Centralia

Long Island, NY has always had a soft spot for heavy metal and hardcore, but what about bands that specialize in complex freakout assaults, à la the Dillinger Escape Plan? Not many had surfaced, until Car Bomb came merrily rolling along. The quartet’s 2007 release, Centralia, comes off like one big sonic landmine — few bits to hum along to, but plenty of stop/start rhythms and vocal vomiting to go around. While the tracks often begin differently, it’s only a matter of time until it all collapses into the same tar pit trap of math noise. Take your pick of any of the album’s 11 tracks — after a while, it all bloody sounds the same. – Greg Prato