Fast, horde and loud

Philadelphia’s Genghis Tron wage
war on mundane metal

UNITE AND CONQUER: Genghis Tron

By JOHNSON CUMMINS

In 2008, the ever-evolving genre of metal has really been busting wide open, with more noise, electronics, jazz and technical brilliance merging into the familiar crushing maelstrom. If you are looking for the new faces of metal, Exclaim!’s annual Aggressive Tendencies tour is a good place to look as it has a tradition of choosing bands that push the envelope of what metal means. It’s no wonder that the twisted cyber-grind of Philadelphia’s Genghis Tron earned a spot on the bill—their two synthesizers wage battle with a lone guitar possessing a sonic blast that can liquefy the fillings in your teeth. The Mirror reached keyboardist/vocalist Mookie Singerman by phone at his home in the City of Brotherly Love.

Mirror: Because of your unique set-up and sound, do you find you really stick out on a lot of metal bills?

Mookie Singerman: I think we stick out regardless of any bands we play with, really. If it’s a heavy kind of bill, usually our electronic elements will just go over a lot of people’s heads. We’re kind of used to the idea of sticking out and being a little bit different but we do try to get a bit picky about who we play with, and kind of like to play with forward-thinking bands, so at least it does make sense in some capacity.

M: Your background is definitely in indie rock, but do you think that because you’re on Relapse, most people just concentrate on the grindcore element of the band?

MS: Well, when we had our wish list of labels, we were thinking of some electronic labels and we would’ve stuck out there as well, as we would’ve been too heavy on those labels. I think that because we’re on a label so associated with metal, it tends to excite people more, and I think we’re metal enough that it works. We’re able to get our music out to more people being on Relapse and I think we really went with the label that can do the best job for us.

M: Have you noticed that you have been turning metal audiences on to more heavy experimental electronic acts like Squarepusher, Kid 606 or Merzbow?

MS: Ideally, we want to turn people on to music they wouldn’t necessary consider. We’ve been having people showing up at our shows wearing Coil shirts and people into Aphex Twin. They kind of find something they like in our music, and are getting more into really abrasive and heavy music. It’s not like any person can just jump into something like Pig Destroyer because I think you have to build up your musical sensibilities a bit to really enjoy that kind of music. I think there’s more twisting of music in metal than ever before, and more and more people from different genres embracing metal now. The bands we’re able to tour with now are not the same bands that we would’ve been able to tour with five or six years ago. People are definitely getting more open-minded about genre-defying music and I think that speaks volumes about where underground music is going.

WITH BARONESS AND BISON B.C.
AT LA SALA ROSSA, ON TUESDAY,
SEPT. 23, 8 P.M., $19