Botch –  An Anthology of Dead Ends [CLEAR VINYL] – New LP

2023 reissue of 2002 LP. 

Legendary Tacoma, Washington mathcore/hardcore/metal band Botch’s final EP An Anthology of Dead Ends was originally recorded in 2002, serving as a swan song sending off one of heavy music’s most inventive groups. Now, the band’s final EP is set to be re-issued on Sargent House over 20 years after its original release. Their monstrous concoction of metal, noise, indie rock guitar trickery, and depth is on full display. This is a last will and testament to the group's drive and intent, cementing their legacy as one of the untouchable greats, already having influenced many a group.



Bassist Brian Cook, guitarist David Knudson, drummer Tim Latona, and vocalist Dave Verellen formed Botch in 1993, eventually becoming one of the most significant bands of their time. Their final show was June 15, 2002, the same day as the original release of An Anthology of Dead Ends. The members would go on to play in These Arms Are Snakes, Minus the Bear, and Russian Circles, among others, with acclaim for the band coming mostly post-breakup. 

A good day for Botch consisted of utterly laying to waste everything in their path and having a grand ol’ time while doing so, huge monstrous concoctions of metal, noise, indie rock guitar trickery, full of depth and minute secrets which slowly secreted themselves with successive listens. There is no question that part of what made Botch so great is their ability as players, but more important, and even more impressive perhaps, was the way they fit the pieces together - odd time signatures, seemingly impossible riffs made to sound easy, the occasional melodic passages, and devastating anthemic movements that managed to inspire hordes while simultaneously escaping the redundant simplicity of the conventional hardcore sing along. In their nine years of existence Botch managed to push out a slew of 7”s, split EPs, and two full lengths. With each successive release Botch upped the anti considerably - not just for themselves as a band, but for the underground as a whole. Their first full length American Nervoso (early 98) put them “on the map”and thrust them into the league of then hardcore heavy weights, i.e. Converge, Coalesce, Deadguy, etc. Following this album with a few years of extensive touring and preparation for the next release, Botch elevated their status within the “scene”(as well as outside of), and began to grab the attention of the world at large. However it wasn’t until the release of their second masterpiece (and we don’t use that term loosely) We Are the Romans, that Botch fever took hold nationally and internationally, infecting thousands and garnering the praise of music journalists far and wide. This tremendous 6 track EP is a fitting testament to their will and intent, cementing their legacy as one of the untouchable greats. As shown from the opening notes of “Spaim”, they absolutely refuse to go down quietly.