Naio Ssaion - Out Loud

The Metal Chick

In the Dragon's Den
Mar 31, 2003
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Naio Ssaion - Out Loud
Napalm Records - NPR178 - Jan. 31, 2006
by Amanda J. Carlson
NaioSaion.jpg


I never expected a band from Slovenia of all places to rock this much. This six-piece includes a female singer with an amazing voice, as well as a violinist to add the characteristic Middle Eastern flavor. I hesitate in classifying Naio Ssaion as a metal band as I cannot overlook the sometimes poppy feel, but there’s no denying that when they heavy it up, it’s great metal.

It is the vocals that immediately hook me, and like a good book, makes me want to keep listening. The combination of violin and unique drumming mesmerizes as it flows hand in hand with the overall melody. "The Mirror" is one of the first songs with that radio-friendly undertone, but there’s no hiding the fact that I can’t get enough of it. The guitars on "Miss You" remind me a lot of Lacuna Coil with a bit of Moonspell mixed in. The violin takes a beautiful step to the forefront in the instrumental, "Bow Link in E Minor," which feels like a perfect connection between classical styles and metal. It isn’t until about the middle of the disc that things go downhill; it sounds as if they wanted to write a couple of really wacked out tunes as a breakaway from the seriousness that makes them so good. Throw in a bit of rap and a pinch of techno and you end up with songs like the one entitled, "Blah-blah." After that brief derailment, though, they present another quality batch of songs to round out this overall solid album.

Naio Ssaion operates on this motto: "If we don’t like to play it live, it won’t make it on the album." I can only imagine how strong of a performance they’d put on with these tunes. I’m happy I got this promo to review; it has introduced me to a great band I most likely would have never found otherwise. I highly recommend that anyone into female-fronted rock/metal bands check this out.

8/10

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