Electronic mathcore pioneers, Genghis Tron, achieved their place in history with 2008’s Board Up the House. The post-hardcore, extreme metal, and experimental underground scenes all agreed on one thing: it’s a classic. They returned from hiatus in 2021 with its mediocre follow up, Dream Weapon. ‘This type of music succeeded in uniting indie kids and ravers in the British summer of 1989, but Genghis Tron take the worse from both scenes – the songs lack the beats and squelch bass of acid house and borrow too much from the tuneless indie vocalists of the era,’ said Scream Blast Repeat in disappointment. We’re ready to be underwhelmed again, yet there’s no need to be pessimistic after one listen to Signal Fire. Album number four is a thrill of competing ideas that should restore the group’s reputation.
There’s nothing dreamy about the digital pulse of opener, ‘I Am All’. This is Orbital on steroids with hand-clapping snares and screaming hardcore vocals fighting for primacy among the roboticized voice melodies. Listen to the symmetrical zigzagging of the synths as they print sound bar readings on your retinas. This is how you open a rock album with electronics at the fore. The post-metal explosion at the finale is more satisfying than watching a meteor shower from a midnight forest. ‘Signal Fire’ continues the Primal Scream-infused electronic rock as multi harmony melodies float through your headphones like shooting stars.
Signal Fire is a record for the here and now in our overwhelming information age, where tech companies are the platforms for our culture wars. Genghis Tron’s embrace of the digital musical landscape makes perfect sense in this context. ‘Future Worship’ thrives off an oscillating synth loop as Tony Wolski closes his eyes and breathes in the air around him. The words that come out of his mouth are soothing in their delivery and emotion. Likewise, the sorrowful voice arrangements come from the head rather than the stomach in ‘Like Fotochrom’. The life and rebirth of this seven-minute epic is fascinating if you turn on your virtual reality headset for the journey. A truth dawns on you: abrasive guitars would spoil this album. The band’s cybergrind and hardcore roots should not cloud your judgement of this music, even if 2008’s Board Up the House will continue to define them.
Fortunately, they’ve ditched The Stone Roses posturing of their substandard predecessor record, yet it would be wrong to ignore the parts that rock. ‘Nothing Blooms in the Hollow’ mixes hardcore aggression with zen meditation and bristles with an undercurrent of spiky prog metal stylings like Tool generating a light show of symmetrical patterns from their musical instruments. Their interludes float like Boards of Canada under the spell of Kraftwerk (see ‘Like Fotochrom’ and ‘Without Form’), yet they cannot resist the urge to race through at least one math-grind workout. These instincts are spot on, and you can see why people associate them with the Dillinger Escape Plan.
The coherency of it all is stunning. Let’s not forget this is a band that started as a dormitory project between two friends who liked to throw all their musical influences into one pot and see what came out. That’s not the case here: the digital landscape dominates every song and allows Genghis Tron to share their mathcore and metal stylings within this eco-system. The day-dreaming vocals are as natural as the spontaneous screams. Double-timing drums and syncopated bass appear in ‘A Love So Pure’ while you’re moving your head to the synth rotations.
They’ll receive plenty of offers to remix the tracks on this LP, yet that would be unnecessary. Listen to the edgy minimalism of ‘New Gods’ as the hands-free synth arpeggiator pairs with an old school industrial beat. Observe how they transition from trippy electronic patterns to Ministry aggression at the finale. Wolski’s blissful head voice was a weakness on their last outing, but it proves to be the group’s charismatic secret on Signal Fire. We were wrong about the New Jersey experimenters. This is a remarkable return to form.
Kirk Houghton
Verdict
Release Date: 12/06/2026
Record Label: Relapse Records
Standout tracks: Tomorrow Mirage; I Am All; Born Prey
Suggested Further Listening: Utopia – Shame (2024), Four Stroke Baron – Data Diamond (2024), Digital Negative – Intersect (2025)