When Genghis Tron burst forth into the world of experimental extreme metal with 2006’s Dead Mountain Mouth, they felt like a very linear continuation of a particular bent of genre-expansion that took in everything from Lightning Bolt to Atomsmasher, Discordant Axis to The Dillinger Escape Plan, Burnt by the Sun to Agoraphobic Nosebleed: music designed to be as challenging to listen to as it was to play. Over the course of two albums, they would chart a course that was entirely their own – grindcore drenched in electronica, programmed drums that sound like spiralling chaos, and little in the way of respite for the listener.
Of the pair, 2008’s Board Up The House was significantly more interesting, dragging in a bunch more influences and giving some space to the chaos, but while they made waves in certain sections of the more chin-stroking fringes of the metal world, they failed to break through in the same way that Dillinger or Converge did. There were no more albums, and it seemed they had gone the same way as so many from that scene – The Judas Factor, Drowningman, et al. All of which made 2021’s surprise return, Dream Weapon, all the more pleasant. Not only was this former stalwart of extremity back, but in the decade or so in between, they’d morphed into something entirely new.
Gone were the harsh vocals, the insanity, and, well, pretty much everything else. In its place was a shimmering, epic, beautiful soundscape, somewhere between shoegaze, synthwave, and post rock, wrapped around lush melodies that Chino Moreno would have been proud of. It was, frankly, an astonishing about turn, made even more remarkable by just how well it worked. All of which begged the question: what would come next? Where would the Tron go next on their musical explorations? Well, as becomes instantly clear within the first few minutes of Signal Fire’s opener, ‘I Am All’, the answer is everywhere, all at once. From its playful, NIN-like opening to the welcome return of the screams, to a positively monstrous post metal closing groove, it doesn’t half set out a signal. As Tony Wolski repeats again and again, “I’m on a tear.” He’s not kidding.
From there, Signal Fire takes us on a breathtaking tour around, well, pretty much every sound you can think of. One minute they’re a hyper-aggressive Depeche Mode (‘Future Fire’), the next they’re throwing hardcore shapes like a scene kid with a backpack covered in badges (‘Born Prey’), and then they’re galloping along on a Queens of the Stone Age riff (‘Nothing Blooms in the Hollow’). The title track sounds like The Armed fighting with the soundtrack to The Social Network, while ‘Like Fotochrom’ layers goth synths beneath haunted new wave to create something beautiful.
But this isn’t just aping – nearly a quarter of a century in, Genghis Tron have found a way to take all of their disparate interests and blend them into something entirely of their own. The key to the success of this is their songwriting. Take ‘Tomorrow Mirage’. Where once they relied on sheer brute force, they now have an epic scale to their riffs and soundscapes, moving through the gears to crescendos that just keep crashing over you, before swerving into a luscious synthwave soundscape. By the time album closer ‘New Gods’ pummels its way to its final, god-tier chorus, all you want to do is hit play and start again. To say that this is Genghis Tron‘s best album isn’t overselling it, but it misses the point. After all this time, it feels like they’ve finally left the chrysalis and found the band they were always striving to be, a band that deserves to stand alongside the artists who nourished them while they found their final form.