ALBUM REVIEW: Car Bomb - "Meta"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 28/10/2016

Label: Independent

It is rare to hear heavy music that sounds genuinely original in 2016.  Imagine Will Haven playing Meshuggah and you get a strong approximation of the mathematical rage on display here.

“Meta” CD//DD track listing:

1. From The Dust Of This Planet
2. Secrets Within
3. Nonagon
4. Gratitude
5. Constant Sleep
6. The Oppressor
7. Black Blood
8. Sets
9. Cenotaph
10. Lights Out
11. Infinite Sun

The Review:

When listening to Car Bomb’s new album, “Meta”, it is often hard to comprehend that this music has been played by human beings. The reality that this record was played by four guys from Long Island seems less plausible than the possibility it is the product of a group of psychotic malfunctioning robots with time-distortion capabilities. 

From the crushing opening of “From The Dust Of This Planet” to the parting shot of “Infinite Sun”, “Meta” is a whirlwind onslaught of unpredictable machine gun chuggery, insane octopus drumming and sharp detours into warped, melodic worlds. Imagine Will Havenplaying Meshuggahand you get a strong approximation of the mathematical rage on display here.

Whilst insanely complicated, Car Bomb manage to avoid sounding clinical. Everything is played with an unhinged energy and intensity that adds an element of chaos and human fallibility to their music. This separates them from bands that place technique above all else and sound like a soulless guitar shop/drum clinic performance.

“Gratitude” may be the surprise highlight of the record and is the closest thing here to a traditional song, albeit one smashed to pieces and roughly reassembled into a fractured reflection of its former self. This track sees the band bring their melodic side to the fore while still incorporating their trademark piledriver riffage. Passages of intricate math-rock in the vein of Minus The Bear are interrupted by outbursts of violent distortion before giving way to a sky-scraping chorus reminiscent of Deftonesand Torche. There is a disorienting woozy feel as tempos and pitches shift, like listening to a record at an ever-shifting speed while it melts in the sun.

It is rare to hear heavy music that sounds genuinely original in 2016. Although it feels like there are some obvious influences on Car Bomb’s sound, the way they bring all of the individual elements together in their unique style makes “Meta” sound like an alien transmission from another dimension. Wherever this noise is coming from, I want to go there right now.

“Meta” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook