Botch – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 19th May @ The Gov, Adel SA
Botch
The Gov, Adelaide SA
May 19, 2024
Support: Conjurer
“Botch were the first band I saw where the singer screamed into a microphone, and I don’t find it too hyperbolic to say it changed my whole life trajectory. They were my introduction to hardcore (I won’t split hairs with all the different subgenres), and if you’re going to be influenced by a hardcore band, you might as well pick the one that’s smarter and better than everyone else.” – Jordan Billie, The Blood Brothers.
“Hard to think of a band that has been a bigger inspiration and influence on me, both as a musician and a listener.” – Riley Breckenridge, Thrice.
“Another group that influenced us as a band is Botch.” – Liam Cormier, Cancer Bats.
“Botch were a little more left field, geographically, and musically, but I still think this is probably the best album of that genre and era.” – Frank Turner.
These admissions from arguably some of the most prominent musicians in the alternative and heavy music universes are in essence the beginning of a monumental list of outfits who owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to Tacoma’s mathcore trailblazers Botch. Underoath, Norma Jean, Architects, Every Time I Die, Knocked Loose and even Owl City have acknowledged the four-piece’s incredible impact on themselves as artists. After a 20-year absence, the self-proclaimed “evil math rock” explorers surprised the world with their shock return to the stage in Seattle for Matt Bayles’ Birthday on October 15th, 2022; this was far from the reunion’s ‘End Of Discussion’. Around 19 months after that initial reconciliation date, Botch were in Australia for their “first and last time ever” as per their admission and as poetically spoken in ‘Swimming The Channel Vs Driving The Chunnel’ – “It’s For History”; this undoubtedly was.
The UK’s Conjurer were in fact on their own Australian headline tour during May when they were presented with the honour of being the support act for the Washington jazz-metalcore innovators on select shows. Adelaide being their final tour date down under, the four-piece possessed an elevated ‘Endeavour’ to ensure that this show was a memorable one for the modest yet motivated audience.
An eerie and horror-themed backing soundtrack introduced the extreme metal outfit and in almost a too suitable fashion, technical difficulties with Dan Nightingale’s guitar setup extended this commencement adding more tremendous tension and astonishing anguish to the band’s awe-inspiring aura of torment.
‘It Dwells’ was the proper initiation, and it was the soul-shattering bludgeoning that the unexpected crowd members were dazzled by. In only very rare circumstances can a metal band stupefy their spectators to a complete frozen fixation and that is what Conjurer can and do achieve. Not only were the onlookers anchored in amazement – barely any of the attendees were able to manage the commonly done practice of grabbing the smartphone for recording purposes. The majority were motionless and mesmerised.
Bassist Conor Marshall was magnificently malicious and mischievously charged with his presence. Standing at the front, this scribe will unwaveringly admit that this was in-all-likelihood, the most hair-windmills ever witnessed at The Governor Hindmarsh. If it wasn’t enough onstage, it was required offstage also, and Conor was delightfully deranged in ensuring face-to-face engagement with the audience. ‘Choke’ showcased the quartet’s magical ability to transcend from blackened death metal to jazz interludes featuring an incredible rim-tap percussion intermission by drummer Noah See. The excellently eccentric breakdown which followed would have had Gojira in ‘Another World’ of ecstasy.
Dan’s initial technical difficulties with his guitar and amp may have inspired him to disregard technology completely and in a staggering display of animalistic viciousness, Mr. Nightingale opted to growl without the use of the microphone, and it lacerated the gloom-metal air with immeasurable power.
‘Retch’ set the alchemy chargers to hyper speed with a blackened thrash whirlwind before the building sludge-death bridge intermission where Dan and guitarist/vocalist Brady Deeprose culminated in a superhuman bellow screech of “There Is No Shelter. Til every shred of hope is ripped from the sinews!” DETONATION! A cosmic sized post-metal-doom-breakdown shook the floors of The Gov and its magnitude was glaring to say the least.
To close ‘Those Years, Condemned’, an exemplary anthem that exquisitely exhibits all that Conjurer execute so ethereally well in a devastating manner. A beast of a composition, it could be described as the short film prequel to Gorguts’ Pleiades’ Dust epic, and it left a lasting effect on all present to witness it. This event already had the “once in a lifetime” motif, Conjurer undeniably added their spell-working on this by ensuring that an experience of this intimate nature will in-all-probability, never happen for them in Australia again. The next time will be more prominent in every value of live music.
‘Showroom Dummies’ by Señor Coconut (Uwe Schmidt) might just be the most extraordinary and one-of-a-kind stage entrance songs for a mathcore band in history. This is what Tacoma’s Botch utilised and fittingly, this is what they accomplished at this one-of-a-kind show; they created history.
“Hi, we’re called Botch and we are going to play some songs for you.” Vocalist Dave Verellen simply and cheerfully expressed in loving greetings to the growing audience while also charmingly waving at every crowd member he could see. A bizarre calm was felt and received in an awkward fashion before volcano Botch began its eruption.
“Set apart, Great divides!” Mr Verellen howls in a thundering outburst of chaos – that final word being the immaculate description of how this quartet operates. ‘To Our Friends In The Great White North’ was the molten rock(‘n’roll) barrage to provoke the insanity; however, this roaring cacophony was to last for well over an hour on this night and assuredly for a lifetime in the minds of those present at The Governor Hindmarsh. For this scribe and many more, this was an emotional adrenaline rush we had waited decades to experience and honestly, it was nearly troublesome to overcome the disbelief that this performance was unfolding before our very eyes.
Guitarist Dave Knudson, bassist Brian Cook and drummer/keyboardist Tim Latona are above a cohesive musical group, they are an artistic brotherhood and one that thrives on madness together. Amongst the discordance of the jazz-art-rock-hardcore fusion that ultimately clashes in a continual musical haymaker rotation, there is a beautiful bewildering brilliance that cannot be explained; it is phenomenally embodied and in the live scenario, this is magnified exponentially.
‘Mondrian Was A Liar’ was practically dangerous in the sense it was an epileptic fit of hardcore havoc; it required a break and this is where the enigmatic front-man also shines, with his hilarious honesty and presence. Constantly he would interact with the audience in a charismatic “dad humour” manner. Often after launching his stage jumps off foldback speakers and the drumkit, he would lift his shirt revealing the glorious “dad bod” that many of the aficionados present would proudly also uphold. Botch maybe virtuosos in the hardcore world; undeniably though, they are sublimely humble and most importantly, human.
‘Japam’ idyllically unveiled the adventurous spirit of the four-piece featuring one of the strangest interludes known in heavy music; a courageously complex arrangement that was truthfully more illustrious in a live setting than it was in its recorded version. ‘One Twenty Two’ was marvellously mountainous. The first new music presented by the mathcore titans in years (released in 2022), this became a “two birds one stone” bucket list moment for many. Not only was it a new cut by Botch, it was performed live on the other side of the world for the first and only time on this tour – how is that for memorable?
‘Hutton’s Great Heat Engine’ did bury Adelaide under thousands of tons of molten lava as introduced by both bassist Brian and vocalist the “debonair Dave” (please consider this nickname BOTCH). The melodic vocal bridge was particularly haunting and the slide guitar efforts from Mr Knudson into utter lunacy of angular hardcore required commemoration.
With percussionist Tim uncloaking his uncanny talents for piano and keyboards, the idea of a “walk off, walk back on” encore was rejected. To be frank, it was far from necessary to enact those moments – molten rock(’n’roll) doesn’t hide momentarily then return, it continues to surge until it stops. ‘Afghamistam’ was that deep burn and Mr Latona was beyond divine with his pianist prowess.
“Put your cameras down, put your beers down, let’s just dance and enjoy this last song together.” Dave Verellen asked this of Adelaide for the first and last time – ‘Saint Matthews Returns To The Womb’ was more than performed, it was sensationally spawned as it had never been before at this moment in time and in this place.
“It’s For History”; this undoubtedly was.
Gig Review by Will Oakeshott. Insta: @teenwolfwill
Photo Gallery by Dave Rubinich Insta: @dave.rubinich
Please Credit & Tag Wall of Sound and Dave Rubinich if you repost photos.
Conjurer
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Botch
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