Genghis Tron is an American
cybergrind band formed in
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, United States, and latterly based in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York and
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. The band signed to
Relapse Records
Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists.
History
The ...
after releasing two recordings on Crucial Blast. The group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2010, but returned in 2020 and soon after announced a new album, ''
Dream Weapon'', which was released in March 2021.
History
2004–2010: Formation, ''Dead Mountain Mouth'', and ''Board Up the House''
Genghis Tron formed in 2004 in
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
. Around the time of the band's formation, vocalist Mookie Singerman sang and played guitar in the two-piece project
Glitter Pals with his friend Jake Friedman while they were attending
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...
. Friedman also featured on the song "Laser Bitch" from Genghis Tron's ''
Cloak of Love'' EP (2005).
Genghis Tron has toured with such bands as
Behold... the Arctopus,
Converge
Converge may refer to:
* Converge (band), American hardcore punk band
* Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body
* Limit (mathematics)
In mathematics, a limit is the value that a function (or sequence) app ...
,
Kylesa
Kylesa is an American sludge metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, Down-tuned guitar, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock. The group was established in 2001 by ...
,
Gaza,
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of Consonance and ...
and
The Faint
The Faint is an American indie rock band. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Graham Ulicny, Dapose and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes (band), Brig ...
.
In 2008, the group released an album, ''
Board Up the House''. It was named a "Critic's Choice" by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
and was awarded the title of "Album of the Year" by the magazine ''
Rock Sound
''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...
''.
2010–2020: Indefinite hiatus
In late 2010, the band members decided to take a break away from Genghis Tron, but assured fans in a
Myspace
Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
message that they would return with new material when they started playing together again.
The band was inactive for a decade and did not release or reissue any material during this time.
2020–present: Return and ''Dream Weapon''
On August 10, 2020, Genghis Tron announced that they had returned from their hiatus and began recording their third album with Kurt Ballou. This return also saw the addition of drummer Nick Yacyshyn, who is the band's first drummer due to the band using a
drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...
for previous releases. Founder and vocalist Mookie Singerman did not rejoin the band and was replaced by Tony Wolski.
In January 2021, the band announced their third album, ''
Dream Weapon'', would be released on March 26. The album marks a shift in the group's previously heavy sound, leaning towards a "more meditative, hypnotic, and maybe psychedelic" direction. The record is completely devoid of
blast beat
A blast beat is a type of drum beat that originated in hardcore punk and grindcore, and is often associated with certain styles of extreme metal, namely black metal, death metal and their respective subgenres,Adam MacGregor, '' PCP Torpedo'' ...
s and
screamed vocals.
Musical style
The band is noted for its creative combination of various types of
metal
A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
and
electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
.
Although often classified as
cybergrind early in their career, Genghis Tron developed a more diverse sound, which included elements of
IDM,
doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...
,
electronic and
ambient,
in addition to their core style of synth-laden metal.
Genghis Tron utilizes computer-based
sequencers such as
FL Studio
FL Studio (known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. It features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. It is available in four different ...
and
Ableton Live
Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton.
In contrast to many other software sequencers, Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool for compos ...
, as well as multiple
synthesizers
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
(
Moog,
Alesis and
Novation
Novation, in contract law and business law, is the act of –
# replacing an obligation to perform with another obligation; or
# adding an obligation to perform; or
# replacing a party to an agreement with a new party.
In international law, no ...
) to produce its distinct sound. The band was initially a three-piece, forgoing both a drummer and a bass guitarist. Upon returning, Genghis Tron became a four-piece and has since featured a human drummer.
Members
;Current members
*Michael Sochynsky – keyboards, programming
*Hamilton Jordan – guitar
*Tony Wolski – vocals
*Nick Yacyshyn – drums
;Former members
*Mookie Singerman – vocals, keyboards
;Timeline
Discography
;Studio albums
*''
Dead Mountain Mouth'' (2006, Crucial Blast / Lovepump United)
*''
Board Up the House'' (2008,
Relapse
In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or r ...
/ Lovepump United)
*''
Dream Weapon'' (2021, Relapse)
;Extended plays
*''
Cloak of Love'' (2005, Crucial Blast / Lovepump United)
*''
Cape of Hate'' (2006, Crucial Bliss)
*''
Triple Black Diamond'' (2007, Crucial Bliss)
;Remix series
*''
Board Up the House Remixes Volume 1'' (2008,
Temporary Residence Limited
Temporary Residence Limited (shortened TRL) is a Brooklyn, New York–based record label. TRL was started in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1996 by Jeremy DeVine, and initially concentrated on releasing music by Louisville-based bands. )
*''
Board Up the House Remixes Volume 2'' (2008, Lovepump United)
*''
Board Up the House Remixes Volume 3'' (2008, Relapse)
*''
Board Up the House Remixes Volume 4'' (2008,
Anticon
Anticon (often styled as anticon.) was an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1998 by seven musicians and manager Baillie Parker. It was collectively owned among six musicians, co-founder Parker, and manag ...
)
*''
Board Up the House Remixes Volume 5'' (2009, Crucial Blast)
;Demo
*''Laser Bitch'' (2004, self-released)
;Singles
*"Dream Weapon" (2021, Relapse)
*"Ritual Circle" (2021, Relapse)
*"Pyrocene" (2021, Relapse)
;Music videos
References
External links
Genghis Tronat
Relapse Records
Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists.
History
The ...
(archived)
*
Genghis Tronat
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Genghis Tron
Heavy metal musical groups from New York (state)
American grindcore musical groups
Musical trios from New York (state)
Relapse Records artists
Musical groups established in 2004
Vassar College alumni
Anticon
The Westminster Schools alumni