CENTRALIA

Car Bomb- a play on words? A delicious pun? A tasteless joke? yes. yes. and yes (to some). This band never fails to amaze and captivate me, what with their technical avant-noise leanings. They definitely took a page from the Gorguts "obscura" tome and borrowed some of the script. Now I don't want to claim that Car Bomb are in the same league as Gorguts, but they would be like a more tame version. I love the dissonance on display here, the harmonics, the scraping riffs and just overall disarray and chaos. This is not for your average metalhead. It pays to have listened to a good helping of nineties-era noise acts. I also hear a good deal of early Today Is The Day (Willpower)... in the angular riffage. The great thing about this release is that these noisemongers took a plethora of influences ranging from Meshuggah to Aphex Twin, Naked City, Autechre, Slayer, Dillinger Escape Plan and just devilish cacophony and filtered it through standard guitar/bass in terms of melody. This is hardly conventionally melodic though (at least not in terms of "pop" or predictable, bubblegum nonsense). They took these conventional instruments and coaxed, nay, absconded and conjured up the following monstrosity: metallic drill-n-bass meets power electronics married to 20th century classical through a scrap metal compactor. Originality is rare, and this band certainly has its influences (hence, no band is original, but may have a unique sound to warrant individuality in a watered-down scene), yet they gave it a fresh overhaul. I don't go through song by song, I look at the whole album as a listening experience or even a trip through someone else's imagination/nightmares. This stuff is as scathing as it gets. Recommended for fans of forementioned bands, styles and other experimental acts like Gnaw Their Tongues.... simply great. It's a grower for sure.