While BOTCH and their pioneering Hydra Head Records co-horts are no longer in the game, upstarts DON THE READER play with the kind of fire that would make them proud. Essentially, DON THE READER are not bringing anything completely new or innovative to the table. Humanesque is an exercise in pure BOTCH worship, but then again BOTCH were one of the greatest extreme bands ever. There’s plenty of dissonant crashing and smashing, manic tempo changes, and aggression. The album starts off really well with plenty of energy and power but as the album progresses, it starts to become more of a blur. The songs, and in turn album, lose their character and distinctiveness and begin to sound like one long song. After a while, you feel like you can predict what type of part is coming next in the song as they’ve already shown all their tricks in the first couple of songs. Perhaps experience and time will prove to remedy these flaws. Until then, it’s best to stick with the classics if you the best. (Deathcote Records)
