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Genghis Tron: Board Up The House

21st February 2008 | by Aidan Williamson

As the Buffalo stampeded through the local branch of Radio Shack sixteen men and a parrot lost their lives. Witnesses described the chaos as 'melodically pleasing'.

Genghis Tron are one of those bands that have music aficionados rushing for a pen and paper in an attempt to coin the genre name for their distinctive new sound. The examples of 'Cybergrind', 'Nintendocore', and 'Beep Metal' should give you a rough guestimation of the sonic experience you have just signed up for. Fusing elements of electronica, ambient, industrial, IDM, metal and grindcore, the trio have sought to craft music that will melt your face off, then leave a barcode.

A trio?

A trio you ask; lending credence to the theory that their experimentation was born of necessity, G. Tron have but three members, no bass player and no drummer. Never ones to let this get them down, the boys utilise immense amounts of eclectic noise to fill in the gaps. Drum machines decorate the halls and synths, keys and blips paint the bow. The result being a vastly more measured approach which doesn't rely on incessant drum-rolls to get it's message across.

Throughout the vast majority of the songs, ambient and metal play tag-team, veering through the twists and turns of genre-land with the handling ability of Scalextric car. The vocal focus is on amped-up hardcore, with little in the way of heavy metal dog impersonations. When the roars subside, Genghis switch seamlessly to epic harmonies which serves well to appeal to the metal, punk, hardcore, screamo, IDM and alt. rock crowds.

While on occasion the constant switcharounds skirt the danger area of 'tiresome', on others the schizophrenia works impressively well. On the titular track, the electro buildup gets overcharged and amid the flurry of white hot sparks, the serenity of a power outage sets in, only for the backup generator to kick in a minute later. That “I Won't Come Back Alive” and “Ergot” are also unabashed highlights illuminates the fact that the boys are at the peak of their prowess when given time to slowly assemble moods and cacophonies, rather than being rushed into progression.

Rating:  7 / 10