The Botanist - Ablyss

www.facebook.com/thebotanist.net

01 Ablyss 04:25
02 Prima Materia 04:43
03 Moralies 04:25
04 Spacecadeth 03:14
05 Everyone of Them 05:14
06 The Vacuumanist 04:48
07 All That Would Be 06:38
08 How Do You Win? 03:14
09 Oscillator 04:04
10 Here 04:25
11 Drug of the Day and the Howling Over Water 08:18








The Botanist released its full-length debut, "Ablyss," right before the Christmas season. The album is now available on iTunes, and also streaming on Spotify. After the release of the 2010 EP, "About Ghosts," the band spent time holed up, honing its sound and figuring out exactly what kind of band it is.

The new album is self-produced, but features mixing from Ikey Owens (keyboardist for Jack White, and former member of prog-rock band Mars Volta). Lafayette musician/engineer Tony Daigle put the finishing mastering touches on the album. The result is a consistently epic album that nods as much to the new school of rock, like Sparta or Wolfmother, as it does to rock heroes, like Alice in Chains or Black Sabbath.

"Moralies" is a fuzzed out that lets the guitar riffs do most of the talking. "Everyone of Them" features a tribal groove before breaking into the well-known rock territory and another great solo. (As you can tell, I don't mind good guitar rock or solos.) "Ablyss" is the album where they figured out just who they are what they wanted they music to convey. "We had at least 20 songs, and we ended up cutting things out, trying to make a more cohesive album," Comeaux said. "We wanted this to be an album, rather than just a collection of songs." With this one in the can, they're excited to see what comes next. They can't say for sure what might happen in the coming years, but they're excited. "We've gotten to the point now where we've over the learning curve," King said. "We're over the growing pains."

Matthew Sigur is a reporter for the Daily Advertiser and Times of Acadiana.