Hardcore
Ragana – Desolation’s Flower
Sometimes the narratives and stories in the music are more interesting than the music itself. If such a thing exists, of course. Other times, a release, a song, they seem “doomed” to attract attention from the moment of their creation. Ragana was formed in 2011 in Olympia, WA, as an offshoot of its significant DIY […]
The post Ragana – Desolation’s Flower first appeared on DIY Conspiracy – International Zine in the Spirit of DIY Hardcore Punk!
Sometimes the narratives and stories in the music are more interesting than the music itself. If such a thing exists, of course. Other times, a release, a song, they seem “doomed” to attract attention from the moment of their creation. Ragana was formed in 2011 in Olympia, WA, as an offshoot of its significant DIY punk scene. The queer-feminist duo of Nicole (Coley) and Maria, rotate on drums, strings and vocals on each release. After attracting the interest of the open-minded and progressive extreme metal & punk scene, they released their new album on a major label, if you can call that the eclectic The Flenser, who also gave us the new Agriculture and Sprain in 2023, and now the “lights” are on them.
So Desolation’s Flower arrives at a point where more people in the scene can get involved with it as a prelude. The Ragana duo, however, has been following this particular path, steadily upward, for a decade. And their new album is the highlight of their career so far. The seven compositions of Desolation’s Flower, so careful, so austere, so focused and so emotional, could be a best-of collection of the band. Thematically, the record confronts disparities, patriarchy, social marginalization with a redemptive rage that sounds like “a hymn of gratitude to queer and trans ancestors, known and unknown, whose joy and survival made our lives better, and whose memory inspires us and helps us stand up against hatred and oppression.”
In this way, post-rock references mixed with monolithic, blackened doom/sludge metal find a redemptive end in their sonic constructions. It is precisely this aesthetic interpretation and metaphysical connection that separates how it sounds from what it sounds, that transforms music from an exercise to an art, that increases the semantic and emotional charge of the record. In “Pain”, the peaceful and companionable beginning will create an almost shoegaze atmosphere, which will be perfectly combined with the burning and angry “Death To America”. Ragana’s extreme metal seems self-limiting throughout the album, but in a way that ignites the imagination, in a crescendo of melancholic resistance and perseverance.
The world they map, deeply personal, hides in the foggy horizon a politicized, anti-fascist, anti-patriarchal project that arises of itself, as if above the individual. Case in point: the lengthy opening title track, perhaps the highlight of the record. The singular and straightforward black metal lead that sweeps through the brutal edifice of mud and dirt in a way reminiscent of Mizmor. The balance between a hardcore flame, as handled in the idiom of Thou, with the storm of Mares of Thrace. They stage urban decay and gray violent alienation in a way that echoes labelmates Chat Pile. Leave only the nightmarish atmosphere and the development of the special “Ruins”, which cuts the disk in half, and you will see the aesthetic connection.
Roles and identities shift, soundscapes come and go, but the image remains the same. An old CrimethInc. slogan was “we go where the flowers grow”. Sometimes they grow in the wilderness, on the cement, on the walls, on the edges. The finale of the record with the epic, not the heroic/warlike tone, “In the Light of the Burning World” will balance between the despicable feeling of decay and the hope that remains lit as a flame when everything around falls apart. As long as there is solidarity.
Thus, the alternation of harsh metal passages with beautiful vocals and the crescendo of the finale outline a feeling of fullness. Desolation’s Flower may never go beyond the already known or the sum of its parts, it may not sound subversive or original, but it fits into a tradition, sonic and artistic, that allows it to find the safe space to flourish. Ragana have released an album that is capable of captivating, but also awakening deep empathy through extreme metal music. And it does so proudly and liberated.
The Greek version of this review was originally published in Rocking.gr.
P.S. Check out our reviews of Ragana’s Unbecoming, You Take Nothing, and Wash Away, if you haven’t already.
Source: diyconspiracy.net
