Sigh - Scenes from Hell

I'm notoriously bad at keeping up with new music these days.  Most of what I've bought this year has been out for a while.  In fact I've been keeping track - the average release date of albums that I've bought in 2010 is 1990.91.  (For reference, the average release date of my entire physical collection is 1997.09 - I've realized relatively recently that a lot of older music is better).

I picked up Scenes from Hell a few months ago since I wanted to hear something that was released this year, and I've been hearing people sing the praises of Sigh for years now.  Except for hearing a couple songs from Imaginary Sonicscapes once or twice, I'm totally new to the band.

Sigh seems to be one of these bands who are self-consciously eclectic.  I tend not to like that trait in music.  Particularly in metal, it seems that eclecticism can be the "easy" alternative to developing a unique yet cohesive sound.  I'm not saying that that's the case with Sigh, but it's certainly a bias on my part that colors how I hear the album.

Instrumentally, there are a lot of interesting ideas on this album.  I'm not going to go through and single things out, but there's no lack of creativity.  So far though, I can't say any it has connected with me on any emotional or deep level.

The main issue I have with this album is the inclusion, on most tracks, of an ultra-catchy, melodic chorus.  Sigh tends to be described as an avante-garde or experimental metal band, but in a way the structure of the compositions is conventional.  The vibe I get when listening to the catchy melody that pops up several times in "The Red Funeral", for example, is not so dissimilar to the happy-go-lucky metal of Finntroll or Rhapsody.  I like listening to both of those bands in the right mood, but I think of them more as entertainment than as art.  I guess what I'm really asking is whether all the so-called experimentalism is nothing but an aesthetic icing on a cake of catchy metal.

This gets back to what I was saying about eclecticism in metal.  I'm not sure that there's anything truly experimental or avant garde about this album.  If it's just supposed to be a catchy, fun album, then that's fine.  But it seems like it's supposed to be more.

It occurs to me as I'm writing this that I almost seem to be arguing from a viewpoint where art and fun are mutually exclusive.  Clearly I need to go back to listening to Under a Funeral Moon.