We have covered grief and sorrow ad nauseum on this page, and considering it’s coming up on the season of my own losses, those memories and scars start to become more prominent. Working through them and finding an outlet for those feelings isn’t always easy, and those who have been through the same torment know how helpless it can feel at times.
“Ash Souvenir” is a collaborative album combining black metal power Ragana (Maria and Noel, who both handle vocals and all instrumentation, often switching roles) and drone artist Drowse (Kyle Bate). The piece originally was developed as a commission piece for Roadburn in 2024, and now we have a recorded version that is wrenching emotionally. It’s a dark, reflective, often explosive dive into the pain and torment that comes with helping suffering loved ones and mourning those who have left this plane. That shared experience among the three artists inform these four tracks that sprawl and emote, lash out, and seek healing, putting those emotions right in front of you for absorption and potentially as a connecting point.
“In Eternal Woods Pts. 1-3” is an immersive 13:45-long opener, and track that lets everything breathe from the clean guitars to the rustic edges to the easy-flowing strings that create a fog. Voices warble behind a wall of sound before guitars cut through, and shrieks finally jostle about six minutes in, peeling paint from walls. The pace jolts as the cries grow more desperate, gazey leads bask in energy pockets as feedback wails, battering before softer singing soothes wounds. The emotion gusts again as acoustics rise, rain falls, and the coldness soaks into your bones.
“After Image” is chilly too, Bate’s vocals taking over, the only time he is on lead on the record. The playing and words lead you through the misty forests as the verses bring calm, the choruses delivering the tumult. Shrieks gut as the drums spill over, pressure mounts, and mournful singing fades and spills into “In Eternal Woods Pt. 4,” an instrumental piece. Accordion tingles as dark, funereal sentiment forebodes, keys melt, and the buzzing makes your mind surge. “Ash Souvenir” closes the record, images of the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens permeate as everything is coated in soot. Guitars are delicate as the soft singing pays the homage, the repeat calls of, “There is nothing to lose,” imprinting on your heart. Cymbals shatter as guitars kick in with power, blood gushing as shrieks rampage down mountains. Melodies lull as the wrenching hurt remains, burning forever into darkness.
The pain, grief, and blackness that went into creating “Ash Souvenir” is apparent on every ounce of this album, and these three creators let you feel every twist of that on these four tracks. Ragana and Drowse make a ton of sense together from a musical standpoint, but their union feels even stronger when you experience this record and take on the torment. It’s beautiful, haunting, challenging, and volcanic at the same time, a snapshot captured of a stressful time that resulted in great, moving art.
For more on the Ragana, go here: https://ragana.bandcamp.com/
For more on Drowse, go here: https://drowse.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://nowflensing.com/collections/ragana
For more on the label, go here: https://nowflensing.com/
Meat Mead Metal 