Board Up the House (CD - 2008)

Future-metal trio Ghengis Tron may be one of the most appropriately named acts to come along in decades. Combining the celebrated conqueror's ferocious power with glitchy electronics in a post-apocalyptic junkyard pileup, the songs on BOARD UP THE HOUSE are a new level of abrasive, brainy noise. The title track alternates enormous, metallic leads with fuzzy synths and blasted-landscape vocals to approximate nothing so much as '70s zombie movie prog played by Dillinger Escape Plan. "Things Don't Look Good" starts with full thrash but mutates into twisting guitars and eerie keys before going hardcore. It's rusted-out music for a dark future.

Genghis Tron's BOARD UP THE HOUSE was already pushing envelopes with its fusion of frayed-wire electronics and brutalizing hardcore. Now, with the help of some talented friends, they've kicked off an ambitious series of albums that will remix the entirety of BOARD UP THE HOUSE. Volume 1 features contributions from Steve Moore of the horror-prog group Zombi, Jesu's Justin Broadrick, and Eluvium. Their takes are wildly different, both from each other and from the source material itself, with Broadrick pumping up the dance side of "Colony Collapse" and Moore expanding the desolate synth-prog of the title track.

The first volume in an ambitious remix project from the post-apocalyptic electronic-hardcore group.

For the most part, extreme metal is one of the more one-dimensional sounding genres in all of rock. Before you even hear a specific recording by an artist of the aforementioned genre, you pretty much know what's in store -- growls, screams, rapid-fire riffs, etc. And while there are certain elements of Genghis Tron's music that certainly fall under the extreme metal category, the group is one of the few that appear to be incorporating sonic experiments into their white noise. Case in point, 2008's Board Up the House, which slips electronics into the density. The band should also be given an award for creating such an enormous racket with only three people in their band. Don't expect such ditties as the title track or "Things Don't Look Good" to become perennial prom favorites, but as far as trying new approaches within the realm of extreme metal, Genghis Tron definitely succeed on Board Up the House. ~ Greg Prato minimize