CoC : Botch - An Anthology of Dead Ends : Review

Botch - _An Anthology of Dead Ends_
(Hydrahead Records, 2002)
by: Xander Hoose (9 out of 10)

_An Anthology of Dead Ends_ is Botch's final statement to the world before calling it quits. Yes, you're reading it correctly, Botch is no more. Three full albums of insane noisecore/metal and plenty of excellent shows and that's it. But Botch aren't leaving the stage unnoticed; _An Anthology of Dead Ends_ is an excellent piece of work that shows the way Botch had progressed since their late 1999 _We Are the Romans_ album. In six songs titled "Spaim", "Japam", "Framce", "Vietmam", "Afghamistam" and "Micaragua" they show more diversity and an even better instrument control then ever before, leaving you banging your head and gasping for breath, your brain saturated with strange tunes and rhythms with such a crystal clear production that other bands could take an example of this. Devote fanatics of _WAtR_ can blindly purchase _AAoDE_; for the others, this album comes highly recommended. And if it's still too hard to say goodbye to this band, keep your eyes open for the re-release of _Unifying Themes_ out on Excursion Records anytime soon.

(article published 1/9/2002)