Naily – Cold Of The Crucified’s Heart

Little known outside of their homeland of Russia, Naily isn’t an easy band to find information on as most of it is in the language of the Mother Land. So, and this is an honest offer, if anyone out there has any back story on them, please feel free to share.

On that note, I’d like to add that since all of the song titles and lyrics are in Russian, the album name and song titles listed here are rough translations that I looked up on a translator website. Thanks to rustran.org for these translations.

Anyhow, without much story to write about, let’s get right into it.

As soon as the dark, brooding introduction leads way to “For You,” the album’s proper opening track, it’s pretty clear that yes, these guys are a metalcore band who just happen to have Russian vocals.

Now, moving onto the important part. While Crucifiction, is through and through a metalcore album, how Naily goes about their execution is what sets the band apart from their much more well known American counterparts. Gone are the extremely formulaic structures typically consisting of heavy verse-clean chorus-heavy verse-clean chorus-bridge-breakdown-chorus-slightly altered chorus that permeate the likes of All That Remains and Killswitch Engage. I mean no disrespect to either band because their structures work for them, but it does get old. Where Naily succeeds however, is their blatant disregard of the typicalities of the genre. Like the thrash bands of old, many of their songs are very riff heavy, while others may contain fast rhythms and blazing guitars laying a backdrop for an entire song of vocals that could fit into the context of a ballad, were it not for the fact that the second you were to open your mouth to utter the “b” word, the ferocious drumming and pounding bass would quickly shear off your tongue and urinate in your pancakes…just for good measure. No one likes pissy pancakes. At other times the formula is flipped; the music will take a slow, dark, and brooding approach underneath the vocals which will just happen to be dripping with rage and ferocity. Sometimes they even skip a bridge altogether or use a continual three section structure, on an unusual timing no less. No matter what the case, Naily at first listen will not sound like anything unique or special, but this is a very rare case where you absolutely must look deeper than the surface of the pond to find the true merits of the album.

And that, unfortunately, is the album’s biggest drawback. Most will listen to the first verse and chorus of “For You” and dismiss the album just as I mentioned earlier – another metalcore record with Russian vocals. Whether it’s due to lack of attention span, or a general reluctance to accept something that falls within a generally disavowed genre these days, this is not an album you can simply pay half of your attention to while beating up big, digitally sweaty dudes in the latest WWE game (or shooting big, really sweaty, Hot Pocket infested dudes online in Halo 3, as the case may be) and really get the full experience out of it. Other than that, I really can not think of anything else to criticize. All of the music is extremely well written, the album flows as naturally as it can to someone who doesn’t understand the vocals, and as I mentioned before, the song progressions and writing style are both very atypical for the metalcore genre.

This is an album that needs to be heard. Filled to the brim with excellent songwriting, heavy, well though out riffing, and infectious melodies (I mean that in a good way, I promise), this is an album worth owning for any metal fan. Some will likely see the metalcore tag and immediately dismiss this record. Which, mind you, is understandable because it’s a stagnating genre. But give this album a listen. It won’t change your feelings on the genre as a whole, but every style has its diamond in the rough, and Crucifiction is nothing if not that. So check it out, you just may find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Score: 9.5/10

Release Date: 2008
Record Label:
Produced By:
Sounds Like: All That Remains with bits of Killswitch Engage and Unearth
First Single: Forever

Recommended Downloads: For You, Among Grey Fires, Alone With The Sky

Naily is:

Vocals: Alexx W. Crow
Guitar: Dimm.Ave.N
Bass: Z-Skin
Drums: William
Synth: Chips

Track Listing:
01. All…
02. For You
03. Forever
04. Among Grey Fires
05. After The Rain
06. Warm Me
07. Paradise Of The Crucified Hearts
08. Cold
09. 43 Seconds
10. Alone With The Sky
11. Mirrors
12. Not To Return…

(+12 rating, 3 votes)

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