Customer Reviews

Out Loud

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Naio Ssaion comes from Slovenia. Slovenia is a small country high in the Alps, with a very small Mediterranean shoreline. It was historically part of the Kingdom of Hungary inside the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It borders Austria, Croatia, Hungary, and Italy.

That may seem like a strange way to start a review but placing the country helps make sense of the band. Naio Ssaion's style is metal, but it's the metal of the Austrian-German tradition (as opposed to the Dutch-Scandinavian tradition). Its songs are often catchy but generally have 4/4 time signatures and conventional rock structures. It's a female-fronted band that uses occasional death growls for color. Much of this will be familiar to readers of this review.

But . . . Naio Ssaion features a violin. While many symphonic metal bands make use of classic violin, Rok Kolar plays his electric violin in a hard fiddling style. Much of his work reminds me of gypsy-influenced Hungarian songs. Both his solos and much of his countermelody playing have a kind of foot-stomping Csarda feel to them. Again, this is in a metal band in the German-Austrian tradition.

Lead vocals are sung by Barbara Jedovnicky, who does a good job but she's not in the top tier of female metal leads. Having said that, Jedovnicky has a singing style that reminds me of Christina Scabbia's normal singing voice (Scabbia does some different things in higher registers that Jedovnicky doesn't do). Remember, Slovenia borders Italy as well as Austria and Hungary, and that completes our geography of musical influences.

I don't think Jedovnicky sounds at all like Amy Lee, by the way, despite what some other reviewers say. Listen to her in the European context instead of the American one.

But now, back to the band. Metal with a female lead and a crazy fiddler, playing rock and roll. It all works. It's interesting, and at times impressive. Check it out.

I was drifting around myspace one day and came upon Naio Ssaion's page. I listened to each of the 4 songs on their site and was impressed enough to download Out Loud. I was suprised to find even more great songs on it. So much that I couldn't find a single song that I didn't like. That's a rarity even with my favorite bands. I listened this CD several times over the next week, and finally had to buy it as well as a band shirt. Its that good. I'm even trying to get ahold of their debut album, Numedia.

Yes, some will compare them to Evanescence. Really the only similarities are female vocals in a rock band. As has been mentioned before, the electric violin adds quite a lot. Even without it though, Naio Ssaion still has a different, faster, and slightly more complex sound vs Evanescence.

Singer Barbara Jedovnicky has a great voice and manages to change things up from song to song to keep things fresh to the end of the CD. Speaking of which, the last song is "Out of the Great Book of Fairytales". An amazing piece lyrically and musically.

Out Loud is an example of how good modern rock an be.

When I first listened to "Out Loud" by Naio Ssaion, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Heck, I didn't even know what to call it. "Out Loud" straddles the line between alternative rock, power metal, and symphonic metal, or perhaps it's something else entirely.

Anyway, as I've listened to it more, it's grown on me. The weakest part of the album is probably the guitar work, which is played in low-toned staccato style that's almost relentless at times. If they do another album, I'd like to see a wider range of guitar-playing styles. That said, the use of the electric violin by Rok Kolar *really* livens things a lot, making the music quite fun.

And the vocals of Barbara Jedovnicky are simply brilliant. She has a surprisingly strong voice that is effectively used in a wide range of styles, and she sings with a lot of energy. Her voice is probably the highlight of the album. Stand-out tracks include "The Mirror" and "Bow Link in E minor". "Static", "Miss You", "Shut Up", "Blah-Blah", "Blind Date", "Can't Hear You", and "At Ease" are also quite good.

Naio Ssaion isn't the best female-fronted rock band out there, but they're quite good. "Out Loud" is worth a listen. 4 stars.

What separates this band from Evanescence (besides geography-these guys are from Slovenia) is mainly the structural song arrangements, the inclusion of a violin, and a few industrial/progressive/gothic parts. Otherwise, you'd swear this is Evanescence's experimental follow-up album. But in the end this is Melodic Hard Rock with many catchy hooks/choruses and songs that could easily be played on the radio. The role of the violin here is just as vital as the role of a guitar, dominating throughout the record and enhancing the music. Without it, this record would probably be extremely unoriginal. Basic, yet energetic female vocals keep the flow of the music listenable. There are some brilliant musical passages like in the song "Shut Up" (1:46-2:14), as well as silly male verbal chants (like on "Blah Blah" 2:56-3:10), but overall the harmlessness and accessibility of the material is enough to satisfy the open-minded ear.

Many of the songs remind me of Lennon (the woman, not the Beatle... she was named after him). Sure, there's some similarity to Evanescence, especially because of the rather pervasive and heavy nu-metal sound throughout the album. The violin definitely adds an interesting element. While the album isn't flawless, it's an interesting start and is worth at least a listen.

To hear someone describe their music, it just sounds unappealing. But that's where it ends. Their blend of music, with acoustic instruments, and that WONDERFUL violin. It's musical perfection. The lyrics are powerful. And the instruments blend perfectly. It's amazing. Give it a listen! The Mirror, Teen, and Miss You are by far my three favorites.

I dunno what the folks below are talking about. Voting to balance it out. One weird thing I noticed is that all the songs are well mixed except for The Mirror. Granted this was from Yahoo! Music and all of the other tracks have the same mixing. Everything is kind of muddled and not much range on the one track.

I too was also shocked by the bad reviews this has gotten. Naio Ssaion do sound like a cross between Evanescence and Lullacry, but what makes them unique to me is the use of violin in every song. I know other bands such as Tristania, Sirenia and the Sins of Thy Beloved use violins as well, but not in every song. Though, Naio SSaion definitely has room to grow and improve this is a solid US debut. It's fun to listen to and is catchy. Some of the best songs are "Shut Up," being my favorite, "N.SS," "Miss You," "Blind Date" and "At Ease." There is a lot of variety on this album. I never hear a song and think, "Wasn't this the first track?" I can't wait to hear more from this talented band. "Out Loud" shows definite potential and I would highly recommend this to any fan of Evanescence, Lullacry or Lacuna Coil.

I don't understand the bad reviews that this band is getting. I even bought it before reading the reviews. Luckily, I bought this CD just because the cover had a female vocalist and noticed a violin player. I didn't know what this band was all about but bought it because i'm into female fronted bands, the symphonic & gothic metal genre. I thought maybe they might be in the symphonic metal genre since they had a violin player but not quit after listening. At first play i thought they sounded pretty cool, and after a few more plays i was hooked. Barbara (vocalist) sounds so beautiful, the guitars are heavy and melodic, and the violin just fits with it. The music sounds more gothic metal but not really dark. I would say a cross between Evanescence and Lullacry. "The Mirror" is the best song in my opinion followed by "Shut Up". I actually enjoy the first 7 tracks, but overall the album is so good that they're my 3rd favorite female fronted metal bands behind Nightwish & Lacuna Coil and just infront of Evanescence. For those who are into female fronted metal bands, symphonic metal, and gothic metal...I highly recommend this album. I can't wait for more to come from this great band!!!

This five male, one female band from Slovenia fails to find an audience in their debut album. 'Out Loud' contains - 13 tracks -each piece almost indistinguishable from the next. The only way to tell that one song has ended and the second is about to begin is by the momentary pause between tracks. A little variation in song selection is recommended, nobody can survive in music long with a one dimensional sound.

Positives; Barbara Jedovnicky has a strong voice that's somewhat similar to Amy Lee of Evanescene. She should be allowed to explore her vocal range more fully in their next album/CD, if there is one.