Botanist - Paleobotany (2024)

We always had a love and hate relationship with Botanist and their music since their earlier more ‘experimental’ release. While totally flamed them on their first albums, we have grown to actually like them as their later stuff has been more structured and genre-bending. In “Paleobotany”, the band unleashes ten tracks and nearly forty five minutes of quite interesting and complex music, ranging from Post-Metal/Rock elements to Progressive Metal/Rock passages, to darker and more experimental efforts.

The release opens with the dreamy “Aristolochia”, a piece that has a certain Katatonia-esque sound, with proggy and Post Rock-ish elements, something we didn’t quite expect from the band, but we totally dig it. The dramatic clean vocal arrangements make tracks like “When Forest Turned to Coal” and its Black Metal riffs, “Magnolia” and its moody madness, have a very lively and engaging nature, as well as an interesting interplay with the growls and the melodic nature of the dulcimer.

Oddly enough, the band has a certain Age of Silence, Borknagar-esque vibe on pieces like “Archaeamphora”, but Roberto Martinelli and company keep things just weird enough to completely stand out on their own. Our favorite track in this release has to be the crafty and mopey “Sigillaria”, which has a very nice Katatonia-meets-Tides From Nebula vibe. However, there is still darkness and heaviness in the band’s music as “Wollemia Nobilis” and “Dioon” keep things aggressive and true to the band’s core sound.

As a whole, “Paleobotany” is a pretty unique and intense release from one of those bands that has always been doing ‘their own thing’ and pushing the boundaries of Metal. With tracks ranging from more experimental,moody, and atmospheric, to heavier and more direct, this release certainly has the Botanist essence while still pushing the limit and expanding their sound.

Label: Prophecy Productions

Release: May 17th, 2024

Genre: Experimental Post-Black Metal / Post-Rock

Country: USA