitars). The vocals of Kawashima and his wife, Dr. Mikannibal (who joined just after the original was released), also cut through with alarming clarity and focus, often playing off each other\u2019s delivery. Sure, some of the original\u2019s hiccups remain (I\u2019m still trying to wrap my head around Kawashima\u2019s impish Baby Ms. Piggy-like vocals in the choruses of \u201cInked in Blood,\u201d but I recognize that that\u2019s a Me Thing), but everything else answers why Kawashima would choose to rework an album that\u2019s already a classic in many people\u2019s eyes. While I loved the original, I Saw the World\u2019s End is several notches above it; it\u2019s frightening. After all, I would take this over a poorly-produced, massively downgraded redux any day of the week.<\/p>\n

Tracks to Check Out: This really is a \u201csit and absorb\u201d kind of album, so sit and absorb it, will ya?<\/p>\n

\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before we start\u2026 yes. Yes, we received I Saw the World\u2019s End \u2013 Hangman\u2019s Hymn MMXXV on time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[975,113205,49,48,75,93671,147464,147465,117908,147466,341,34264,147467,147468,136363],"class_list":{"0":"post-335603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-975","9":"tag-avant-garde-metal","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-fear-factory","14":"tag-hangmans-hymn-mmxxv","15":"tag-i-saw-the-worlds-end","16":"tag-japanese-metal","17":"tag-malignancy","18":"tag-music","19":"tag-pallbearer","20":"tag-peaceville-records","21":"tag-sigh","22":"tag-things-you-might-have-missed-2025"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}