Have a listen to a new track from San Francisco experimental metal project Botanist above. 'Callistemon' is taken from their album VI: Flora, which will be released on August 11 by fellow San Franciscans Flenser Records. The second Botanist release for Flenser, it continues the band's theme of man-made ecological destruction, but as a paean to the beauty of the botanical world, it strikes a more peaceful and less nettled tone than previous releases.


Botanist is the project of mysterious musician Otrebor, and the albums tell the story of "a botanist gone mad at witnessing the destruction of the natural environment at the hands of man". Envisaging a world where mankind is extinct and the landscape has been reclaimed by plant life, Botanist's vision can seem apocalyptic. However, VI: Flora is as romantic as it is dystopian, adopting the mindset of one "deeply moved by the forms of the primordial, mysterious aspects of the natural world".


Otrebor's music is also characterised by unusual instrumentation (laying claim to being "the world's first band to use distorted hammered dulcimers as its primary instrumentation"), and 'Callistemon' displays a warmth and colour sometimes lacking in metal. Head to Flenser's website for full details, and read our 2012 interview with Otrebor here.