Sometimes, one of the greatest hooks a band can have is simply how they sound. Look to a group like Meshuggah, whose thick, hefty and elastic guitar is often copied but never fully captured by others. Obviously, the approach to music writing needs to match the sound, but when done properly, this marriage can create an overpowered character build that sets the stage to best any boss. Car Bomb is one such band that has found a middle ground between the aforementioned Swedes and The Dillinger Escape Plan, bringing together the tonal heft of one and the other’s penchant for explosive chaos, all with a distinct sound. What’s the sound, you ask? Well, Car Bomb’s music generally feels like the band recorded an album, then re-recorded it as it plays through a dying computer before shipping that out to their audience. There’s a modern technology flavor to their brand of madness where subtle, brief twists of knobs and pushes of buttons give each moment and transition something new.
It’s often the more subtle shifts that help key moments stand out on this brief EP. About 20 seconds into “Blindsides,” the guitar gets woozy and the song could make you lightheaded. Eventually, that riff starts to climb, and the tone of the notes shifts to sound more like the song is rebooting itself. At the peak, it opens up the space for the chugging to hit harder. At one point, those chugs start to bridge and link together in a stuttering way that’s the aural equivalent of the inconsistent patter of a toddler trying to run, making you worried the song’s musical feet are dangerously close to running faster than it can carry itself and will topple over at any point. Even the riff style changes quite a bit from song to song. The closing title track has what is essentially a slowed-down and mutated thrash riff that sounds like these practitioners are in the middle of dissecting it to learn about the origins of heavy metal.
At 13 minutes, this little EP is over before you’ll really process what you’re listening to. The music is strange and erratic, which will certainly appeal to a particular brand of heavy metal fan (hi, hello there). If you’re already familiar with Car Bomb, you’re getting more of the same. If you’ve never turned the ignition for this group’s explosive tunes, this is the perfect firecracker in the tailpipe to get you started.
