4 out of 5

Label: Hydra Head Records

Producer: Kurt Ballou (Cave In), Matt Bayles (Botch)

Two fuckadoo HH heavyweights on one split??  Yeah man, it seems like this is the volume of this set you’re waiting for, and it IS pretty badass, but it’s not as full-out rocking as a couple of the other entries, for better or worse.  Not full-out, but by no means short on the awesome, either, particularly the Botch side.  Matty Bayles undilutes his normal work to capture Botch at a paced clip of amazing rock n’ roll… or perhaps it’s the song that they’re covering that requires them to use some instrumental dynamics (as opposed to structural quiet/loud stuff). with the drums spread out and working the higher end of the tams instead of the usual hardcore double bass drum bit…  It’s an excellent track (‘The Wizard’); though I can’t speak to how accurate it is as a cover, it FEELS like a Botch track with a twist, which is what I prefer from this series – notes that make you recognize the source, but filtered through a given band’s view.  The only downside is that the track sorta tapers off at the end, hinting that it’s going to build to something but eventually giving up on it.  But again, I can’t say if that’s how the Sabbath song went or not.

That’s side B.  Cave In’s side A is performed well, with some nice soaring vocals from Brodsky that point to the range he would work on developing for Jupiter and beyond.  And it sounds better than a lot of earlier Cave In productions, Ballou serving up his usual raw platter, which breaks through my shitty record player’s fidelity to make this a notably aggressive track (they cover ‘N.I.B.’).  Alas… this is the other contributor to this not being aces… it’s totally a cover.  You sense nothing of Cave In in this, it just sounds like a band recording another band’s track.  The group’s talent comes through, and appreciation for the material is to be believed due to the undeniable oomph on display, but it’s a cover nonetheless.

Still a good entry; still a fun series.