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Botch

American Nervoso [reissue]
2007
Hydra Head

Botch - American Nervoso [reissue] (Cover Artwork)

Review by: Brian
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Hydra Head Records (link)

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Published on July 17th 2007

One album prior to Botch's landmark effort, We Are the Romans, came American Nervoso, the metal(lichard)core act's first full-length. While proving to be not quite as influential or accomplished as Romans, Nervoso was a frothing, still technical and confrontational album that was no less heavy and even a bit more dissonant, fitting in perfectly with their mid-to-late`90s brethren of the time (Converge, Coalesce). The latest offering in Hydra Head's recent flurry of activity regarding the pioneering quartet is a remixed and remastered reissue of that 1998 album along with a couple bonuses thrown on for good measure.

Standard album numbers like "Dali's Praying Mantis" proved the band weren't humorless brutes, as it was a nearly all-instrumental attack that seemed to pre-date the overuse of "horror chords" that popped up later across the rosters of Trustkill and Solid State Records, with the song having one solitary lyric: a repetitive yell of "yeah!" Brutal cuts like the solid "Dead for a Minute" and "Oma" channeled the metallic aggression of the band's own influences (Unbroken, Deadguy), but even the latter of those closes with Tim Latona's solemn piano coda.

The new, more aural setting applied to Nervoso makes songs much more clearer and dynamic as well. "Thank God for Worker Bees" starts with dusty drums that sound programmed and distorted vocals until the band's groove-oriented bombast and shapeshifting, heavy angularity comes into play, conveying an astute sense of soft/loud / restrained/aggressive.

With only nine songs on the original release, a "new" song, "Stupid Me" (taken from the Nervoso sessions one would assume), plus an extended version of "Spitting Black" and demo versions of three other tracks fills out Nervoso quite well -- in fact, it pushes it to just over fifty minutes' running time. There's nothing particularly mesmerizing about the additional offerings unless one claimed a sickening love for Nervoso and wished to dissect every differentiating nuance, but their presence is certainly no detriment to the reissue. "Stupid Me" is an impressive number though, as it's much more intense than the majority of the album that precedes it and makes crafty use of interchanging, frenetic riffs.

American Nervoso may not be regarded as Botch's pinnacle but it's certainly where they thrust into the door of the metal/hardcore scene and made their inkling, showing that their craft had reached a serious developmental point that would only prove to be the tip of a towering, threatening (and consequently crumbling and tumbling) iceberg.

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John Woo [demo]

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Posted by SilentStorms on 2007-07-21 00:10:15

I can't tell if that comment is sarcastic towards me or the other guy.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 20, 2007 at 5:10 PM (EDT)
My Score:

yeah man, Yellowcard are way more important then Botch, who didn't have a music video circulating on mtv or vh1, therefore are completely worthless.

Score is for the dumb fucking comments kids make on here.

Posted by SilentStorms on 2007-07-19 10:06:17

Why, it's on the Anthology cd! Ahhhh yes, videos that rule that aren't played on MTV and MuchMusic ... amazing.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 19, 2007 at 12:49 AM (EDT)

I think the drive that makes both Botch and Yellowcard come from the same place, that being their heart. Both bands have members that feel compelled to get the music and lyrics that dwells in their hearts/hands/heads out and to preform it for people and inspire them to have a connection, on some level, with their crowds. Why is that hard to understand? Yellowcard are just as much artists and creators of important and sincere music. Plus they have sold loads more records and been on tv and stuff. Where is Botch's video?

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 19, 2007 at 12:02 AM (EDT)

are you guys seriously completely unfamiliar with humor? or flame bait?

Posted by SilentStorms on 2007-07-18 23:54:53

Seriously, unwarranted comments (such as Yellowcard comments on a Botch review) should be banned. I am adamant that those fucking stupid biased unrelated and unconsequential posts should be banned. Fuck this shit. "Who the fuck said that shit?"

Old Dave Man Gloom Norman

Posted by treos on 2007-07-18 23:30:00

the poster below me is dumber than i had oriiginaly thoght, obviously the womens underwear thing means that the band yellowcard is FUCKING GAY

i wouldnt have bought it before but having read those gay comments i think im gona download it and illegally distribute it

pz

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 6:02 PM (EDT)

People have said my Yellowcard posts are dumb, but what was with the underwear "joke"? That made no sense at all. (Husker Du)

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 3:55 PM (EDT)

As an added bonus feature: this CD sets the toilet seat down when you walk into the bathroom.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 3:54 PM (EDT)
My Score:

"Me: Yellowcard's new CD Paper Walls, hit the streets today so where the heck is the review???

You: Oh wow, I didn't realize it came out, lemme grab it and write about how the music, lyrics, production, songwriting, cover art and concept all tie together and submit it to the site and see what the fans have to say!"

Not to mention the CD comes pre-packaged with your complimentary pair of womens underwear.

Posted by DickAround on 2007-07-18 10:17:47

I always hated the production on this. Loved the songs from this on their live DVD/CD and this just completes it for me.

Posted by rkl on 2007-07-18 02:52:27

is there anyway i can set a yellowcard threshold in my comments settings?

Posted by pwfanatic37 on 2007-07-18 01:52:44
My Score:

this band is so much better than 75% of metal or hardcore out there today, and the fact that they haven't been around for a few years makes Botch that much more impressive.

Posted by brown on 2007-07-18 00:03:49

I always thought the off-kilterness of Romans was part of its charm. It's very chaotic and the track listing plays out the same way.

Posted by brown on 2007-07-17 23:03:09

Huttons Great Heat Engine is one of the best songs Botch ever made.. but it's completely overshadowed by the first 3 seconds of "To our friends in the great white north".

Posted by SilentStorms on 2007-07-17 22:55:54
My Score:

Oh, and this album rules. It's not as good as the following two cds, but it does flow the best. We Are The Romans has the best four Botch songs ever; Transitions From Persona to Object, C Thomas Howell as the "Soul" Man, Saint Matthews Returns to the Womb, and Frequency Ass Bandit (my favourite song ever). Anthology has it's moments too.

Posted by SilentStorms on 2007-07-17 22:52:58

I second that motion.

Posted by Archangel on 2007-07-17 21:36:13

I would seriously consider making a donation to PunkNews if the editors refuse to post a Yellowcard review.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 8:47 PM (EDT)

Me: Knock, knock

You: Who's There?

Me: Yellowcard's new CD Paper Walls

You: Yellowcard's new CD Paper Walls who?

Me: Yellowcard's new CD Paper Walls, hit the streets today so where the heck is the review???

You: Oh wow, I didn't realize it came out, lemme grab it and write about how the music, lyrics, production, songwriting, cover art and concept all tie together and submit it to the site and see what the fans have to say!

Me: Sounds good! Over and out!

Posted by tenwestchaser on 2007-07-17 20:23:57

"this album flows WAY better than we are the romans. i think this is the better record..."

You know, I actually agree. We are the Romans seemed rather uneven and let us not forget the self indulgent moments that dragged the album down like the "we are the romans" monk-ish sounding portion which dragged on for way too long. In fact, I always skip that part because it is just too long, repetetive, and uninteresting after about 45 seconds.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 8:05 PM (EDT)

mmmm...piano cola....

Posted by inagreendase on 2007-07-17 16:11:52

way to rip off the one sheet

Okay, how would you describe it?

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 3:51 PM (EDT)

this albumm is great but way to rip off the one sheet that came with this record, "piano coda".

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 3:09 PM (EDT)

this album flows WAY better than we are the romans. i think this is the better record...

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 2:50 PM (EDT)

isn't stupid me on unifying themes redux? or is this a difference version.

nowhere near as good as we are the romans, but still a pretty sweet album. the ending of dali's praying mantis is phenomenal. and thank god for worker bees is maybe their best song.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 2:23 PM (EDT)

Classic!

Vinyl reissue good/ CD reissue bad!

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 2:08 PM (EDT)

"Oma" is fucking amazing.

Posted by CantSitStill on 2007-07-17 14:07:30

reissues = weak