Happy birthday to #botanist Isabella Aiona Abbott (1919-2010), renown algae expert, celebrated seaweed cook, devoted teacher & mentor, expert on Hawaiian ethnobotany, 1st Indigenous Hawaiian woman to earn a doctorate in science & the 1st woman or person of colour to become a full professor on Stanford’s biology faculty. She literally wrote the textbook on Californian seaweed & 🧵

#linocut #printmaking #sciart #seaweed #mastoArt #Hawaii #plants #biology #algae #Indigenous #womenInSTEM #histsci

ボタニスト「朝摘みフルーツトマト＆ローズマリー」が甘く香るヘアケア、なめらか美髪導くシャンプーなど
https://www.fashion-press.net/news/134904?media=line

#fashionpress #ボタニスト #BOTANIST #ビューティ #アイテム #コスメ #ボディケア #フルーツ

Clotilde Catalán de Ocón #Spanish entomologist & poet, noted for her study of lepidoptera in the Sierra de Albarracín. 1st Spanish woman to actively practice #entomology #Author of several #poems under the pseudonym La Hija del Cabriel. Her older sister, Blanca Catalán de Ocón y Gayolá, became 1st #Spanish female #botanist. d. #OTD 12 May 1946 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotilde_Catal%C3%A1n_de_Oc%C3%B3n
#Wikipedia @histodons @CarveHerName

And another grumpy botanist 🌼👺🌺
Illustration from 2024, drawn in Procreate.

#lsnr #lsnrone #lucassaenger #montreal #illustration #artwork #character #goblin #grumpy #botanist

A grumpy botanist 🌸👺🌼
Illustration from 2024, drawn in Procreate.

#lsnr #lsnrone #lucassaenger #montreal #illustration #artwork #character #goblin #grumpy #botanist

Stuck in the Filter: November and December 2024’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

Seeing as how it’s already almost February, you must be wondering why we’re still talking about shit from 2024. Not that I have to explain myself to you, but I didn’t give my minions grueling tasks just so that I could not take the glory for their labors. That wouldn’t embody this blog’s continual aspiration of being terrible capitalists! And so, we press on, searching and rescuing worthy—but not too worthy—pledges for the barbaric, Hunger Games-esque event that is Stuck in the Filter.

BEHOLD! Gaze upon these late-year candidates with the appropriate levels of awe, ye ov little consequence!

Kenstrosity’s Wintry Wonders

Caelestra // Bastion [December 13th, 2024 – Self Release]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For this sponge, I know something is beautiful when it ensnares me into otherworldly environments unlike those which mirrors terrestrial mundanity. UK post-metal one-man act Caelestra specializes in such ethereal worlds, with debut record Black Widow Nebula catching my attention under its blazing miasma of Countless Skies lushness, Astronoidal optimism, and Dreadnought-esque compositional vibrancy. Follow-up Bastion treads much the same path, but with an added emphasis on cathartic spells of intensity reminiscent of current Irreversible Mechanism (“Finisterre”), Kardashev (“Soteria”), or Devin Townsend (“The Hollow Altar”). Balancing these potentially disparate references, mastermind Frank Harper’s compositions flow with an uncanny smoothness without falling into a pit of homogeny. Bastion thereby represents a varied and textured affair built upon compelling guitar leads, unexpected riffs, multifaceted vocal techniques, and athletic percussive movements (“Finisterre,” “Lightbringer,” “The Hollow Altar”). Choosing the long form as Caelestra’s primary vehicle for this musical journey only deepens the experience, as each act offers a wide spectrum of moods, a rich tapestry of characters, and a lush layering of story to enrich any listener’s journey through Bastion (“Lightbringer,” “Eos”). Yet, the whole coheres tightly into a memorable and accessible forty-eight-minute span, easily replayable and effortlessly enjoyable. That, more than anything, makes Bastion a neat little triumph worth checking out.

Earthbound // Chronos [November 26th, 2024 – Self Release]

I have the honor of claiming this find all to my own—something that hasn’t occurred as often this past year as it has in those preceding. Bristol’s Earthbound offer a particular brand of melodic death metal that I want to love more often than I actually do, but they checked all my boxes here. Occupying a space somewhere between Amorphis, Countless Skies, and Dark Tranquillity, Earthbound’s style is simultaneously effervescent, introspective, and crushing on debut record Chronos. Boasting chunky riffs, soaring leads, classic melodeath rhythms, and buttery-smooth baritone vocals, Chronos throws blow after blow for forty-nine minutes of high-engagement material. Looking at standout tracks “A Conversation with God,” “The Architect,” “Cloudburst,” “Aperture,” and “Transmission,” Earthbound’s compelling songwriting tactics and knack for a killer hook recall underappreciated gems by modern contemporaries Rifftera and Svavelvinter. Some of their most accessible moments almost, but not quite, veer into pop-levels of accessibility, further accentuating Earthbound’s infectious energy (“Change,” “Flight,” “Transmission,” “Chasing the Wind”). This works marvelously in Earthbound’s favor, not only making Chronos a joy to listen to in its own right but also impressing me with how polished and professional the band is with only one full-length under the belt. Don’t let this one fall through the cracks!

Flaahgra // Plant Based Anatomy [November 15th, 2024 – Self Release]

WWWWOOOOOORRRRRRMMMHHHHHHOOO… wait, what? Oh, no, this is Flaahgra. But, the riffs sound like my beloved Wormhole! What’s going on? Oh, well this explains it. Sanil Kumar of Wormhole fame is responsible for Plant Based Anatomy’s guitar work. Rounded out by Tim “Toothhead” Lodge (bass), Chris Kulak (drums), and Anthony Michelli (vocals), this Baltimore quartet concoct a fast-paced, riff-burdened blunderbuss of gurgling vegan slam meatier than the fattest flank this side of Texas. It may be based around plants (and Metroid), but there are enough muscular grooves, neat lead work, and boisterous percussive rhythms here to keep even the most ravenous death fiend stuffed to the stamen (“Blood Flower,” “Toxic Green Fluid,” “Solar Recharge,” “Plant Based Anatomy”). Oversaturated with killer hooks, Plant Based Anatomy feels every bit as headbangable as this group’s pedigree indicates, but their application is delightfully straightforward, allowing Sanil’s standard-setting slams to shine brightest (“Plant Based Anatomy,” “Garden Cascade,” “Venom Weed Atrocity”). At a lean twenty-five minutes, Plant Based Anatomy rips through my system as efficiently as any grease-laden, overstuffed fast-food chimichanga, leaving just as vivid an impression in its wake. If there was ever a quick and easily digestible example of what differentiates really good slam from two-buck upchuck, Plant Based Anatomy is it. FFFLLAAAAHHHHGGGRRRAAAA!

Tyme’s Time Turners

Solar Wimp // Trails of Light [November 15th, 2024 – Self Release]

The richly dense knowledge and tastes of the commentariat here at AMG are a marvel. And despite the long hours of hard work the staff put in writing and keeping Redis at bay, not to mention the gut-wrenching task of pumping the n00b sump pit every Friday1 we continue to scour tons of promo to bring you the best and the rest of all things metal(ish). Invariably, some things trickle up from our most precious readers that deserve more attention than a few rando comments and respects. Such is the case with L.A.’s Solar Wimp. It was during my most recent stint in2 continued n00bdom that I scoped one of our commenters pimping the Wimp‘s who released, sadly to me now, their last album, Trails of Light, in November. As my ears absorbed the immediately quirky dissonance of the opener, “Entwined with Glass,” I was reminded of how blown away I was upon hearing Jute Gyte for the first time, this more due to my un-expectations than anything else. What followed was a journey I happily embarked on through fields of saxophonic freedom (“Strand and Tether”) and forests of long-form avant-garde brilliance (“Shimmer”). The black(ish) metal vocals and tech-jazz guitar histrionics of Jeremy Kerner, combined with Justin Brown’s bassinations and Mark Kimbrell’s drums, imbue so much passion into the music on Trails of Light, it has me guessing Solar Wimp may have very well saved their best for last. While I’m sure you’re ready to move on from 2024, I’d encourage you to dip back into last year’s well for a bit and give Solar Wimp’s Trails of Light a listen or five.

Thus Spoke’s Fallen Fragments

Yoth Iria // Blazing Inferno [November 8th, 2024 – Edged Circle Productions]

Yoth Iria’s sophomore Blazing Inferno arrived with little fanfare, which is a shame because they’re very good at what they do. Their brand of Hellenic black metal even charmed a 3.5 out of GardensTale with their 2021 debut As the Flame Withers. The new album very much picks up where its predecessor left off, in musical content as well as the fact that Yoth Iria clearly have a thing for giant demonic figures dwarfing human civilization. In a refreshingly to-the-point format, the group3 serve up some solid, groovy Satanic triumphalism that belies the relatively diminutive breadth of the songs that contain it. With thundering drums (“In the Tongue of Birds,” “We Call Upon the Elements”), spirited guitar leads (“But Fear Not,” “Mornings of the One Thousand Golds”), and a collection of classic growls, ominous whispers, and cleans, Yoth Iria craft engaging and very enjoyable compositions. Tracks manage to hold atmosphere and presence without detracting from the dopamine-producing tremolo twists and wails of drawn-out melody (title track, “Rites of Blood and Ice,” “Mornings…”) that draw it all together. This is black metal that makes you feel good about allying with the light-bringer. Not in any highbrow way, of course, just with great riffs, the right amount of tension and nuance, and convincingly massive compositions that steer away from the overwrought and cringe-inducing. It’s just plain good.

Botanist // VII: Beast of Arpocalyx [December 6th, 2024 – Self-Release]

Though recorded all the way back in 2016, the music of Beast of Arpocalyx has not seen the light until now. The seventh installment in the esoteric, botanical saga, VII: Beast of Arpocalyx focuses on plants with mythological animal associations. In comparison to last May’s Paleobotany, this is the solo work of founder Otrebor yet the heart of Botanist’s music has never been compromised. The distinctive tones of hammered dulcimer, make the black metal ring—literally and metaphorically—with playful mysticism when they engage in chirruping and cheerful refrains (“Wolfsbane,” “The Barnacle Tree”) and a weird eeriness when they stray into the dissonant (“The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary,” “Floral Onyx Chiroptera”). Nothing is substantially different here, but Botanist’s style is an enjoyably quirky one that I, at least, am always happy to indulge in. In many ways, this is not far removed from raw black metal, with the prominent chimes of (not always tuneful) melodicism wrapping snarls and rasps in an iridescent veil that makes the psychedelic turns from whimsical peace to urgent and barbed blastbeat aggression (“The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary,” “The Paw of Anigozanthos”) very compelling, pleasant even. Yeah, it’s kind of weird to hear chorals or synths under blackened rasps and clanging drums, while a dulcimer warbles along. But when the weirdness nonetheless succeeds in developing an atmosphere and inducing a desire to garner a similarly obsessive knowledge of flora, I can’t really complain.

Killjoy’s Atmospheric Attractions

Nishaiar // Enat Meret [December 5, 2024 – Self-Release]

2024 may technically be over, but there were a few releases in December that keep dragging my attention back to last year. First up is Nishaiar from Gondar, Ethiopia, whose sound resides at the unlikely intersection of traditional Ethiopian music, post-black metal, and Enya-style New Age. Coming off an arduous release schedule that yielded an EP and 5 full-lengths in only 4 years, Nishaiar took some extra time to recharge since Nahaxar in 2021. The results are readily apparent–Enat Meret features some of the punchiest material the band has written to date. “Yemelek” combines folk instruments, vibrant male chanting, and rending screams. An important element that elevates Enat Meret is the addition of a full-time female vocalist, whose moniker also happens to be Enat Meret. Her voice ranges from ethereal (“Idil”) to wistful (“Enat Midir”) to commanding (“Beheke”). There is some bloat—intro track “Semayawi” repeats itself for too long and “Awedal” through “Alem” leans too hard into atmosphere to be suitable for active listening. Even so, this is an album unlike any other you’re likely to hear anytime soon.

Atra Vetosus // Undying Splendour [December 20, 2024 – Immortal Frost Productions]

Next up is Atra Vetosus, who came to me by way of rec-master TomazP. Undying Splendour is a captivating work of atmospheric black metal that tempers the wanderlust of Skyforest with the melodic trem-picked fury of Mare Cognitum. It’s stuffed with triumphant, uplifting guitar melodies that contrast compellingly with mournful, anguished shouts and screams. Like a flowing stream, the graceful orchestrations smooth out any rough edges in their path, pairing exceptionally well with the rhythm section in the intro of “Forsaking Dreaded Paths.” The brawny bass lines throughout the album add satisfying oomph and the drumming is constantly engaging with lots of fleeting tempo shifts (“This Fallow Heart”) and expansive tom rolls (“Elysian Echoes”). Atra Vetosus have perfected the difficult art of long-form atmoblack—all the proper songs on Undying Splendour are between 7 and 11 minutes long and, crucially, feel purposeful without meandering. Though atmoblack is often maligned, I’ll happily get behind Atra Vetosus as one of the new standard bearers of the genre at its very best.

Skagos // Chariot Sun Blazing [December 21, 2024 – Self-Release]

They say that good things come to those who wait. Skagos makes an excellent case for this expression with Chariot Sun Blazing, an appropriate title given the tremendous glow-up that the atmospheric black metal group underwent since releasing Anarchic in 2013. While their woodsy black metal has always maintained similarities with the likes of Wolves in the Throne Room (who are also based in Olympia, Washington), this time around the music is infused with a real live string quartet and a two-horn section4. The effects of this additional instrumentation run way more than skin deep; Chariot Sun Blazing feels and flows like an actual symphony. For instance, the combination of the Wagner tuba with guitar plucking in the beginning of “Which in Turn Meet the Sea” evoke a misty morning which gradually warms up with guitar and string crescendos to thaw the leftover frost. The compositions are introspective and intimate, which is refreshing when compared with the usual grandiosity and bombast of symphonic music (metal or otherwise). While there’s nothing wrong with the raspy vocals, this is a rare instance when I would be completely okay if this were an instrumental album. This is an experience absolutely not to be missed.

Dolphin Whisperer’s Late-Blooming Bustles

Alarum // Recontinue [November 8th, 2024 – Self Release]

So many bands in the progressive and technical lanes forget to have fun. Not long, unheralded Australian prog/thrash/jazz fusion-heads Alarum, though. Truth be told, I had forgotten this band existed sometime before their 2011 release Natural Causes all up until about September of 2024 when I caught wind of this new release, Recontinue. Their oddball, heavily Cynic-inspired 2004 opus Eventuality… had stood the test of time in my archives plenty for its wild fusion antics woven into a riff-tricky, bass-poppin’ technical platform. And here, twenty years later, little has changed at Alarum’s foundation. A few things have shifted for the better, though, namely Alarum finding a more balanced resonance in production brightness and clarity, which helps highlight the flirtatious bass play of tracks like “The Visitor” and “Footprints” come to life. Additionally, this crisp and cutting mix allows the joyous neoclassical shredding escapades to carve a blazing path toward textures and alien warbles with a Holdsworth-ian charm (“Zero Nine Thirty,” “Awaken by Fire”). But, most importantly, Alarum continues to bring an ever-shuffling thrash energy similar to early Martyr works (“Imperative,” “Unheard Words,” “Into Existing”) while continuing to remember to toss in off-the-wall detours, like the funk-wah intro of “A Lifelong Question” or the bossa nova outro of “The Visitor.” Recontinue, as a late-career release from a continual dark horse from the land down under remains a consistent joy for the ears. If you’ve never heard Alarum to this point, and you’ve always wished that a jazzy, Cynic-inspired band would come around with a more metal attitude than the current trajectory of their inspirations, get Recontinue in your ears as soon as possible. And if, like me, you’ve fallen of the righteous path, know that time can correct all sorts of silly mistakes.

Gorging Shade // Inversions [November 11th, 2024 – Self Release]

With a sound that is as otherwordly and looming as it is terrestrial and bass-loaded, Gorging Shade has taken a vigorous and shaking progressive death metal form. The proficiency with which every performer weaves disparate melodic lines through echoing, ghastly samples and chaotic, witchy background chatter does not come entirely as a surprise, as the entire roster consists of the members of instrumental progressive act Canvas Solaris. Mood, atmosphere and a bellowing howl, though, separate this incarnation of Georgia’s finest. But the eerie space that Inversions inhabits too has manifested as a collective of talents on display with another offshoot from this act, the dark industrial Plague Pslams (composed of bassist Gael Pirlot and drummer Hunter Ginn, who also currently plays with Agalloch). As an experience layered between the history of sounds these tech wizards have created, Inversions lands dense and challenging. At its core, a rhythmic stomp propels each of its tracks alongside percussive riffs that echo the constant motion of Cynic, the blackened scrawl of Emperor, and the melancholy triumph of Ulcerate swells. But in a package uniquely Gorging Shade, a world emerges from each carefully constructed narrative. Sometimes energy rushes forth (“Disease of Feeling, Germed”). At others, noises creaking and crawling lay teasing grounds for careful exploration (“Ordeal of the Bitter Water,” “A Concession of Our City to Modernity”). Whatever the mode of attack, Gorging Shade delivers in a classic and meticulous wall of sound—perhaps a touch too volume-loaded on occasion—that hits first in waves of melodic intrigue, second in aftershocks of plotted and studied efforts. Its later in the year released may have kept Inversions’ treasures more hidden than I would have liked. The beauty of music, of course, is that we may sit with it as little or as long as we wish to parse its tireless arrangement.

#2024 #Agalloch #Alarum #AmericanMetal #Amorphis #Astronoid #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AtraVetosus #AustralianMetal #AvantGardeMetal #BlackMetal #BlazingInferno #Botanist #Caelestra #CanvasSolaris #ChariotSunBlazing #Chronos #CountlessSkies #Cynic #DarkTranquility #DeathMetal #Dec24 #DevinTownsend #Dreadnought #Earthbound #EdgedCircleProductions #Emperor #EnatMeret #Enya #EthiopianMetal #Flaahgra #GorgingShade #GreekMetal #Holdsworth #ImmortalFrostProductions #Inversions #IrreversibleMechanism #JuteGyte #Kardashev #MareCognitum #martyr #MelodicDeathMetal #Nishaiar #Nov24 #PlaguePsalms #PostBlackMetal #PostMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Recontinue #Review #Reviews #Rifftera #RottingChrist #SelfRelease #Skagos #Skyforest #Slam #SolarWimp #StuckInTheFilter #Svavelvinter #TechDeath #TechnicalDeathMetal #TrailsOfLight #UKMetal #Ulcerate #UndyingSplendour #VIIBeastOfArpocalyx #WolvesInTheThroneRoom #Wormhole #YothIria

William is currently trying to untangle the taxonomy of the many species of dandelion we have in NZ, which is not known. There are many of them.

That's after he's been working with botanist David Glenny to figure out how many blackberry species are in NZ (also a lot more than expected).

He does all this in his spare time for fun.

The magazine Avenues profiled William in the Humans of Ōtautahi section of the September 2024 issue.

https://www.avenues.net.nz/all-stories/2024/8/29/avenues-228-september

#botany #botanist #plants #nz

Pestalosphaeria is a #genus of #fungi in the family #Pestalotiopsidaceae. The morphological characters of Pestalosphaeria comprise cylindrical #asci with a J+ apical apparatus, #ascospores uniseriate in the ascus, three cells, ellipsoid, and a pale dull brown color. The genus name of Pestalosphaeria is in honour of Fortunato Pestalozza (died 1878), who was an Italian #botanist and doctor who worked in #Constantinople and #Antalya.

https://verdant-realm-botanist.bandcamp.com/album/paleobotany

#BlackMetalFriday #BlackMetal #RABM #Botanist

ボタニスト「サクラ＆チェリーの香り」25年春ヘアケア、“ツヤ髪”叶えるシャンプーやヘアオイル
https://www.fashion-press.net/news/126148?media=line

#fashionpress #ボタニスト #BOTANIST #ビューティ #トピック #コスメ #ボディケア #シャンプー

Happy birthday to Indian #botanist E.K. Janaki Ammal (1897-1984), here with plants she studied: #sugarcane, #magnolia & eggplant.

A trailblazer for #womenInSTEM in India, expert in cytogenetics, phytogeography, coauthor Chromosomal Atlas of Plants, 1st Indian woman PhD & amongst 1st woman in US #botany PhD, environmental activist who wrote about need to incorporate indigenous knowledge in sustainable development. Her name lives on in names of plants: 🧵1/n

#womenInSTEM
#printmaking #sciart

Serotonin – Motiv Review

By Angry Metal Guy

Written By: Nameless_n00b_89

Serotonin is a Dutch black metal band hailing from Nijmegen in The Netherlands, one of the ten happiest countries on earth. Bearing a moniker of the human body’s “happy” chemical, the irony is funny and intriguing. These points and the fact that I’d never heard of Serotonin before had me exploring previous releases. Debut Antiphon was self-released in 2012 and suffered from pedestrian packaging, poor production, and a lack of editing, resulting in a bloated and amateurish affair that didn’t instill much confidence in me. As I worked through the following two albums, I found minimal improvement besides their newfound ability to self-edit on 2021’s Fracture,1 the band’s first for Narcoleptica Productions. So it was, with subduedly tempered expectations, that I approached Serotonin’s fourth album, Motiv.

Despite label claims, Serotonin doesn’t dabble in the avant-garde as much as it plays a straightforward variety of black metal. Borrowing more from Ofermod and Shining than Botanist or fellow Netherlanders Grey Aura, Serotonin doesn’t push boundaries or smash genre tropes with Motiv. The more orthodox approach does work in the band’s favor, as sole instrumentalist and backup vocalist Sander Hordijk capably tremolo picks and riffs his way through Motiv’s seven tracks, only cracking when things stray into more atmospheric or slightly technical areas. Complimented by the ferocious vocal performance of Martin Perescis, who also manages percussion and programming, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say Serotonin has improved greatly over the sins of their back catalog in nearly every way.

Motiv sheds much of the weight plaguing Serotonin’s previous efforts by clocking in at a slim 36 minutes. The opening track, “Climbing the Colossus,” entices with fast-paced tempos and ear-catching riffs, providing a glimpse into Serotonin’s potential. I found no fault in the highlights “Garrote in D,” with its sustained, mid-paced guitar nod to Ofermod plod and excoriating vocal performance,2 or “Kanishibara,” sung solely in the band’s native Dutch and based on the Japanese concept of sleep paralysis, as it was full of wall-of-sound riffs and vocally froggy croaks that conjure Thaumiel–levels of cool.

Despite advancements, some elements of Motiv keep me from fully jumping on the Serotonin bandwagon. Though the mix and master provided by Magnus Andersson and Greg Chandler adds a noticeable level of warmth to the overall sound of Motiv, the drums come off as cold and impersonal, even out of sync at times with the rest of the music (“Spike Wave Discharge” or “Glioma Psychedelica”). I hope the addition of new bassist Nathan Gibbs will allow Hardijk to focus solely on his guitar technique, which I found weakest during the awkward tremolo noodling that starts “Glioma Psychedelica” and the amateurish, out-of-sync attempt at atmosphere that opens the last track, “Leidmotiv.”

While Serotonin’s Motiv didn’t deliver on the promises of its promo blurb, a wise person once told me, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Great, you didn’t get what you expected but was what you got worth a shit?” That question had me re-evaluating my critique. I spent an excessive amount of time with Motiv, more than some will spend in their lifetime.3 I finally realized what the band had done was deliver a pretty decent slab of mostly straightforward black metal. While Perescis’ vocals are by far the star, everything from the production and songwriting to the cover art and even the logo has been vastly improved. I’m excited to see where Serotonin goes from here and who knows, perhaps their next effort will be the perfect dose of Prozac I need.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s CBR mp3
Label: Narcoleptica Productions
Websites: digitalserotonin.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/serotonin
Releases Worldwide: September 2, 2024

#2024 #BlackMetal #Botanist #DutchBlackMetal #DutchMetal #GreyAura #Motiv #NarcolepticaProductions #Ofermod #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #Serotonin #Shining #Thaumiel

#BOTD: Kuan Kwang Tsoong 鍾觀光 (1868–1940), Chinese #botanist. #Botany #Science #ModernChina

Those of you who take part in #WildflowerHour, or enjoy #BloomScrolling, will be familiar with the scientific naming system of #plants (and animals) devised by the #botanist Linnaeus. Today I got the chance to visit the Uppsala University garden that he restored and planted according to his system of classification. Unfortunately it ignored the different environmental conditions required by the plants, so plants needing different soil pH and moisture sit side by side, presenting an interesting challenge to the gardeners caring for them.
#Sweden #Sverige #Uppsala #botany

Did you know that despite its name - #JapaneseAnemone - that this pretty #perennial #plant isn't actually from Japan?
It was introduced there, hundreds of years ago & became naturalized. It is actually native to China, #Taiwan & #Vietnam.
It's been cultivated in gardens, worldwide.

Hundreds of years ago, a form of E. hupehensis with smaller, semi-double flowers & pink sepals escaped cultivation and spread across #China to #Japan & #Korea. After finding this form in a #Shanghai graveyard in 1843, the plant explorer/ #botanist Robert Fortune sent it home to England where it became known as E. japonica, the Japanese anemone. European #horticulturists crossed the Japanese anemone with E. vitifolia to produce #cultivars of the artificial hybrid E. × hybrida.

#bloomscrolling #florespondence #PerennialPlants #flowers #Saanich #GardeningMastodon #gardens #Floral #botanical #pink #InBloom #nature #BCblooms #YYJ #VictoriaBC #VancouverBC #VanIsle #Cascadia #Zone8 #PacificNorthwest #PNW #photography #FlowerPhotos #FlowersIdentification #PlantIdentification #botanical #AsianMastodon #TootSEA #SouthEastAsia #PlantTrivia #PlantHistory #LearnAboutPlants

Happy birthday to #botanist Isabella Aiona Abbott (1919-2010), renown algae expert, celebrated seaweed cook, devoted teacher and mentor, expert on Hawaiian ethnobotany, the first Indigenous Hawaiian woman to earn a doctorate in science and the first woman or person of colour to become a full professor on Stanford's biology faculty. 🧵1/n

#linocut #printmaking #sciart #seaweed #limu #Hawaii #plants #biology #IsabellaAbbott #algae #Indigenous #womenInSTEM #histstm #MastoArt

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#MetalInjection
Album Review: BOTANIST Paleobotany
"Overwhelming, yet calming, Botanist continues to find new ways of bringing their sound into new territories."

https://metalinjection.net/reviews/album-review-botanist-paleobotany

#blackmetal #dulcimer #hammereddulcimer #Otrebor #Botanist #cleanvocals #experiment #progression #modernmusic #Selenotrope #atmosphericblackmetal

#Metal ist auch nicht mehr das, was es mal war.
Nachdem ich im Metal Archive sehr erfolgreich war, indem ich einfach mal nach dem Schlagwort #Bärtierchen/#Tardigrade gesucht habe, geht der Trend jetzt in Richtung Botanik:
Band: #Botanist
Album: Paleobotany
Song: When Forests Turned to Coal

Die ganze Band ist textlich wie optisch voll auf dem #Botaniktrip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmcCLyDANP0

Botanist – Paleobotany Review

By Thus Spoke

A band with a strong conceptual identity is always something. Whether that’s 1914 and their commitment to depicting the true horrors of world conflicts, or The Ocean, and their exploration of Earth’s many (pre-) historic eras. And were that a spectrum, experimental black metal collective Botanist would fall towards the latter end. Not only insofar as their music leans towards an airy, progressive, post-rock, but also their concept, which, if it wasn’t obvious, is flora. Paleobotany—the band’s eleventh LP—sees this similarity become even more blunt, centering as it does on the prehistoric plants of many millions of years ago. But let not such a comparison fool you; Botanist are–as they always have done—making music that’s totally unique to them. And it’s about ancient plants. Cool right?

Paleobotany is a subtle record, and it’s not what it first appears. Botanist have dialed back the ethereal atmospheres, whispers, and the deep-in-the-mix vocal production of previous outings. Taking a big step out of atmo-black and into something quite different, they remain just as roaming, progressive, and deep. This evolution is deceptively peaceful, with sunny melodies and harmonizing singing dominating its first half. But its carnivorous side soon comes to the fore with the prevalence of throaty growls and barbed tremolos. Songs that begin with gentle post-metal find their apexes in buzzing blackened bursts, and vice-versa. These dual aspects of light and dark are the two voices that tell the story, in wonder and zeal respectively, and their interplay leads to a compelling, if strange musical experience.

The strongest aspect of Paleobotany is its charm. There’s something about the way that delicate piano and hammered dulcimer meet with ripples of elastic, energetic drumming and the warmest of riffing that’s oddly magnetic. And Botanist pull this off in so many ways; from the dramatic, with surging refrains and blastbeats (“When Forests Turned to Coal,” “Archeamphora,” “Strychnos Electri”) to the subtle, with the ‘softer’ instrumentation taking the lead (“Aristolochia,” “Magnolia,” “Sigillaria”). Melody flows smoothly through floating, sparkling major, to wistful (“Magnolia,” “Royal Protea”), or even urgent (“Archeamphora,” “Dioon”) minor modulations, and into dissonance—and back—with grace. The dynamism is electric, but somehow understated, and never overwrought, as tremolos rise into glittering apexes, and d-beats cluster, rock-operatic cleans burst out into a new, subtly hinted-at refrain. It’s all genuinely lovely, the compositions so cleverly woven together that they carry you along through ups and downs on a stream of dancing arrangements. “Archeamphora,” “Sigillaria,” and “Royal Protea,” especially take the listener on one such miniature journey, whilst snappy “Wollemia Nobilis” injects a little much-needed bite by way of blackened jazziness, in direct opposite to “The Impact…”‘s drifting peace.

Such is the pull of Paleobotany that it seems to open up a little world of its own. It certainly helps that it’s so beautifully produced, with every strum, beat, every little sung note floating crisply like falling leaves in the air. Combined with interesting, intelligent song structures, the music becomes hazily, subtly immersive, and the cleans downright endearing. On paper, this album is not my thing at all, and yet I now find myself singing along happily throughout—especially at those moments when the vocals ascend into soaring, uplifting reprise (“Strychnos Electri,” “Royal Protea”). Not to mention how listening to this album set me off reading about the subjects of every song, from the “first to be carnivorous” “Archeamphora,” to the poisonous “Strychnos Electri”—the “ancient ancestor of everything that flowers”. Given how many albums Botanist have under their belt, you know what you’re getting in for when it comes to these cleans, but I’m guessing, if not, that they could be an acquired taste. Then again, they won me over, so I’d give them a chance.

Paleobotany was the breath of fresh air I didn’t know I needed. As someone who spends the majority of their listening time deep in the dissonant, angry, and bleak, Botanist’s ability to coax me into the light is a testament to the brilliant storytelling and compositional craftsmanship on display here. And it makes a good starting point for any new listener, with memorable, distinctly pretty refrains, and a solidity gained from the distancing from abstractions of atmo-black. Maybe it’s too early to say whether it’s Botanist’s best album, but it definitely marks a new moment in the sun for these plant-worshippers.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Prophecy Productions
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 17th, 2024

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