Announce BOTCH Reissue and DALEK Rarities!
Reissue "American Nervoso," July 10th
“Some of the most impressive heavy music from the past 10 years. It’s been four years since they called it quits, and still, no one has come close to topping their dedication, adventurousness or personality. Botch were dead serious about one thing: fucking ruling.” - Decibel
“One of the most revered hardcore bands of the last decade, Botch pioneered the mathmetal school of rock with song structures so complex and musicianship so virtuosic the Seattle quartet might as well have played classical music.” – Revolver
“If you’re a fan of metal, hardcore or any of either category’s attendant subgenres and still aren’t worshiping the ground Botch stomped on, we don’t have any hope for you.” – Alternative Press
“Disturbingly bipolar, with mercurial guitar parts reverting from frighteningly chaotic to tautly controlled within a breath.” - CMJ
“Seattle, WA’s Botch [was] at the forefront of a near revolution in sound in heavy music. A virulent strain of progressive, underground, and sometimes violent heavy metal-infused guitar histrionics steeped deeply in hardcore punk scene aesthetics and the much touted D.I.Y. ethic.” – All Music Guide
Recorded in March 1998 at Stone Gossard’s Studio Litho in Seattle, American Nervoso was Botch’s full-length debut and first release on Hydra Head. The white-hot guitar action, scathing vocals, sweet bass moves, and torrential drums within smashed the existing precepts of “hardcore” and redefined both the word and the music for a generation of matinee kids and grizzled vets alike. And let’s not forget drummer Tim Latona’s immortal piano coda at the end of “Oma,” a convention-defying slice of musicality that most hardcore bands couldn’t conceive of, much less actually pull off. Yeah, this is the one that put Botch in the full-length game: American Nervoso was a regular coming-out party for a whole new way of thinking (and rocking); a funeral rite for mindless floor-punching and youth-crew Hitlerism. Here it is, nearly a decade later—remixed, re-mastered and reissued with five bonus tracks for your listening pleasure and that occasional trip down memory lane. Thank god for worker bees, but thank Botch for American Nervoso.
After the reissue of Unifying Themes Redux (which featured a bevy of early, rare, and unreleased material) comes the re-release of Botch’s first absolute milestone: American Nervoso. Rife with totally singular rhythms and guitar work, it’s the sort of musical leap forward that a soul expected from the hardcore scene at the time. And if you were around when this platter came out, you know your jaw hit the floor when you first popped it on. Hydra Head is now reissuing the record with amazing sounds and a throng of bonus tracks.
We’ve said it before: they’re owed major props for single handedly reinventing hardcore. Well, this past year actually DID see a lot of bands vocalizing their love for Botch. And a slew of awesome features popped up in all sorts of magazines, from Decibel, to AP, to Rock Sound. Their hometown paper the Stranger put it best: “Botch still slay any of today’s MTV2 and MySpace also-rans.”
These days, the former Botch players forge ahead in These Arms Are Snakes, Minus the Bear, and Roy. And with those guys at the helm, each of those bands is perpetually infused with originality.
"American Nervoso" Tracklisting
1.Hutton’s Great Heat Engine
2.John Woo
3.Dali’s Praying Mantis
4.Dead for a Minute
5.Oma
6.Thank God For Worker Bees
7.Rejection Spoken Softly
8.Spitting Black
9.Hives
Bonus Tracks:
10.Stupid Me
11.Spitting Black (Extended Version)
12.Hutton’s Great Heat Engine (Demo)
13.Rejection Spoken Softly (Demo)
14.John Woo (Demo)
For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/botch
www.hydrahead.com
www.hydraheadlines.blogspot.com
and:
To Release "Deadverse Massive Vol. 1: Dälek Rarities 1999-2006" out July 24th
“While many MCs are hacking up congestion labeled as ‘hip-hop,’ Newark’s mic fiend Dälek and producer Oktopus are the genre’s Robitussin: viscous, bracing, wary and woozy.” – URB Magazine
“There's no respite for the listener, either, whipped into shock by lyrical fury,
abrasive beats, or looped samples that sound like bleating animals being led to
slaughter.” – XLR8R Magazine
“[Dälek are] one of modern hip-hop's greatest crews.” – Pitchforkmedia
“Too brutal to be hip-hop, too beat-orientated to be labeled rap-metal, and they
use enough layered white noise to earn comparisons to My Bloody Valentine.
their music is a statement, as foreboding as any ever made, and whether you nod
in approval or sneer in derision is irrelevant.” – Drowned in Sound
Ex-ter-mi-nate! On the heels of their latest full-length, Abandoned Language,
MC Dälek and beat-master Oktopus unfurl a collection of dream-like instrumentals, ten-ton remixes (including Enon’s unforgettable “In This City”) and scarce gems from the last seven years. Deadverse Massive Volume 1 is no odds n’ sods collection, but rather an addendum to a body of work that already rests comfortably atop underground hip-hop’s proverbial heap. Over the ominous grind of metallic friction and industrial-strength beats, MC Dälek flows like silk on glass, foregoing all the usual hip-hop lyrical conventions for something darker, more textural, and infinitely memorable. Did we mention that this is Hydra Head’s first hip-hop release? Well, it is. Then again, our man Oktopus has already appeared twice in the Hydra Head Remix series, reinterpreting the work of both Isis and Knut with exceptional results. So when you think about it, these dudes were pretty much part of the family all along.
With a slew of critic-praised albums under their belts (including their most
recent full length for Ipecac, Abandoned Language), MC Dälek and beat-master
Oktopus are prime runners in keeping hip hop vitalized, hungry, and forward thinking. Deadverse Massive Volume 1 is an outstanding compilation of rare tracks, engaging instrumentals, and remixes — a body of work that embodies an atmosphere, lyrical flow, and vision all their own.
Hydra Head does it all: one-man black metal symphonies, instro-metal, shoegazing sludge, two-manned Big Black worship, and now progressive, underground, and memorable hip hop. All their bands sound different. But what’s the tie that binds? They’re some of the best at what they do. And their little family is incestuous, to boot! Dälek have toured with Isis and Knut, as well as remixed both those metal heavyweights.
"Deadverse Massive Volume 1" Tracklist
1. Megaton (Deadverse Remix)
From TechnoAnimal vs. Dälek split 12". Originally released on Matador Records in 2000. Recorded and mixed at Sweetwood Sound.
2. Angst
Previously unreleased. Recorded in 1999 at Mayan Ruins. Mixed at Sweetwood Sound.
3. Ruin It, Ruin Them, Ruin Yourself, Then Ruin Me (Deadverse Remix)
From Kid606 vs. Dälek split 12"/CD. Originally released on Tigerbeat6 Records in 2002. Recorded and Mixed at Sweetwood Sound.
4. Vague Recollection
From Kid606 vs. Dälek split 12"/CD. Originally released on Tigerbeat6 Records in 2002. Recorded at Mayan Ruins. Mixed at Sweetwood Sound.
5. Desolate Peasants
From Dälek vs. Velma split 12". Originally released on Namskeio Records in 2002. Recorded at Mayan Ruins, Sweetwood Sound, Dublab, and 1010 Woodland. Mixed at Trax East.
6. Rouge (Deadverse Remix)
From Dälek vs. Velma split 12". Originally released on Namskeio Records in 2002. Recorded at Mayan Ruins and Sweetwood Sound. Mixed at Trax East.
7. 3:46
From Dälek vs Dalek 7". Originally released on Man Vs Ape Records in 2002. Recorded and mixed at Sweetwood Sound.
8. In This City (Deadverse Remix)
From Enon's In This City Remix EP. Originally released on Touch and Go Records in 2003. Recorded and mixed at Sweetwood Sound.
9. Music for ASM
Previously unreleased. Recorded and mixed in 2003 at Sweetwood Sound.
10. Streets All Amped
From Streets All Amped 12". Originally released on Ad Noiseum Records in 2006. Recorded at Mayan Ruins. Mixed at Sweetwood Sound.
11. Ascention
From Streets All Amped 12". Originally released on Ad Noiseum Records in 2006. Recorded at Mayan Ruins. Mixed at Sweetwood Sound.
12. Maintain
From Streets All Amped 12". Originally released on Ad Noiseum Records in 2006. Recorded at Mayan Ruins. Mixed at Sweetwood Sound.
13. Back to Burn
From Streets All Amped 12". Originally released on Ad Noiseum Records
in 2006. Recorded at 9 Kaiserstrasse. Mixed at Sweetwood Sound.
Dälek Live (Europe)!
Jun 15 2007 La Romandie Lausanne
Jun 16 2007 Volume Festival Bra
Jun 22 2007 Théâtre des Amandiers Paris
Jun 23 2007 Boa Luzern
Jun 24 2007 L'usine Geneva
Jun 27 2007 La Cartonnerie Reims
Jun 28 2007 L'astrolab Orleans
Jun 29 2007 Eurockeennes Belfort
Jun 30 2007 Furia Sound Festival Cergy
Jul 14 2007 Dour Festival Dour
Jul 28 2007 Afisha Picnic Festival Moscow
For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/dalek
www.hydrahead.com
www.hydraheadlines.blogspot.com
