Forest Horse - Botany

Forest Horse is a one-man sludge/doom/stoner metal project from Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Their latest album, “Botany,” is their second full-length debut.    

“Botany,” is a very heavy album and the fuzz just rolls off the notes in waves.  What sounds or what makes a band heavy is obviously a very objective stance but, for me personally, this just might one of the heaviest non-extreme metal albums I’ve heard this year.   The guitars and bass are like a void that just pulls in everything because of pure metal mass.  The drums have a great song, a live feel, and fit perfectly in the mix to offer up a fantastic foundation that’s powerful enough to keep this beast from collapsing in on itself.

But “Botany,” isn’t just an album noted for its heavy doom/sludge pedigree.  It’s also psychedelic and a bit of a mindfuck, without going overboard.  I don’t do drugs but if I did, I would definitely have this album in the background while rolling up some green leaf.  Despite its heavy factor, it isn’t an aggressive album.  It’s low and slow—just how doom should be.  The vocals are mostly clean, sung through some kind of hazy filter and echo—which is what you want with music like this.  There are some extreme vocals here and there; It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if the next release featured more extremes but, regardless, the vocals are what you would expect and done well.

There is an obvious theme running through involving plants/nature.  It’s hard to explain but the atmosphere matches the lyrical content—this album sounds very ‘earthy.’  If that doesn't make sense, then just stop worrying about it and give the album a listen—you’ll soon understand.  It may be about mother nature, but the music is also very spacey and often finds itself launched into the stratosphere, the psychedelic elements making it feel like you’re on the outside looking in.   Its 8 song, 44-minute runtime is the perfect length and the songs flow well—it doesn’t feel 44 minutes long and before you know it, you’re trapped in this psychedelic, doomed out world.  

When I was sent the promo, I listened to the first two songs to see if it was something I would be into so I will also suggest to you, humble reader, “The Stirring,” and “A Spore Land.”  The former opens with clean guitar and a pulsating bass line–it’s a great hook and grabbed me immediately.  I love doom that has a long build-up, and this song delivers just that.  Around the 1:18 mark, the whole instrument gang comes and threatens to flatten the ear drums with huge riffs.  The halfway passage contains a very interesting solo–hypnotic, 70’s inspired and rather catchy.  

The latter is more immediate, offering up a platter of gnarly, dirty riffs/bass and tight drumming from the very first second.   This song is pieced together very well in the beginning with the solo leading into the vocal passages while the instruments march ever forward like a behemoth.  The tempo speeds up slightly just before the mid-section with a little doom band jam session. 

I really like “Ploughman’s Prayer,” too, because it has extreme vocals on it–and they sound raw as hell against the guitars/bass, which are some of the grimiest and most intense on the album.  This song’s groove could pave the road to hell.  Parts of this song remind me of Acid Bath a bit, but even more abrasive.  The ending is fantastic, a passage of screams that gives way to an out of the world guitar solo that bridges the gap between this world and whatever is on the other side.

Another highlight for me is the final song, “Final Light.”  This is how you end an album!  It’s the longest song, which gives a lot of room for plenty of rewards for the listener.  The opening moments is a doomer’s wet dreams: soooooo slow.  It’s beautiful.   More of the extreme vocals are found here and, again, they sound raw and scary.  The middle part is quiet as far as the guitars go but the bass and drums speak volumes–atmospheric and heavy at the same time.  

All in all, Forest Horse’s “Botany” is a fantastic late year surprise for the doom/sludge/stoner genre and one of the better ones of this style I’ve heard this year.   It’s as intense as it is trippy, atmospheric as it is solid and is all around exactly how to do this genre right. 

Additional information: The album isn't available on Bandcamp yet but when it gets released, I will update review. Linked below is their single from the album.

Rating: Excellent