Botch

Botch: 061502 [DVD/CD]061502 [DVD/CD] (2006)
Hydra Head Records

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: pwfanatic37pwfanatic37
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on December 12th 2006I am going to go out on a limb and declare Botch one of the greatest heavy bands of all time. The quartet from Tacoma was a sonic force to be reckoned with, destroying crowds throughout the world till 2002. June 15, 2002, approximately 1200 kids piled into The Showbox in Seattle to witness one last .

I am going to go out on a limb and declare Botch one of the greatest heavy bands of all time. The quartet from Tacoma was a sonic force to be reckoned with, destroying crowds throughout the world till 2002. June 15, 2002, approximately 1200 kids piled into The Showbox in Seattle to witness one last glimpse of Botch's creatively violent take on the world of heavy music. An announcement of a DVD specially for those that missed out was announced years ago, and finally, after many days of wallowing in a Botch-less world, 061502 has been released.

The whole impressive package is that 14-song-long set from June 15 and an accompanying live CD of that show. The set list is very finely chosen, taking equal doses from the entire discography and even including the fantastic cover of "Rock Lobster." The sound on the DVD, considering the fact that the show wasn't necessarily going to be made into a DVD at the time, is great. All of Dave Knudsen's manipulative nutty distortion tricks sound just as unstoppably heavy as on the albums. The onstage banter is even kept in. Starting with "St. Mathew Returns to the Womb" and finishing with "Man the Ramparts," it is a spectacular set through and through.

Unfortunately, since the show was filmed but not filmed with a DVD release in mind, much of the camera work is quite grainy. There are some good angles, but the editing too often starts to flash back and forth from different cameras too quickly, often with the accompaniment of a strobe light. It is incredibly hard to actually watch the show when these rapid-fire scenes take place, but it only happens a few times.

Added bonuses include a few live songs performed in Bellingham and a music video for "St. Mathew Returns to the Womb." But the true shining moment of the entire disc is the included commentary that seemed to delay the release of the DVD for so long. The band gets together to have a few beers, ridicule themselves, ridicule others, and explain the best and the worst that was Botch. It is an interesting insight to hear which riffs make the top 5 coolest Botch ever performed and such. Often times commentaries on many DVDs are dreadfully boring and that is not the case here. And if anything, to hear bassist Brian Cook say what everyone has always thought about Norma Jean makes the purchase entirely worth it.

Those that saw this show live were treated to a fitting testament to one of the best heavy bands of the past decade. For a band whose fan-base practically grew exponentially after the break-up, 061502 is a perfect display of the ferociousness of a band that had few peers in its time and still blows most bands of today out of the water.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (December 16, 2006)

"I am going to go out on a limb and declare Botch one of the greatest heavy bands of all time".

Just a random thought, why is it that _everything_ is "one of the greatest" whatever ever? Why can't something just be flat out the best thing ever? That phrase has been used so much it's lost all meaning.

Hey_Asshole (December 15, 2006)

i know a girl who compares every fucking band in the world to Botch. no matter what the band sounds like. i suspect she might be retarded.

so, good job Botch. now every girl with big tits who listens to shitty hardcore/metalcore has a band to compare the shitty bands to.

DickAround (December 14, 2006)

Check your local indie store. I think Hydra Head ships CDs to Best Buy, I dont know about their DVDs, I wouldnt count on it. Also; check out hydrahead.com.

Rocktopus (December 14, 2006)

I didnt need to read any more of this review after the first sentence.....

Where can i buy this?

Anonymous (December 13, 2006)

alright, i confess, that comment about botch ripping off norma jean was a joke, i was trying to stir a hornet's nest, and low and behold.... not much.

GET PISSED! SOMEONE GET PISSED! I'M SO BORED!

Sorry Getty, I'm glad you enjoyed this.

Who got to see Botch when they were on tour with the Murder City Devils?? I DID!

pwfanatic37 (December 13, 2006)

if i remember correctly, during Japam, Brian Cook says something along the lines of, God i love this norma jean song.

then everyone oohs and aahs, and the drummer tim says, its amazing how we got away with blantantly ripping those guys off.

its great to hear the band say exactly what everyone thinks (and a lot of people say as well).

SilentStorms (December 13, 2006)

"i heard these fuckers ripped of Norma Jean! What the hell?! Come on! No band that rips off another band deserves the time of day."

Dear god I hope that's a joke. Score is for the comment, unless it's a joke, in which case I would have to re-evaluate my score. Until then ... die.

SilentStorms (December 13, 2006)

No worries Kenjamin, that was not directed at you.

russe11 (December 13, 2006)

What does he say about Norma Jean? I'm dying to know (I ordered the dvd yesterday).

Anonymous (December 13, 2006)

i heard these fuckers ripped of Norma Jean! What the hell?! Come on! No band that rips off another band deserves the time of day.

kill them all and let God sort them out!

Laurier (December 12, 2006)

The commentary is fucking hilarious and they're using the dvd as a drinking game hXc.