After breaking up in 2002, then signing to Sargent House last fall to revive their coveted catalog, Tacoma, Washington, math-metal-core institution Botch have shared their first new song in 20 years, “One Twenty Two.” The track will appear on the forthcoming reissue of their second album, 1999’s We Are the Romans, coming Nov. 4 on double LP and CD.
To hear Botch guitarist David Knudson tell it, Botch had no plans to reunite—it just happened. “One Twenty Two” started as a particularly heavy song Knudson had written for his debut solo album, but somewhere along the way, it led him back to his former bandmates:
During Covid, I was writing my debut solo LP, and mentally, I was sick of everything in quarantine. Lots of frustration had set in at home, and I figured the best way to deal with it was to write something heavy. I had no intention of writing anything for Botch, but when I was thinking of a singer to collaborate with, I thought, “Hey, I know the best hardcore singer ever to do it,” so I hit up Dave V [vocalist Dave Verellen]. He was super excited and so it just kind of snowballed from there. There was never any intent or conversation about getting back together or writing. It just happened so naturally and was a great release for all of us to make it happen without any of the traditional pressure an “active” band faces.
Knudson, Verellen, bassist Brian Cook and drummer Tim Latona first formed Botch in 1993, while they were still in high school. They would go on to sign to the now-defunct Hydra Head Records, releasing American Nervoso in 1998 and We Are the Romans one year later. They played their final show—and released their final EP, An Anthology of Dead Ends—on June 15, 2002. Members went on to play in These Arms Are Snakes, Minus the Bear and Russian Circles, with the bulk of Botch’s acclaim coming only after their breakup. Their final LP (or is it?), We Are the Romans was one of its era’s most influential hardcore albums.
Watch the “One Twenty Two” video (dir. Dimitri Luedemann) below, and see the details of Botch’s We Are the Romans reissue further down.
We Are the Romans Reissue Tracklist:
01. To Our Friends in the Great White Nort
02. Mondrian Was a Liar
03. Transitions from Persona to Object
04. Swimming the Channel Vs. Driving The Chunnel
05. C. Thomas Howell as the ‘Soul Man’
06. Saint Matthew Returns to the Womb
07. Frequency Ass Bandit
08. I Wanna Be a Sex Symbol on My Own Terms
09. Man the Ramparts
10. One Twenty Two
We Are the Romans Reissue Art:
