Artist: Nami
Title: Fragile Alignments
Genre: Progressive Metal
Release Date: 1st September 2011
Label: Kaiowas Records / Season of Mist / Klonosphere
Album Review
Andorra is the home of NAMI, where they’ve spent some time in seclusion, concentrating on the creation of their debut album, ‘Fragile Alignments’. Their sound is thick and leans onto Progressive edge to Djent side of Metal, with its inspirations raging from OPETH, MESHUGGAH, PORCUPINE TREE, CYNIC and GOJIRA. I’m also reminded somewhat of ISIS and TOOL, and some of PINK FLOYD.
The album opens with nature sounds behind a more classically sounding guitar, a beautiful beginning to ensnare you into their brand of music, with an aptly named song ‘Awakening From Lethargy’. The melody built into it is quite superb. With the second song you’re out of fragile beauty into the harsher territory, though throughout the album, beauty there will be aplenty. The relentless riffs squeeze you right into being growled at. The album purports to tell a story of Man on his journey and his struggles with surrounding nature towards his enlightenment. The story is not pushed on the listener in a linear fashion, which allows the listener to reshuffle the tracks to get different interpretation, which reminds me of TOOL’s ‘Lateralus’ album reconstruction into ‘Holy Gift’.
I love that even if it’s conceptual it leaves enough space for each listener to find their own interpretation and have their own thoughts. Of course this makes it more appealing to those fans who still like to exercise their gray matter and those who still possess an inquisitive mind in this dumb down age. ‘The Growing - Earth’ has a wonderful balance of clean vocals and growling, the softer and harsher edges come together within music in contrasts or as the album title would have it, fragile alignments. It does truly “nails” the whole album, not just conceptually, but musically too when it comes with combining the polyrhythmic riffs, the progressive song structures, atmosphere build ups, knowing when to intensify and let go, the way the clean vocals and growls correspond, juxtapose and complement each other and the story they tell, and so on...
This album offers rich listening experience, it’s superbly layered and filled with invites to re-listen and find something new and enriching, which is something I truly enjoy whenever music offers this gift. This is a debut album and its accomplished nature, attention to detail is remarkable and impressive. They bring together many elements that I enjoy about Progressive music, be it its Rock or Metal, and the subgenres of Metal (Djent, if just to mention one) into music that sounds intense, engaging - and to sum it up shortly - great and rewarding!
Tracklist
01. Awakening From Lethargy – 4.23
02. The Inner Man: Materia – 6.24
03. The Growing – Earth – 8.02
04. Oppression And Understanding – Fire – 5.41
05. Loop Of Truth (The Link) – 6.42
06. Cosmical Beginning – Air – 8.57
07. Conscience Of The Void (From Oblivion to the Renew) – 9.09
08. The Inner Man: Antimateria – 6.33
09. The Pattern – 4.06
Line-up
Roger Andreu – Vocals
Bernat Argemi – Guitars
Filipe Baldaia – Guitars
Ricard Tolosa – Bass
Sergi Verdeguer – Drums
Websites
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10
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