Fans of a particular style of heavy music have likely had Ragana — the metal duo of the mononymous Maria and Coley — on their radar for several years, from their criminally underappreciated earlier self-released albums to their split with cult favorites Thou. Ragana have been around if you knew where to look, but Desolation's Flower, the band's first release for The Flenser, presents an opportunity to bring their unique brand of blackened doom to a broader audience. While it isn't a perfect record, it's filled with the kind of raw, honest emotionality that has punctuated the band's work and made them a darling of the underground metal community.
The record opens with the title track, which contains all the hallmarks of Ragana's particular flavour of heaviness. There are slow, reverb-drenched clean passages, harrowing screams of lament and fuzz-drenched riffs; It's a perfect introduction to the record, standing as both harbinger and highlight. As the record moves deeper into its shadowy world, the tracks start to blend together a bit; there are certain parts that stick out clearly — most notably "DTA," with its affecting use of protest samples and biting political sentiment — but nothing manages to rise from the gloom quite as memorably as the penultimate "Pain," which comes along to change the dynamic.
"Pain" contains many of the same elements as earlier tracks, but the way these elements come together creates something that would feel more at home on a '90's alt-rock release than blackened doom metal from 2023. It's a refreshing change of pace, though its reprieve might've been more effective had it fallen earlier in the tracklist. The record ends with "In the Light of the Burning World," a track that crystalizes everything that's come before into one glorious representation of Ragana at their most whole. It has haunting, doom-inspired riffs and a climax of anguished screams — it's everything you could ask for from a great Ragana track, and it closes the record on a delirious high.
Desolation's Flower is a good record that flirts with greatness. It's unlikely to convert any non-believers, awash in great swells of feeling and excellent songs that, admittedly, are sometimes constricted by a lack of space and breathing room. But the good that is there, roiling and thrashing in the depths, is well worth seeking.
(The Flenser)The record opens with the title track, which contains all the hallmarks of Ragana's particular flavour of heaviness. There are slow, reverb-drenched clean passages, harrowing screams of lament and fuzz-drenched riffs; It's a perfect introduction to the record, standing as both harbinger and highlight. As the record moves deeper into its shadowy world, the tracks start to blend together a bit; there are certain parts that stick out clearly — most notably "DTA," with its affecting use of protest samples and biting political sentiment — but nothing manages to rise from the gloom quite as memorably as the penultimate "Pain," which comes along to change the dynamic.
"Pain" contains many of the same elements as earlier tracks, but the way these elements come together creates something that would feel more at home on a '90's alt-rock release than blackened doom metal from 2023. It's a refreshing change of pace, though its reprieve might've been more effective had it fallen earlier in the tracklist. The record ends with "In the Light of the Burning World," a track that crystalizes everything that's come before into one glorious representation of Ragana at their most whole. It has haunting, doom-inspired riffs and a climax of anguished screams — it's everything you could ask for from a great Ragana track, and it closes the record on a delirious high.
Desolation's Flower is a good record that flirts with greatness. It's unlikely to convert any non-believers, awash in great swells of feeling and excellent songs that, admittedly, are sometimes constricted by a lack of space and breathing room. But the good that is there, roiling and thrashing in the depths, is well worth seeking.
