Car Bomb - Centralia (2007)^{Release ID: 3169}

The collaborative EP between The Dillinger Escape Plan and Mike Patton of Fantomas, Irony is a Dead Scene was one of the best mathcore EPs I've ever heard. But what do you get when kick the mathcore chaos up a notch? You get Car Bomb's debut Centralia!

Years before this album entered production, Neck band members Greg Kubacki and Michael Dafferner, and Spooge members Elliot Hoffman and Jon Modell decided to form a new noise-powered mathcore project. With respect for each other's styles, they've made a killer team. It wasn't until 2004 when they started recording a 3-track demo to send to labels. Once Relapse signed them in, the recording for Centralia was on...

Urgently, the drums roll in to open "Pieces of You", exploding into the discordant chaos that make up Car Bomb. Seriously, it's Irony is a Dead Scene on steroids! This is dark extreme mathcore that marks a killer break from the black metal/grindcore that extreme metal is often associated with. "Gum Under The Table" can surely blast gum off the wall as a pure attention-grabber. The under 30-second "Rid" is a brief blast through extreme math-grind. Things go as crazy as Fantomas in "Cellophane Stiletto". For "Best Intentions", you can't deny the jazzy breaks that appear frequently.

I think there's excellent chaos in "M6" as the tempo ranges all over the place, from slow sludge to sonic blasting. Rumbling through is "His Eyes", probably the most coherent track Car Bomb has to offer here. There are consistent hints at the band's later more experimental material in "Hypnotic Worm".

"Cielo Drive" is structured very strongly while staying close to the madness. This is demonstrated yet again the solid highlight "Solid Grey". Finally, "H5N1" ends this chaotic half-hour the way it started, bring it all to full circle, and marking quite a way to leave... That is, unless you get the groovy yet wild "Bra-c-ket" for one more glimpse of their sound for new listeners at that time before a 5-year gap between albums.

I can hear in a few small parts that Car Bomb isn't for everyone, with some slight struggle, but I can definitely stand it much more that most other people I know, and fans of Irony is a Dead Scene and avant-garde mathcore might also enjoy this work of artful chaos. You can't ignore this rewarding challenge of explosive aura....

Favorites: "Pieces of You", "Best Intentions", "M6", "His Eyes", "Cielo Drive", "Solid Grey"