Botch are a band that hardly require an introduction to anyone who hasn't had their head up rock radios ass over the past few years and as such it is sad to see this, their swan song release. One of the most revitalizing and innovative bands to spring forth in the heavy noise/metal scene in recent memory, the group unleashed a handful of arguably classic albums that helped define the scene and set the tone for many who subsequently followed in their wake.

"An Anthology Of Dead Ends" is no different, finding the band carving out their enigmatic heaviness with spastic song structures and dynamically challenging part changes that are nothing short of dizzying. Able to turn 180 degrees on a dime and make it feel as though it was completely natural, the darkened depravity of their convulsing bass lines, shredding riffs and enraged vocals are undeniably cathartic. If this wasn't enough the band also excel at pushing their listeners limits by manipulating their instruments into unleashing foreign sounds and then subsequently grafting them onto an unorthodox metallic beatdown that leaves little unscathed.

Indeed creativity seems to permeate through this band and this release is no exception as the CD itself even comes in an enticing half transparent pressing, a more expensive decision to make perhaps, but one that definitely adds an incentive for the album to be purchased. Still, seeing some effort being put into the packaging of an album is not uncommon in this genre, though seeing a sense of humor is; Making it a refreshing change of pace to find that the band have avoided assembling an array of vague words about love, emotion and death together to form their song titles, instead opting for tongue in cheek misnomer locales. While such details are trivial at best, they do add up to the genius that the band retained and while"An Anthology Of Dead Ends" is ultimately not the best work Botch ever laid down as that title probably befalls upon "We Are The Romans", it is still a fitting end note for a career that has indelibly left a mark on the scene as a whole, they will be missed.