It’s hard to wrap one’s head around Genghis Tron. Are they Metal? Are they Doom? Are they Electro? Are they “Cybergrind”? With Dream Weapon, their first full-length in 13 years, Genghis Tron is throwing every preconceived notion you may have had about the band out the window with a fresh line up and an even fresher sound.
But I digress.
Mainstays Michael Sochynsky ands Hamilton Jordan have returned and are joined on this new sonic journey by Tony Wolski on vocals and Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists/SUMAC) on drums and together they present a unified sonic force that transcends any one genre. Like a cross between Massive Attack in terms of Trip-Hop/Electro atmosphere combined with recent aural odyssey’s created by more contemporaries like Junius or SOM, Dream Weapon is a monumental trip that yearns to be heard as a whole rather than in parts.
After a brief instrumental intro in “Exit Perfect Mind”, Yacyshyn’s drums make their glorious entrance on “Pyrocene” with calculated staccato attacks that pierce through Sochynsky’s lush synthetic world as Wolski’s voice hums these huge hymnals that echo the overall feel within. The title track highlights another pummeling Yacyshyn performance with Jordan’s guitars switching between graceful and grinding tones while “Desert Stairs” slows the momentum ever so slightly with a short yet dense instrumental ditty.
“Alone In The Heart Of The Light” pulsates while galloping towards another Yacyshyn banger behind the kit while Sochynsky’s synths maintain a steady aura of awesome with Wolski acting as a comforting guide with his soothing, layered vocals. Then “Ritual Circle” comes at listeners, fully soaked in synths as this Electronic enterprise envelopes the senses while steadily gaining momentum with Yacyshyn’s subdued performance creating a sense of anchored anxiety about what’s to come. What’s to come is a crashing climax at barely the midway point of this monolithic ten minute monster focusing on Jordan’s swirling shreds which segue into this Queens Of The Stone Age meets The Faint Electro rawker to close out the track.
“Single Black Point” is easily the most straightforward track on here and even this one is a complex conundrum with feet planted firmly in the present but hearkening to an era that heralded New Wave/Prog greats like Genesis’ Invisible Touch and Wang Chung’s To Live And Die In L.A. score. With Yacyshyn’s rumbling kicking it all off, “Great Mother” marks the end of the great Genghis Tron return for now on a track that offers one final reminder of the songwriting prowess of Jordan and Sochynsky as well as Wolkski’s welcome new voice to the fold.
Dream Weapon arrives on March 26th via Relapse Records. Pre-orders are available now and can be perused and purchased all in once convenient location by heading here. For more on Genghis Tron, follow them across their socials by clicking here, here, or here.