This is one of Aquanaut's fave albums of 2009 and 2010. Genghis Tron manage to blend programmed drum beats with hardcore metal, glitch drum sounds ala Aphex Twin and ambient music. While this is a feat in itself the songwriting is also quite masterful. The melodies and harmonies are quite contemporary and offer a different world of sound to metal as we know it circa 1980. Purists would argue this is not really metal though, who cares.
The modern age has seen rock and metal progress to more and more difficult territory rhythmically and hence has invited comparisons to the progressive rock of the 1970's, ala Yes with modern proponents being the Mars Volta and Mastodon. Genghis Tron tends to nod in this direction but more in a metal way as comparable to Meshuggah, the absolute Titans of complex math style metal. Genghis Tron are not as complex in their time signatures but they have some very clever and intricate rhythmic passages that could only be the work of practiced or studied musicians.
If you are not a fan of screamed metal vocals, or cookie monster vocals or in this case cookie monster after he's just found out he's been sodomised repeatedly, Genghis Tron may be a trifle hard to get into initially. Well get over it! The metal screamo vocal or whatever its called is just as difficult a technique as normal singing and one can separate the good people (was going to say guys but there's now more and more girls singing in the extreme metal style) from the average. Mookie, the singer is good but tends to be not as strong live, as witnessed in their live show in Melbourne earlier this year. Even if you don't dig this style of singing it soon gives way to some haunting and catchy vocal melodies.
Hamilton Jordan the guitar player is very tight throughout. There is no lead playing anywhere, instead he concentrates on accompanying the rhythm section. Kind of unobtrusive yet powerful in the same way Jim Martin was to Faith no more. Check the intro to opening track "Board up the house" where he uses finger tapping to double the synths. The song "Colony Collapse" features some interesting syncopated sections that would leave many a guitarist head scratching as to what that rhythm was.
The synth sounds are very warm and reminiscent of the 70's and are played by both Mookie Singerman and Michael Sochynsky, though Michael tends to be the main keyboard player live. Like the band Black Moth Super Rainbow, Genghis Tron use analog synths.
The drums are programmed via computer based drum machines, and as mentioned earlier utilize the type of glitch sounds that can be found on an Aphex Twin or Venetian Snares record. Blast beats and great rolling Tom fills give way to glitch style hi hats. It's the crossover drum sound of kids who played Atari games then later got into heavy metal.
The use of ambience throughout Board up the house is quite rewarding. It offers a good contrast and has a lulling hypnotic effect and serves to counter balance the more extreme sections. This may be quite unique for a metal band though saying that the Young Gods have been doing that sort of thing for years; also if you listen to NIN's most recent album The Slip it also tends towards long ambiance in the middle parts.
Overall this is one of the finest albums out at the moment, it manages to blend styles like hardcore metal, math metal, glitch, ambience and electro. The most obvious comparison would be to industrial music ala NIN but this is different. The harmonies and melodies are not what you would expect for an industrial band, and the mood changes and songwriting are quite unique. Genghis Tron is truly what one would call progressive music. They take the best elements of contemporary music and blend them to create a new sound. Whilst not to everybody's liking because of the harsh vocals and more extreme metal leanings this album should earn Genghis Tron a good following.
The only criticism of Genghis Tron, and this has nothing to do with the album so perhaps shouldn't be included here, was in their live set. Maybe they had some sound issues but their show didn't quite capture the marvelous intensity of their record until the last two songs. They are trail blazers though and they will only get better. So if you get a chance download this album then buy it! Squashed MP3 sound is good for a bit but it doesn't beat the sound of CD or lossless quality audio as it hits you in the chest.
