Training for Utopia
Sacramento, California8 reviews across 4 releases
Training for Utopia is a Sacramento, California, band formed in 1996. Its early music fused hardcore with speed-metal attack and industrial texture, while Ryan Clark's vocals shifted between speech, singing and screaming. Plastic Soul Impalement opened with muffled machine noise before moving into fast, forceful songs, with occasional passages built from mechanical hum or storm sounds. The 1998 split with Zao kept the violence but showed a wider range: "Police John, Police Red" moved from eerie acoustic guitar and actual singing into the band's usual chaos. By Throwing a Wrench into the American Music Machine in 1999, electronic layers had changed the balance. Programmed beats, static and distorted vocals made the record more industrial and satirical, including a slow love song amid songs mocking New York City and a copy machine.
Rob Dennler left during the band's first year, and Ryan Clark took over the vocal position before the first recorded releases. Training for Utopia ended in 2000 after a short tour supporting Throwing a Wrench into the American Music Machine. Ryan and his brother Don Clark then formed Demon Hunter, whose first album appeared through Solid State in 2002; the brothers also established the design studio Asterik in Seattle. Steve Saxby later played with Out of Place, while Morley Boyer appeared on An Angle. In 2023, Training for Utopia reunited for shows including Furnace Fest and released "Out on Parole," its first new song in 24 years.
4 releases reviewed
Plastic Soul Impalement
Split EP
Throwing a Wrench into the American Music Machine