As soon as this gig was announced, there were serious excited ripples in the extreme metal underground, with tickets disappearing quickly and people travelling a long way to catch Sigh on a rare outing in the UK, in the lead up to their set at ArcTanGent festival, in the intimate confines of Leeds’ Boom. As if that wasn’t enough, UK black metallers The Infernal Sea were added to the bill making this unmissable.

Boom is something of a hidden gem on the Northern gig circuit. It has grown and undergone a lot of work in the past couple of years, but the main gig area is essentially still a glorified cellar space holding about 250 people (I’m guessing).

The venue has a strong DIY ethic and hosts a variety of metal, punk and hardcore shows. The stage is low, there are no barriers, there are no security in front of the stage and the band have to walk through the crowd to get to the stage. This is about as “real” and intimate as it gets.

As soon as doors opened, there was a huge queue for the merch and it looked as though pretty much everyone there was after a Sigh shirt. I decided to come back to the merch later and made my way to the main room instead, eager to grab a spot near the stage.

The room quickly filled as The Infernal Sea lanterns cast an eerie green glow as anticipation began to build. There were also plague doctor masks hanging either side off the stage, and I found myself wondering about the ironic relevance of these given the current MPox outbreak.

Before long, the band appeared and pushed their way through the packed crowd and took up their positions on stage. Decked out in their trademark masks and robes, and with the vocalist also sporting a red priest’s stole, emblazoned with The Infernal Sea logo, the band cut an imposing presence of stage.

A ferocious ‘Lord Abhorrent’ got things going, and cemented just how good this song is – vicious and yet melodic and really gets into your head. Blasts of smoke and green lights kept the band in a haze for large portions of the set adding to the enigma.

We stayed with the latest album for ‘Shadow of the Beast’ and ‘Witchfinder’ before going back in time for ‘Way of the Wolf’ and ‘Agents of Satan’. The Infernal Sea have really grown in profile in recent years and it is easy to see why.

These venomous tracks are delivered with precision and yet are absolutely pummelling. The onslaught was brought to a close with ‘Bastard of the East’. This had been a short, sharp raid to the North for The Infernal Sea, and left the crowd wanting more. With each show, their reputation is growing and I expect big things from this band.

After a short turn around, and with the room now absolutely rammed, Sigh opened their set. Wearing a mixture of Japanese robes and Samurai attire and using corpse paint and blood on some members, the band were a perfect visualisation of their avant-garde, extreme/black metal and their Japanese heritage.

There were also two children on the stage (I suspect Dr. Mikannibal’s), wearing large ear defenders and a small amount of ‘blood’ on their faces. They provided some backing vocals and tentatively smiled and threw the horns at the crowd during the show.

After a few tracks from the latest album, ‘Shiki’, we went way back in time to 1993 and ‘A Victory of Dakini’. The base of the sound is black metal, but there were also flutes and saxophones being used, as well as mixture of vocal styles, and vocalists, giving this a unique feel.

With a promise to only play fast ones from now onwards, the band launched into ‘The Soul Grave’. Dr. Mikannibal went crowd surfing at a couple of points during the show, the second time with a chalice full of ‘blood’, which she poured over her face while lying on top of the crowd, to the delight of those supporting her.

The set was eventually closed after an hour or so, with a cover of Venom’s ‘Black Metal’, which had everyone in the room singing along.

The night had flown by, and had really been one to remember. This will go down in history as one of those ‘I was there’ gigs, and rightly so. Let’s hope Sigh return before too long.

Review and Photos: Andy Pountney