Genghis Tron : Dead Mountain Mouth
On the heels of last year’s Cloak of Love EP, and a fantastic extended release from their side project Glitter Pals, we find the first full length album from Poughkeepsie, New York’s Genghis Tron. Dead Mountain Mouth is a great heavy metal album—the vocals are indistinguishable, instruments mangle into a relentless thwock, and there’s a very limited sense of seriousness in the demeanor. Concurrently, it’s also a melting pot. This band infuses grindcore, indie, techno, hardcore and electro with a glee that suggests they’re taking Primal Scream’s message on “Come Together” as a modus operandi.
So amidst the extreme noise testament of “The Folding Road” sits proto break-beat fun reminiscent of the “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” reprise. “Chapels” is undercut by a holiness recalling Autechre and Analord. “From the Aisle” hints at Earth’s Morricone-inspired masterpiece Hex. Between the title track’s Darkane roar lays a 100th Window density. Still it continues, “White Walls” shades Slipknot, Lift to Experience and Misery Loves Company. “Badlands” is an IDM interlude worthy of Clue to Kalo or Telefon Tel Aviv. “Greek Bed” marries a frumpier Slayer with a suitable knack for preposterous lyrics and half brow poignancy:”her sinus stings her dirty lungs…she’s all night.” “Warm Woods” has really got me now. Imagine one of Andrew Weatherall’s most beautiful, evocative tunes told as a bedtime story by chainsaw guitars, and make sure you get hold of this song somehow.
I owe Crucial Blast and Genghis Tron a thank you. After holding metal in a similar regard to daytime TV a year ago, they’ve reawakened my interest in the genre. By mixing the conventionally unfamiliar with a verve characteristic of both fan hood and genius strategy, Genghis Tron has created a classic.
Label: Crucial Blast
Year: 2006
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