III: DOOM IN BLOOM / ALLIES

The name of the album is fitting: On the first half of Botanist's sophomore release, Doom in Bloom, he slows down the tempo to a doom metal pace. The sole band member Otrebor has also added atmospheric keyboards to the mix. Apart from that, not much has changed. The band's apocalyptic vision of the future is as compelling as ever, if not even more so, and the tortured vocals and hammered dulcimer foundation of the music remain intact. The pieces here are long, with many extending past the ten minute range, and the odd metre signatures and unorthodox composition techniques found on the début are still present.

The second half of the album (excluded from the vinyl release) mostly consists of songs written and performed by friends of the band around the album's drum tracks. This means the odd time signatures and other eccentricities of the music are just as present in these compositions, which tend to be more guitar-based, as they are on the first half. The style of the music in these pieces varies pretty widely; some have harsh vocals, some lush female vocals, and the mood of the pieces covers widely disparate territory as well. The exception to the drum track rule is the two contributions by Matrushka, which are dark ambient pieces based around tape loops of the album's fourth track. All of the songs on the second half of the album have a botanical theme, thus fitting in with the timbre of the rest of the material, and Bestiary's composition is about the Giant Hogweed. (As a bonus for prog fans, it's very likely a Genesis reference, as several phrases in the lyrics directly recall phrases in Genesis' song.)

This stirring album comes highly recommended and is one of the high points of Botanist's prolific output so far.