Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
For almost two decades, Genghis Tron bandleaders Michael Sochynsky and Hamilton Jordan have gazed into the future and imagined what the world would look like after the extinction of our species— an outcome that has long troubled but also inspired them to steer the pioneering outfit in breaking new ground with each successive release. With their fourth full-length album “Signal Fire” (out on June 12), co-produced and mixed by Seth Manchester (Model/Actriz, Battles, Big Brave), Genghis Tron awaken us from the post-apocalyptic daydreams of their previous work with a violent— and most welcome —shove.
Roaring onto the scene in 2004 with a uniquely demented blend of extreme metal, synthesizer textures, and drum-machine madness, Genghis Tron are no strangers to making a forceful impression. But Signal Fire marks the first time the band– joined again by Wolski and Nick Yacyshyn (SUMAC) on drums, plus newcomer Kenny Szymanski (The Armed) on bass– has captured this level of urgency with such visceral precision.
The album’s latest single “Born Prey” navigates deftly through Genghis Tron’s classic sonic touchpoints: furious blastbeats, electronic breaks, haunting vocal earworms, and a towering synth-pop crescendo.
The band comments on “Born Prey”: “We’re proud to share our first true ripper since ‘Board Up The House’ (2008). We still love making bonkers-ass abrasive music, and after ‘Dream Weapon’ (2021)—which was very focused on creating a hypnotic and ethereal experience—we couldn’t pass up a second opportunity to let Nick Yacyshyn let loose on the drums and shred some blasts. But that’s just the first 60 seconds! Then the song takes a left turn and goes somewhere completely different, and by the time you get to the end, you’ll have no idea how you got there. It’s a good window into ‘Signal Fire,’ which to our ears is the most varied and exploratory album we’ve ever made.”
Twenty years into their career, having proven their ability to forge common ground between Ministry and Aphex Twin, between Brutal Truth and Boards Of Canada, between Cluster and Converge, ugly-beautiful new genre hybrids from Genghis Tron no longer come as a surprise. What’s remarkable, however, is how Sochynsky and Jordan have taken a project that started in 2004 as a dorm-room genre-pastiche experiment —”a chaotic, wild amalgamation of all our favorite stuff, literally slammed together,” says Jordan—and refined their songwriting craft to deliver a sound that is unmistakably their own. Sochynsky and Jordan acknowledge that their approach to songwriting is, at its core, the same it has always been: trading ideas, whether on synths, programmed beats, or guitars. The crucial difference is that Genghis Tron now sounds like, well, an actual band. Through their contributions to 2021’s “Dream Weapon“, Wolski and Yacyshyn— who joined the band in 2020, replacing former vocalist Mookie Singerman and the band’s drum machine, respectively— had already proven themselves to be indispensable to the full realization of Genghis Tron’s vision.
On “Signal Fire”, Genghis Tron has never sounded more unhinged, more alive, and more free to continue upending everyone’s expectations in service of making compelling music.
Pre-order “Signal Fire” here or direct from Relapse here and look for more information coming soon…
“Signal Fire” track list:
1. I Am All
2. Signal Fire
3. Future Worship
4. Like Fotocrom
5. Tomorrow Mirage
6. Nothing Blooms in the Hollow
7. Without Form
8. Born Prey
9. A Love So Pure
10. New Gods
