I don't dig most black metal, but Botanist is not like most black metal. A solo project by Roberto Martinelli, Botanist is a concept project, telling the story of the eponymous Botanist who, fed up with humanity's destruction of Nature, retreats into solitude. He's haunted by voices compelling him to use ancient alchemical magic to create an army of Mandrakes to destroy all of humankind.
Unlike most black metal projects, Botanist's instrumentation consists solely of drums, vocals and hammered dulcimer. The high-tuned drums and hiss-saturated vocals stuffed at the bottom of the mix are typical black metal trappings, but it's the dulcimer's tinny sustain gives the project it's unique, disturbing, shoegazey ethereality.
It's exceedingly rare for a rock band, let alone a metal band, to eschew using any guitars at all. It's rarer still to have said band produce anything worth listening to. Botanist has not only produced great music (he is already on his fourth installment for the project) but he's blown all of his contemporaries out of the water, and up the ante for everyone else.