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Rating: Meanwhile, bragging about knowing Botch is akin to gaining prestige and credibility among various categories of music experts and extreme music nerds. Come on, we’re talking about Botch: pioneers of a genre that sits at the intersection of brutality and intelligence, if you sell it this way I can guarantee you’ll earn the respect of all these lovely pogo enthusiasts without knee pads but with mouthguards.
In the mid-90s, the dream of every respectable hardcore group in the northeastern U.S. was to have dinner with some handsome metalheads from the former Confederate states of the South. Botch, however, were from Tacoma (Washington State) so their love, being so distant, had to at least be rewarded with the Abbott brothers, consenting. Clearly, to satisfy the musical appetite of such strapping fellows, the recipe would have required many, too many, damned Watts. It happened that the sturdily built brothers appeared in singer Dave Verellen’s dream, attending what would become an extremely flatus-filled banquet. Vinnie Paul was slightly constipated. To feel lighter, he left his double pedal at home and went straight for whiskey and acid drowned ice cream, adding that extra psychedelic touch. Dimebag Darrell gladly accepted Dave’s algebra explanations and in return gave him a handful of his riffs. A substantial but quick meal: after about 35 minutes, with the alarm ringing, Dave realized he had to materialize his dream delusions and gathered his buddies, who by the way, had all had the same dream. Additionally, Dave played the numbers 4, 31, and 76 on the Bari lottery.
Compared to the two subsequent furious and mathematical albums (probably better, but who am I to say?), this American Nervoso feels decidedly more fresh. Not fresh like Reinhold Messner licking a penguin on Monte Rosa, but not scorching like your grandmother’s mixed tobacco saliva tracks on the seats of your dad’s Ritmo in the August of 1984. The exact term some professors of reviewology have taught me is "accessible", in fact, this mathcore is dissonant but not too much, extreme but not repetitive, noisy but varied... and despite everything, accessible. Like your girlfriend in panties, turned away, while clipping her toenails.
After telling you about the sound of this album, I’d like to talk about the song structure and tempo changes used within. Actually, I won't. In fact, I’m writing random sentences because the length of this review doesn’t quite convince me. It seems a bit short. So I’m using this ploy to make the visual impact as soon as you enter remarkable. Just a moment of patience, we're almost there. The last line and then I promise to let you go. In the meantime, care for something to drink? Shall I make you a coffee? Okay, now it’s perfect.
P.S. Hydra Head Records, the label that released this album, is closing its doors. Aaron Turner, one of the founders (yes, the singer of Isis) announced it a few days ago, and many of us were shocked. It’s not just an ordinary label; it’s a reference point for an entire music scene and beyond. I’ll refrain from adding more comments to avoid sounding pathetic. But I’ll leave you the references: this is the blog and this is the store. Bye.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Hutton's Great Heat Engine (04:26)
we'll never see them again
i won't even try to run
because it's kinda pointless
here comes the sea, the sea of red
it's hard to believe that our end has come
oh she still erupts
it's hard to believe that something so thick
is so quick
but it buries us by the hundreds
it's so quiet here
and the heat is my new friend
02 John Woo (03:15)
dear sir or madam
i'm writing you on behalf of me and my fellow man
you see we're so sick and tired
of being rediscovered
again
i'll take the fate of texas into my own hands
its still dripping consistent constant
good night sweet susan
oh don't worry i still drive by
it's sealed and signed goodbye
but i've recieved nothing from you
05 Oma (04:57)
were you expecting a prayer from me
take this thing off my face
but don't let them know i said that
oh nevermind
without my mask you wouldn't recognize me
we wanted to see you so bad
even when you thought i didn't
i always always always did
what was i to do with
thoughts of losing you
it's hard to talk to you
hazyhead clouded with marinol
this one's king size
oma, we'll be waiting
what's the message sent
who's it represent
it's all on you
oma
06 Thank God for Worker Bees (03:59)
listen to what i have to say to you
painful repetition - comes and goes again
painful repetition - comes and goes again
and it goes
so now i'm the human
now i'm the human shield
finest engineering - we've ever seen
finite enginerring - it never leaves
never leaves
and that's why
we dine on your design
i like the look on your face
it's bittersweet, and lasts
for six hours
alone for one day and six hours
08 Spitting Black (03:09)
it won't happen again not for the hundreth time
you're my cause, the pain you left in your wake
all the people you dodge you fucking charity case
times have changed
here's an idea how about i never
hear from you again
time for you two to disappear
i'll cleanse myself
watching the sun set
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