''Dream Weapon'' is the third studio album by American

experimental metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

band

Genghis Tron Genghis Tron is an American four-piece cybergrind band formed in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States, and latterly based in Brooklyn, New York and San Francisco, California. The band signed to Relapse Records after releasing two recordings ...

, released on March 26, 2021. The album is the band's first studio album since 2008's ''

Board Up the House ''Board Up the House'' is the second full-length album by the experimental metal band Genghis Tron. The album was recorded and mixed at Godcity Studio from August 29 to September 21, 2007, in Salem, Massachusetts, by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballo ...

'' and the first with vocalist Tony Wolski and drummer Nick Yacyshyn, marking the first time the band has ever used a drummer. Keyboardist Michael Sochynsky described the album's sound as having a "more meditative, hypnotic, and maybe psychedelic" direction. He also added that the album would have no

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 and death metal,Adam MacGregor, ''PCP Torpedo'' by Agoraphobic Nosebleed rev ...

s or "

Nintendocore Nintendocore is a broadly defined style of music that most commonly fuses chiptune and video game music with hardcore punk and/or heavy metal. The genre is sometimes considered a direct subgenre of post-hardcore and a fusion genre between metal ...

" parts. It was elected by ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' as the 2nd best progressive metal album of 2021.

Background

Genghis Tron's last album, ''Board Up the House'', was released in 2008 to critical acclaim. The band released a series of remix EPs for the album in 2008 and 2009. In late 2010 on MySpace, the band members announced that they would be going on hiatus, but would return with new music once they started playing together again. Nearly after ten years of silence, the band announced they were returning from hiatus and would be recording a new album with

Converge Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) * Converge ICT, internet service provider in the Philippines *CONVERGE CFD s ...

guitarist

Kurt Ballou Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for hardcore punk band Converge and for his prolific recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early an ...

, who also produced the band's previous two albums. The reunited lineup features original members Hamilton Jordan (guitar) and Michael Sochynsky (keyboards, programming) along with new members Tony Wolski on vocals, replacing Mookie Singerman, and Nick Yacyshyn on drums, with the band having previously used a drum machine on previous releases. A music video was released for the title track and

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

"Dream Weapon" on January 26, 2021. The video was directed by Mount Emult. "Ritual Circle" was released as the album's second single on February 16. Axl Rosenberg of

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

favorably compared the track to

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

Chvrches Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving f ...

and

Justin Broadrick Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and i ...

Track listing

Personnel

Genghis Tron *Tony Wolski – vocals *Hamilton Jordan – guitar *Michael Sochynsky – keyboards, programming *Nick Yacyshyn – drums Production *

– producer *Ben Chisholm – engineering and additional production *J.J. Heath – engineering and additional production *Heba Kadry – mastering

References

{{Genghis Tron 2021 albums Genghis Tron albums Relapse Records albums Albums produced by Kurt Ballou