Desolation’s Flower: A Devastatingly Doomy Delivery
By Charlotte Adams ‘25
Ragana released their most recent album, Desolation’s Flower, in late October. This was the perfect time of year for the release, with leaves falling and seasons changing–there’s a gloom to this autumnal period that is duly reflected in the album. The timing, of course, is not the only apt choice by this duo from the Pacific Northwest. The whole work is a real triumph in modern doom metal.
As a duo, Ragana embraces the duality of gloomy sadness and piercing anger. Their metal encompasses a variety of emotions from sorrow to rage, and the depth of this emotionality is tangibly vast. In other words, it becomes apparent to the listener that there is a great range of emotions in the release, and these emotions are complex and intense. Desolation’s Flower, then, is a deeply impactful experience. Listening to it in its entirety, as cliche as it may be, is a sojourn of evocation. Ragana takes us down a path on which we encounter strange and beautiful expressions. Listeners should prepare themselves for immersion in the rawness and realness of it.
The combination of anger and sorrow in this album is likely to find a welcoming home in the Wellesley community around this time of year, as things become overwhelming and both academics and the world seem to be getting more intense. The album feels like a reflection of current events with its meaningful insight and contemplation. For example, the track “DTA” expresses a great amount of melancholy–describing numbness lyrically with the repetition of “I can’t feel anything I am numb.” “DTA” also expresses a distinct anger towards what’s caused this melancholy.
It’s not only the skill with which Ragana illustrates profound emotion that makes this release great but also their expansion into innovations in doom metal. Metal is a misunderstood genre, and its subcategories are numerous and overlapping. This means that many people have a very singular view of the genre, and Desolation’s Flower works to expand that perspective. Metal doesn’t have to be a singularly abrasive and harsh noise, contrary to some unfamiliar listeners’ opinions. Ragana proves that metal can be deeply emotional within the doom genre while presenting a unique folk element that invites the listener to consider the breadth of modern metal.
Ragana states on their Spotify that their music is “queer antifascist sentimental destruction doom.” This is an incredible description, the spirit of which can hopefully engage more queer people in the genre. Metal is often seen as having a certain demographic that isn’t welcoming to queer people, but in my experience bands like Ragana (as well as Thou, Vile Creature, Uboa, and others) are pushing for more inclusivity. This release itself delves into some political and social critique that is incredibly valuable to the American sociopolitical climate. While “alternative” music has always been a part of critique and commentary on the world, I think it’s important to see metal’s voices be representative of the queerness of counterculture.
Desolation’s Flower as a release shows a great amount of growth for Ragana, as well. It’s incredibly exciting to watch their first album in five years be such a triumph. Their dual release with Thou from 2018 is a great example of the way Ragana has created and developed a sound that feels genuinely different from the rest of doom metal but is still adaptable to other sonic aesthetics. Building from this, they have maintained their unique style of doom but experimented a little more with other genres (such as folk). Ragana’s fifth album demonstrates this secure sense of identity as well as a willingness to explore.
Overall, each track feels like a standout in its way, tackling a unique emotional expression and grappling with its thematic complexities. Listening to the album is a deeply moving 41 minutes and 28 seconds that leaves the listener suddenly stranded in a silence that seems steeped in something dark and gloomy, like a cup of tea on a gray northwestern day.
