Which country is between France and Spain and has a little Metal history? The answer is Andorra! NAMI is a band from Andorra. The members of NAMI for three years have been crafting their sound in the shadows of the Pyrenees Mountains, isolated, contained, and hidden from the rest of an unsuspecting world, they have been preparing to unveil their debut recording...A progressive miracle or something common? I think the first is much more possible... Where have these guys been? Andorra has now a better metal history!

The album's construction itself is of nature, with the five middle songs nicknamed (Earth), (Fire), (The Link), (Air), and (Water) respectively. For a debut, this shows a great deal of thought put into the album and its aims. Even for an experienced band, the inner workings of "Fragile Alignments" are, as the album's title suggests, fragile.

The album started with the instrumental "Awakening from Lethargy" the slow dreamy guitar riffs build into a theatrical and emotional intro to the album. "Oppression and Understanding (Fire)" came like a bullet in my head. Melodic Death Metal, progressive and acoustic tendencies as OPETH and adding in a layer of MESHUGGAH riffing and polyrhythm but also have its own identity. This was my favorite from the album. By the time NAMI had progressed to "The Growing (Earth)" I was definitely as invested in the album as one should be. Vocalist Roger Andreu has a great growl that actually is quite reminiscent of Mikael Ãkerfeldt in tone and extremity, but he also has a very unique clean vocal approach that I can't really compare to anyone else. Bassist Ricard Tolosa's tone is round, pronounced, and solid during "Cosmical Beginning (Air)" especially Tolosa's winding bass lines echo and accent the angular riffs with great ease. Sergi Verdeguer masters complex cymbal arrangements and patterned breakdowns, all of which have a particular alignment in each of the musical movements. Yet, Sergi knows how to slow down the groove and take the song in a smoother direction. The "Conscience of the Void (Water)" told me that the NAMI's music it's full of rich textures and melodies, innovative song structures and a lot of other niceties that should make any adept of modern progressive metal drool of sheer pleasure. There was not better conclusion of the album than the "The Pattern" a 70s song! Guitarists Bernat Argemí and Filipe Baldaia play like the best guitarists of popular Metal bands, and yet, are much less famous.  Mixed and mastered by legendary producer Jens Brogen (OPETH, AMON AMARTH) "Fragile Alignments" has constructed a journey that is rich with emotion and forged by a legitimate heaviness...

Interested in a new Progressive Metal experience? Or perhaps just some fresh travel? Visit NAMI's "Fragile Alignments". You just might get lost, as I did, in an unfamiliar, beautiful musical experience.