Zygnema

Thrash metallers Zygnema have been one of the tightest live acts among the new crop of metal bands in the country in recent years, cutting loose on stage with ferocious energy and a killer stage act. But in terms of releases, the band have largely restricted themselves to a few singles and this album’s been in the offing for a while now.

Born of Unity is loosely themed around the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, that band’s flagship target of angst. Some of the numbers here are familiar from their live sets, like the ever popular ”˜59’ (which sounds strangely empty without the usual “who gives a fuck” chant back from the crowd), ”˜Scarface’ with angular but groovy riffs and the chugging ”˜Discriminate.’ But the better songs are the less heard ones. ”˜Into the Darkest Night’ is a scorcher of a track that builds up slowly and sludgily and discharges in a series of disharmonic guitar runs. There’s some twin-guitar attack attempted here which should be interesting to see live, considering Sidharth Kadadi is their sole guitarist. There’s a solo here too, which could have and should have been dispensed with, given how weak it is. ”˜National Disaster’ is a trifle uninspired, while ”˜Theory of Lies and Negation’ has a very Fear Factory influence. Sepultura and Pantera influences run strong through the album.

While the album is listenable enough, it suffers from two major drawbacks. One is that the lack of a second guitarist is clearly felt, both in the songwriting and the volume of the album. Sometimes song structures feel weak, repetitive and even empty in parts and the perspective of another guitarist might have changed that. The second, more keenly felt problem is that the live energy of the band is entirely missing and coupled with the songwriting, it makes the album a mite lacklustre. The band should consider a live album the next time around.

Key Tracks: ”˜Into the Darkest Night,’ ”˜Theory of Lies and Negation’