ALBUM REVIEW: Genesis – Arogya

Emerging as India’s first ever synth-rock band, AROGYA combine a wide range of influences on their record Genesis. The first of their material to be sung in English, the band draws heavily from the world of popular metal but adds in more out of left-field elements to their overall package like synths and visual kei stylistic choices. Though the record sounds big thanks to these combinations of inspiration, it never hits the bullseye with these elements and this makes it forgettable.

The opening three tracks on Genesis set the stage entirely for the rest of the record’s runtime. Titled Sky Afar, Broken and Dust, all three tracks follow a formula that you soon learn is very much the same from cover to cover. Combine arena-style metal riffs and choruses (think Vice Grip by PARKWAY DRIVE) with some synths and stripped back verses that give way to the big arena-style moments and that’s how the majority of the songs here play out. There are plenty of cases where this exact formula has been done brilliantly, something along the lines of Hybrid Theory as just one example. Here, it does have promise but this ultimately falls short.

When the tracks all follow such a repetitive pattern, the quality of songs from AROGYA has to hold up. The more metal leaning sections are few and far between but serve as great bursts of energy between the very sweet synths and laid-back verses. When those big choruses come around, they don’t feel earned and the catchy melodies aren’t there to back up that goal of sounding as big as possible. As previously mentioned, the record’s first half does leave some room for excitement due to the combination of elements on show here. As it goes on, you soon find that the quality of songs is just not here to support that investment.

These moments of potential promise fade away as the record goes on. A lot of the exciting elements are relegated to the background and this quickly lessens their impact. A lot of the sharpness here has been rounded off by the synth work and verses and this just adds to the constant steady pace of the record which makes it feel so predictable in the second half aside from a handful of moments. Even these moments are given such a short time before the track gives way to another verse or chorus that it feels like you’ve already heard, dragging the pace down once again.

Genesis is an album that heavily relies on the strength of its songs, as the majority of them follow the exact same formula. Without memorable moments, ideas or melodies here, this means that the album falls a little flat, especially as the runtime goes on and that potential fades. For a band with a clear idea of what they want to be sonically and visually, none of the individual elements here are of strong enough in quality to hold the record up.

Rating: 5/10

Genesis is out now via Out Of Line Music.

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