Blazing into chapter 2 of this never-ending anthology of music reviews, I'm going to touch down on one of hardcore's most jarring albums.

Botch, for the short time they were around, certainly did a lot to push the envelope for a genre that was already doing so much to push the envelope in the 90's (metalcore began to pop up at this time with Coalesce, Norma Jean, Deadguy, Converge, etc.); their debut album "American Nervoso" serves as proof of that, with a strong absence of any sort of key or set time signature on many songs. That being said, those things did show up now and then, but when they did, it was a welcome break from the constant barrage of noise that the listener was subject to. This formula is followed closely on "We Are the Romans," but if anything, Botch perfected their craft with this one.

From the get-go, this album begins to come down on the listener with a very primal energy with the track "To Our Friends in the Great White North." This track features numerous different time signatures over the course of only a few seconds, going from 5/8 to 6/8 back to 5/8 again and doing as much as it can to keep the listener engaged in some way, which the track pulls off to a T. The slow section that ends the song also changes the pace well enough to make the track extremely interesting as well as fun.

This formula continues throughout most of the album, with notable highlights including "Mondrian Was a Liar" and "Saint Matthews Returns to the Womb," among others (the song titles kick ass, if you haven't noticed already).

The slower portions of this album help to ease the tension as well, such as "Swimming the Channel Vs. Driving the Chunnel" and the title track that closes the album. The latter is more of a sludge or doom song than anything else, and the fashion it which it end is nothing less than spectacular; I won't ruin it for you here.

"We Are the Romans" is the pinnacle of metalcore in the 90's. Many bands tried to live up to it, but Botch knocked out their competition and rose swiftly to the top of the game.

9.5/10

Once again, I'm open to any requests for any albums that anyone may want any sort of opinion on.