This is the fourth album from US experimental rock act Genghis Tron.
Following on from 2021’s change of direction Dream Weapon, Signal Fire contains 43 minutes of new material. Genghis Tron’s return is a most welcome one, and this time they’ve brought with them some older tools to build and destroy with.
Signal Fire brings together a merging of the ethereal psychedelia of Dream Weapon and the aggression of the band’s earlier work, resulting in a record that blends both to produce something new. Signal Fire is greater than the sum of its parts. In some ways it feels like two very different albums have been skilfully combined, making for a record that has the best of both worlds. Having said that, overall, Dream Weapon is still the most relevant reference point for when people approach Signal Fire. If you think of that album, then add in a newly rediscovered lethal bite, you’ll be on the right lines. Other reference points might be elements of acts like Aphex Twin, The Armed, Health, Sugar Horse, Tayne, and Nine Inch Nails. It should also be noted that the singer and bassist of Genghis Tron are also in The Armed.
The songs display a beguiling mix of soft electronics, dark synths, industrial beats, and bursts of controlled chaos. The latter is unleashed at key moments, allowing the band to let loose, before reining things in once more. The harsh screams are back, accompanied by ethereal clean singing. Which vocal style is used depends on what’s going on with any particular song at any given moment.
Signal Fire has many strengths, and boasts a lot of expressive content for the listener to explore across its running time. It’s an album of atmospheric depth first and foremost, but it has teeth. Melody and abrasion go hand in hand; the former is still in the ascendant, but the latter claws its way into the foreground whenever it feels the need to lash out.
Like a radio friendly unit shifter from another dimension, Signal Fire is a clash of worlds that in Genghis Tron’s hands is no clash at all. Signal Fire pulses with fertile life, crafting absorbing worlds from delicate sounds, while also raging and slicing with venomous weapons. It skews the former, but the latter is there too, ready to strike. Welcome back Genghis Tron.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 