Car Bomb

Whether chopping a riff into pieces, reversing it, cutting it short, or messing with the tempo, Car Bomb’s unique style of progressive metal is the product of dissecting ideas and beating them to death. The result is equivalent to a jet engine propelling gravel into your skull. Car Bomb combines the polyrhythmic and mathematical madness of Meshuggah and Dillinger Escape Plan with the rage and energetic fury of Coalesce and Converge. Though their songs are musically challenging, Car Bomb refuses to dilute their ruthless execution. Their intent is to assault the listener in any and every way possible - compositionally, sonically, and lyrically.

Car Bomb’s habit of systematically abusing ideas also dominates its member’s professions/hobbies of computer programming, graphic design, astronomy, and quantum physics. “In order to excel in these fields, you have to be a control freak and an obsessive compulsive” Greg states. “These personality traits create struggle and chaos in the writing process, which drives the conception of a song. We wind up with ideas that we’d never think of.” Meticulous dissection also finds its way into Car Bomb’s lyrical themes. When asked about ‘Rid’, Mike explains “It’s about analyzing and picking at the things about yourself repeatedly to the point where there’s nothing left. You wind up destroying who you are.”

The inception of Car Bomb started as early as the year 2000, when two bands, ‘Neck’ and ‘Spooge,’ shared the same rehearsal space underneath a butcher in Rockville Center, New York. Jon recalls, “We called it the Dungeon. It was a hot and muggy cement basement with no windows. Basically, a hole in the earth created for slaughtering animals...but ‘metal’ bands got to jam down there – go figure!!” The two bands found themselves frequenting the other’s rehearsals and developed a mutual respect for their music. Greg and Mike wanted Neck to break out of the conventional and over saturated hardcore scene by being different. Greg recollects, “We all really dug what Faith No More did, so we tried to emulate that, except heavier and more progressive.” With three releases on various labels and five years of shows up and down the east coast, Neck had established themselves as one of Long Island’s most unique and brutal acts. On the other side of the Dungeon, bassist Jon and drummer Elliot were a part of Spooge, a more technical and stylistic band. Influences of Zappa and early Mr. Bungle can be heard throughout their complex and at most times hilarious epics.

Despite the fact that both bands had broken out of the traditional molds of metal and hardcore, the need to play heavier and more complex music drove Jon to seek out other musicians. In 2002, he recruited Greg to play in a project that would develop into Car Bomb. Jam sessions commenced and would continue for eighteen months with various lineup changes. Mike and Elliot were eventually added to the group and rounded out the final line up. In early 2004, Car Bomb’s first recording began in the house that Greg and Jon currently occupy. With this recording completed, Car Bomb is focused on getting their music out to as many people as possible.