When it came to danceable, destructive 2000’s electronica mixed with mathematical metalcore, there were few doing it as boldly as Genghis Tron when they first blew up. The band’s 2006 debut LP Dead Mountain Mouth just celebrated its twentieth anniversary, and many that revisited the record spent an unexpected amount of time reliving younger, more chaotic glory days. Not just from the band, but from their own lives as well.
Nostalgia develops faster than we often realize, making it easy to sell even at a steep expense. For some, it’s worth the sting its double-edged nature to stay distracted from the present – we’re already nostalgic for the first days of Genghis Tron’s return arc in 2021, hearing Dream Weapon blast out of our car into Zion National Park’s various skyscraper-sized canyons.
Perhaps the best way to sum it up for existing GT fans is that Signal Fire doesn’t just feel like a logical followup to Dream Weapon, it’s literally the perfect sequel. It’s a bigger, better, flashier evolution of the last one, which actually feels like a constant reference point here, but Signal Fire also gives into some of the heaviness older fans were missing. Now we’re looking at a band expertly balancing the best of both worlds, plus a little bit extra.
One thing clear right away is attention to detail and all of the intention. Every little crackle feels placed by hand, but then again GT have always been pretty scientific in the studio, and whereas Dream Weapon felt more Terry Riley, this one feels more Vangelis. That’s simplifying it of course, because every track feels like a vital layer without a second wasted. We want to get into every track, but for now we’re mostly concerned that you hear each one. Go. Go do it.
Another thing that makes itself known in the first few tracks is how much we’d missed Ham’s deceptive riffage, in many ways he picks up exactly where he left off with Board Up the House. Those fast seven’s in the title track are perfect, and while the record never feels guitar driven per se, it’s much more at home here. Kenny and Tony from The Armed could probably give any six string parts dynamic foil, but they’re as dedicated as ever to their craft of characterizing scenes effectively. It all still feels like Michael and Hamilton’s dreamworld, just expertly elevated by all the right personnel.
Speaking of, Tony Wolski 100% deserves a shout for using his talents for so much good. Helping this band continue organically while also channeling the shrieks of GT’s previous vocalist Mookie without imitating him has to be daunting. As luck would have it, Wolski’s harsh vocals have only improved over the years, and like the guitars, they find so much more room to breathe, and scream, on Signal Fire than we could have anticipated. While Dream Weapon still stands as a classic, Signal Fire just might lap it in every way. Either way, we’ll be blasting both on repeat for some time this weekend.
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