Botanist – “I: The Suicide Tree / II: a Rose From The Dead” – [Tumult]

Ever wonder what black metal would sound like if the guitars were replaced by a hammered dulcimer and some piano? One-man, SF-based Botanist is here with a double-CD answer, and I’m gonna to listen to it until I can photosynthesize.

40 songs about plants. The lyrics are fun (insects trapped and sliding into the blissful oblivion of pitcher plant goo), but the instrumentation is bad (nonstop pounding) and the songs almost all sound the same. Yet that sound is unbelievably crisp and efficient– it’s a real treat after so many black metal bands that howl around with spikes coming out of their eyeballs. Botanist will beat you up with his bare hands/meristems.