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Video Interview: Hamilton Jordan & Michael Sochynsky of Genghis Tron on Dream Weapon and More

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Features on April 23rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

genghis tron

It’s pretty clear Genghis Tron have been doing some interviews. They mention it a couple times in the chat below, that they’ve been asked a lot about the change in sound they’ve undergone with their new album, Dream Weapon (review here). Hey, fair enough, right? Not only did their third album arrive last month some 13 years after their last one, 2008’s Board Up the House (discussed here) — both are on Relapse, which also issued their 2006 debut, Dead Mountain Mouth — but it also saw the founding duo of Michael Sochynsky and Hamilton Jordan surrounded by half a new band, including vocalist Tony Wolski and Sumac/Baptists drummer Nic Yacyshyn. Then on top of that, you add the fact that their new work brings synthesizer and vocal melody to the fore in a progressive, almost psychedelic-New-Wave vision of electronics-inclusive rock, moving beyond the “spazzcore” or “cybergrind” of their earlier outings and into a newfound hypnotic ether of enduring swirl, and yes, absolutely you’re going to get some questions about it.

I honestly haven’t seen much of the response to Dream Weapon in terms of reviews, but I know for sure I dig the record, so the chance to talk to Jordan and Sochynsky about it was something I welcomed. It took some scheduling, but we genghis tron dream weapon art by trevor naudmanaged to nail down a 9AM time earlier this week and as I finished off my morning coffee — Jordan noted he’s also an early riser — the two main songwriters in Genghis Tron talked through the process of writing largely pre-pandemic but still remotely, as well as restructuring their band both in personnel and sound. I didn’t get to ask about working with Kurt Ballou after such a long break, but you’ll note that Jordan credits the GodCity producer with making the connection both to Yacyshyn and Wolski, so one way or another, he’s definitely had a significant impact on who and what Genghis Tron are in 2021, and that’s before you get to recording the album. And in any case, I’m sure there are other interviews you can find out there that ask the question what it was like to be back with Ballou with the passing of so much time. I was happy to talk about the building of melodies and songs coming together pieces at a time, the birth of Dream Weapon around what became its de facto centerpiece in “Alone in the Heart of the Light,” and so on.

Before you dive in, if you stick around the video long enough, you’ll find Sochynsky and Jordan giving the “breaking news” — they laugh when they say it — that they’re starting writing again already, and are planning to get together next weekend in-person in order to hash out material toward new songs and, one assumes, an eventual fourth long-player. Something to look forward to there, but as you’ll see, there’s plenty to talk about with Dream Weapon in the meantime.

Enjoy and thanks for reading/watching.

Genghis Tron, Dream Weapon Interview, April 20, 2021

Genghis Tron‘s Dream Weapon is out now on Relapse Records. The album can be streamed in below via Bandcamp and more info on vinyl editions, etc., is at the links.

Genghis Tron, Dream Weapon (2021)

Genghis Tron on Thee Facebooks

Genghis Tron on Instagram

Genghis Tron on Twitter

Genghis Tron on Bandcamp

Relapse Records website

Relapse Records on Bandcamp

Relapse Records on Thee Facebooks

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Album Review: Genghis Tron, Dream Weapon

Posted in Reviews on April 5th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

genghis tron dream weapon art by trevor naud

The essential narrative of Dream Weapon, that Poughkeepsie, New York’s Genghis Tron have returned from over a decade of hiatus to issue a new album, hardly tells the whole story either of the band or the record. Picking up where they left off in some ways — Kurt Ballou at GodCity producing (also Ben Chisholm and JJ Heath, and Heba Kadry mastered), Relapse Records handling release duties — guitarist/keyboardist Hamilton Jordan and keyboardist Michael Sochynsky have revitalized the band with new vocalist Tony Wolski (The Armed) and drummer Nic Yacyshyn (Baptists/Sumac), the latter of whom is the first non-machine drummer the band has ever had, whatever doubts his work in the culmination of the title-track might raise about that whole “not a machine” thing.

Coinciding with the new personnel is a shift in sound. In 2008, when Genghis Tron — even their moniker ringing out with aughts-era indie irreverence — released their second full-length, Board Up the House (discussed here), they had already grown beyond the let’s-play-grindcore-with-electronic-dance-parts that made their 2005 Cloak of Love EP and 2006’s Dead Mountain Mouth debut long-player such a challenge to no-fun metallic convention. Those elements were still there, to be sure, but the band had worked to unify the varying sides of their sound into something even more their own. Dream Weapon is another 13 years’ worth of progressed. Comprised of eight songs running a tidy 45 minutes, it draws readily from extreme fare when it so chooses — the mathy chug of “Single Black Point,” for example — but is more akin to heavy prog or kraut metal or some such ultra-specific microgenre than it is to grind-plus-EDM.

Something that has carried over is Genghis Tron‘s ability to maximize the impact of a riff, to create tension and then open wide and allow for a release thereof. The payoff in 10-minute advance single “Ritual Circle” is an example of this but by no means the only one. The earlier “Pyrocene” arrives after the intro “Exit Perfect Mind” and (re-)establishes that pattern as well as the more melodic, used-to-enhance-atmosphere, echoing, willfully mellow wash-over of Wolski‘s vocals that becomes another theme throughout Dream Weapon and a defining aspect of Genghis Tron circa 2021. The addition of Yacyshyn‘s live drums isn’t to be understated either, particularly as the album’s title-track follows “Pyrocene” with a still-melody-topped percussive thrust that is gorgeous, rolling and consuming. By the time “Dream Weapon” chills, a little past its midpoint, the steady beat becomes accompanied by is-that-a-second-layer tom hits and keyboard flourish that provides the record with a standout moment. It feels a bit as though Genghis Tron wrote three or four more LPs over the 13 years since their last one and didn’t tell anybody but kept growing all the while.

genghis tron

The ambient instrumental piece “Desert Stairs” provides a breath of serene drone before the seven-minute “Alone in the Heart of the Light” shifts Dream Weapon into its next and even-more-immersive stage, hypnotic keyboard lines intertwining atop an insistent but not unwelcome snare before the vocals recede for a time, return in barely more than a whisper over more far-out-directed synth melody. As a foreshadow of “Ritual Circle,” which follows, and “Great Mother,” which closes following the penultimate semi-return-to-ground “Single Black Point” in between, “Alone in the Heart of the Light” probably ends side A of the vinyl but is effectively a bridge to the second half of the album, rife with melodic wash and individual intent.

“Ritual Circle” begins mellow and swells and comes in waves and — in a way Genghis Tron have never done so effectively — is patient in how it unfolds. True, it hits its crescendo by the time it’s at its halfway point, with Wolski‘s vocals layered in a call and response, subtle but there, as the drums crash behind and the keys and guitar lead the way into the motorik thrust that defines the song from shortly before the six-minute mark onward. Bouncing but entrancing, if there’s a ritual dance to be done anywhere, it’s there, but the drums drop out early and intertwined layers of beats and keys finish, leading directly into the more forceful chug of “Single Black Point,” the band choosing to let the end of the song prior be its own moment of reflection, peace, or maybe just recovery.

Because it is staggering. “Single Black Point” is instrumental, and like the song before, it ends with keys, giving way to the more foreboding, lower notes of “Great Mother” to finish out, but its purpose is more than simple movement as well. It sets up the arrival of “Great Mother” — one assumes that’s Earth itself — which features a not so disparate payoff from that of “Ritual Circle,” but does it twice, with more forward guitar, and feels more like a summary of Dream Weapon as a whole for that. There are vocals and keys at the end, but by that point Genghis Tron can close however they want — they’ve made it abundantly clear they’re working on their own terms, outside of the band they were but still evolved from it in a way that can only be called organic despite the alleged irony of so many electronic aspects to their style.

One might liken Genghis Tron‘s return to that of Florida’s Cynic. When that once-death-metal band reemerged in 2008 after some 15 years with a more progressive sound, it felt similarly natural for them to go in that direction as it does for Genghis Tron to go or to have gone in this one. I won’t decry the band’s past work, but to call Dream Weapon anything less than one of the year’s best LPs would be underselling it. It’s not just that they’ve changed their style or gotten more melodic with a new singer — the impact of this material also comes from a creative use of rhythm that might’ve been possible before but certainly wouldn’t have been likely. At the same time, as much as Wolski and Yacyshyn bring to the band — and that’s plenty — the songwriting at work between Jordan and Sochynsky feels very much like the foundation from which the pieces are built out into the whole album. That is a task for which one is thankful they set themselves, and if this is a point from which they might pick up and continue forward, it should be all the more counted as essential.

Genghis Tron, Dream Weapon (2021)

Genghis Tron on Thee Facebooks

Genghis Tron on Instagram

Genghis Tron on Twitter

Genghis Tron on Bandcamp

Relapse Records website

Relapse Records on Bandcamp

Relapse Records on Thee Facebooks

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Genghis Tron to Release Dream Weapon March 26; Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

13 years and a singer and drummer later, Genghis Tron return with a new album. Their last record was 2008’s Board up the House, and they reemerge from hiatus as guitarist Hamilton Jordan and keyboardist Michael Sochynsky are joined by Tony Wolksi and Sumac‘s Nick Yacyshyn on drums. You bet your ass that makes a difference on “Dream Weapon,” the title-track of Genghis Tron‘s impending third long-player, out March 26 in a renewed collaboration with Relapse Records. You’ll hear more vocal melody than I think the band has ever employed in the new track, and yes, live drums to go with what would seem also to be programmed beats. Don’t expect to get a handle on everything happening your first time through. That’s just not how Genghis Tron have ever operated.

For reference, in addition to the video for “Dream Weapon” below — watch out if you’re sensitive to strobe/herky-jerky cuts — I’ve included the Bandcamp stream of Board up the House. Interestingly, their 2006 debut, Dead Mountain Mouth and their 2005 EP, Cloak of Love, don’t seem to be streaming officially anywhere. They’re on YouTube if you’re up for the minimal digging required.

I shared the “Dream Weapon” video on Thee Facebooks the other day, but here’s info from the PR wire:

genghis tron dream weapon art by trevor naud

GENGHIS TRON ANNOUNCE DREAM WEAPON; FIRST NEW FULL-LENGTH IN 13 YEARS

Share “Dream Weapon” Music Video

Dream Weapon is out March 26, 2021

Pre-Order & Watch “Dream Weapon” HERE: https://orcd.co/genghistrondw

GENGHIS TRON make their return with their highly anticipated new album, Dream Weapon! The band’s first new studio outing in over a decade, GENGHIS TRON’s Hamilton Jordan and Michael Sochynsky are now joined by two new collaborators: vocalist Tony Wolski and Sumac/Baptists drummer Nick Yacyshyn.

Together, the lineup perfects the unique mix of extreme rock and electronic music GENGHIS TRON has pioneered over their storied career. A melding of hypnotic rhythms and densely layered synth soundscapes, Dream Weapon was recorded and produced alongside long-time collaborator Kurt Ballou at God City Studio in Salem, Massachusetts, with additional production and engineering by Ben Chisolm (Chelsea Wolfe) JJ Heath (Rain City Recorders) and was mastered by Heba Kadry.

Watch GENGHIS TRON’s new “Dream Weapon” music video, directed by Mount Emult (Dying Fetus, The Pixies) AT THIS LOCATION.

Dream Weapon is out March 26, 2021 on CD/LP/Digital. Physical pre-orders via Relapse.com are available HERE. Digital Downloads/Streaming are available HERE.

GENGHIS TRON recently reissued their two full-length albums Board Up The House & Dead Mountain Mouth on vinyl for the first time in over 10 years. Orders are available at http://relapse.com/genghis-tron.

Artwork by Trevor Naud

Dream Weapon Tracklist:
Exit Perfect Mind
Pyrocene
Dream Weapon
Desert Stairs
Alone In The Heart Of The Light
Ritual Circle
Single Black Point
Great Mother

Lyrically and conceptually, Dream Weapon picks up where Board Up The House left off.

“That album’s closing track, ‘Relief,’ was about how humans have become a burden to the planet, and how Earth will endure long after we’re gone,” Hamilton Jordan explains. “There is sadness at the end, but some relief—and beauty—too. Dream Weapon is, loosely, an album-length meditation on that theme.”

From the ethereal, almost robotic vocal phrasings accompanying the industrial attack of “Pyrocene,” to the chaotic, pulse-pounding drumming acrobatics and cyclical guitar patterns in the album’s triumphant title track, Dream Weapon is not just a nod to GENGHIS TRON’s celebrated past as a metal/progressive/experimental outfit. The new album redefines what these genres, sounds, and musical elements can achieve. Dream Weapon is a record that captures GENGHIS TRON at a matured, focused state; the ebbs and flows of the album are just as hard-hitting as they are dreamy, soaring, and meditative.

Seasoned GENGHIS TRON listeners will find Dream Weapon to be both excitingly fresh and reassuringly familiar. “Though it sounds a bit different than our previous albums, I don’t think we approached Dream Weapon any differently than the others,” Jordan explains. “Michael and I take years to write and trade demos, with about 80% of our ideas landing on the cutting-room floor. Once we have a rough song idea we both like, we write dozens of drafts of a song over months before we end up with a final demo.”

“I think one difference in our approach for this album was that we had a strong sense from the outset of what kind of vibe we wanted to create,” Sochynsky adds. “Something more cohesive, meditative and hypnotic.”

Through the album’s inventiveness and rejuvenated approach, Dream Weapon marks another bold step forward in the wildly creative career of GENGHIS TRON, and cements the band’s legacy of groundbreaking, genre-defying innovation.

https://www.facebook.com/GenghisTron/
https://www.instagram.com/genghis.tron/
https://twitter.com/GenghisTronBand
https://genghistron.bandcamp.com/
http://www.relapse.com
http://www.relapserecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/RelapseRecords

Genghis Tron, “Dream Weapon” official video

Genghis Tron, Board up the House

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