The End Records has set June 12th as the release date for the 7th studio album from groundbreaking Japanese act SIGH, titled Hangman’s Hymn.'

About the new album, frontman Mirai Kawashima says, "This is by far the best Sigh album we have done - from the production to the songwriting. We're proud of the results. We hope our fans embrace what we have done with our music this time around as their support has always been great for Sigh."

Next month the band will play this year's Inferno Festival, which is scheduled to take place April 5th - 7th at the Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Norway. Other bands scheduled to play include a reunited IMMORTAL, ZYKLON, SUFFOCATION and TIAMAT. At that event the newest member of Sigh, saxophone player Mikannibal, will make her live debut of the band.

Says the singer of the new member, "She's truly musically talented. She plays the saxophone really well and she's a real good singer too. Moreover, she's the craziest woman I've ever met." To see a picture of Mikannibal, click here.

In other news, Sigh is planning a mid-summer tour of North America in support of the new album.

"We are excited about coming over to play North America again," he comments. "The timing of the tour is perfect. Hope to see you all on tour!" The final tracklisting for the album is: Act1 - 'Introitus/Kyrie', 'Inked In Blood', 'Me-Devil'. Act2 - 'Dies Irae/The Master Malice', 'The Memories As A Sinner', 'Death With Dishonor', 'In Devil's Arms'. Act3 - 'Overture/Rex Tremendae/I Saw The World's End', 'Salvation In Flame/Confutatis', 'Finale: Hangman's Hymn/In Paradisum/Das Ende'.

The album was recorded at Studio Moopies with engineer Takamichi Osada and the band handling production duties. The album features guest appearances from:

- Rob Urbinati (SACRIFICE) - guitar solo on the track 'The Master Malice'
- Aurielle Gregory (ex-GIANT SQUID) - female vocals on the track 'The Master Malice'
- Tim Conroy (ex-Giant Squid) – trumpet used/manipulated on various tracks
- Steven Sagala (ENFORSAKEN) – vocals used/manipulated on various tracks

An mp3 for the song 'Death With Dishonour' has been made available for dowload here.