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Seattle, WA's Botch is at the forefront of a near revolution in sound in heavy music. A virulent strain of progressive, underground, and sometimes violent heavy metal-infused guitar histrionics steeped deeply in hardcore punk scene aesthetics and the much touted D.I.Y. ethic, with many that community's lowest common denominator, tough-guy minded inflections thankfully absent. It's a subgenre that is most often labeled noisecore. Much like their noisecore peers in bands like Converge and Isis, Botch's sound balks at the established conventions and preconceived limitations of the hardcore genre, with the quartet tastefully and artfully crafting complex, mathematical musical compositions with dexterity, depth, and skill. Advertising copy once appropriately called the band evil math rock. Vocalist Dave Verellen takes his lyrical conceptualization very seriously, filling the band's records with stark metaphors and often incredibly wordy song titles. Botch formed in 1993 when Verellen hooked up with his high school chums Tim Latona (drums), Brian Cook (bass), and guitarist David Knudson -- a lineup that has endured over the years, avoiding the constant changes that many of the band's peers undergo. Two years later, Botch released their first demo on cassette and toured behind it. In 1997, the band joined forces with Boston's Hydra Head Records imprint, a sometimes home to such noisecore genre standard bearers as Cave In, Drowning Man, and other bands. Botch released their first full-length album, American Nervoso, that same year. It was an album that showcased Knudson's incredible guitar playing talents that would soon see him recognized as one of the best players in the underground scene. 1999 saw the release of Botch's We Are the Romans, a profoundly dense, conceptually driven, and meticulously crafted thematic tour de force that heightened the band's notoriety amongst the metal press and garnered them further touring opportunities, including a trip across the pond to Europe (their second) in support of friends/like-minded musicians Dillinger Escape Plan. The next two years saw the band performing live, including an appearance at Krazy Fest 4 in Louisville, KY. ~ Ryan J. Downey, All Music Guide |
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