Lavotchkin

Lavotchkin?

More like...Labotchkin!

Seriously though, England's answer to Botch unfortunately comes off a lot like our own assortment of answers: Norma Jean, the Chariot, et. al. Frankly, there are far too many metalcore bands who seem to ape their not-too-distant forefathers and add few elements of their own. Granted, Lavotchkin also seem well-rooted in the heaviness and dynamics of Poison the Well, but it's not enough to separate themselves. A little bit of spoken word here, lots of pounding stop-start riffs there, guitars that build for the slow parts but just don't sound that impressive, some breakdowns, et. al., The Oldest Suicide Cult just feels a bit too "through the motions" to make a mark.

There's a few bands here and there drawing from Botch's well but including enough of their own ingredients to really stand out, like Achilles and One Dead Three Wounded, and a ton of others sort of just half-assing it. It seems like Lavotchkin falls into the latter group.

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