Genghis Tron : "Dream Weapon"

 Genghis Tron is back after a decade. It is not the original line up as they now have Sumac's drummer behind the kit and a new singer. Synths are more organic this time. While there has always been a progressive element to what they do this is more Tangerine Dream in terms of retro ambiance. They get more aggressive on "Dream Weapon" . I am not sure though it is aggressive enough to be called metal. The drumming is impressive. For progressive rock it is kind of on the more straight ahead side and feels complex but not experiment. Of the first four songs , two of them are sprawling synth pieces and two are actual songs. 

The mood drops down to more sedate going into "Alone in the Heart of the Light". This is almost too happy for me. There is more introspection than brooding. The drumming on this album is pretty great all the way around , even when they are not rocking out. This song works off more of a floating drone. If you are smoking weed then I can hear where this might work really well for you. This future space stoner vibe continues on " Ritual Circle| . At this point in the album is is more than likely that you have gotten too high and have forgotten these guys were a metal band. Dynamically mid way into the song it builds where the drums get more intense. I am not sure I would call it metal, but is is more dynamic. The punches are metal influenced in their intent for sure. '" Single Black Point' starts off pretty cool it reminds me of a newer King Crimson song, then kinda floats off into the clouds of synths . 

The drums have more of a rock feel on "God Mother" that closes the album. It is about as metal as Porcupine Tree. They eventually sonically pound harder than your average prog band  Which is an effective dynamic. I will give this album an 8.5, I enjoyed what I heard of it , not dark enough for my personal tastes , but I can appreciate what is going down here as the album sounds great. It really depends on what you want from this band in terms of if it will live up to your expectations of what their come back should be like .