Avant-garde metal outfit Botanist likes to tell stories with his albums, albeit very specific ones. VI: Flora is of course no different from his primary mission of crafting albums predicting the demise of humanity and the inevitable reclaiming of the planet by our greener, inanimate compatriots on Earth.

Botanist entertains the gospel—worships it even—that nature is poetic, and that flora is divine. Maybe that would all sound a bit frivolous if it wasn’t done so well.

But indeed, Botanist knows what he’s doing. The project’s previous albums have found themselves on lists including NPR’s 25 Best Metal Albums and Metal Injection’s Top 10 Releases among others, and earned an honorable mention on Pitchfork’s Top 40 Albums of 2011.

VI: Flora, the first release since last November’s split EP with Bay Area natives Palace Of Worms, will drop via The Flenser on August 11, and as per usual, will use distorted hammered dulcimers as its primary instrumentation.

Check out a song from last year’s split EP below, along with the full VI: Flora tracklisting and cover art.