Ash Souvenir

Description

In May 1980, the eruption of Mount St. Helens forever marked the Pacific Northwest. This catastrophe has become a shared memory, a shared ash. Ash Souvenir — a collaborative album between Drowse (Kyle Bates) and Ragana (Maria and Noel) — draws from this collective and intimate trauma to weave a work about grief, memory, and territory. Commissioned by the Roadburn Festival 2024 (Tilburg, Netherlands), and then recorded at the legendary Unknown studio in Anacortes (WA), the album blends the emotionally charged black metal of Ragana with the textural and introspective approach of Drowse. The four long pieces explore loss, roots, and resilience, culminating in a haunting phrase: "there is nothing to lose." This collaboration is also rooted in personal stories: painful returns to the Pacific Northwest, a family legacy tied to exile and isolation, forested landscapes marked by solitude. The result is an atmospheric work, both powerful and fragile, like the ashes slowly falling after the explosion. A must-listen if you enjoy Have a Nice Life, Planning for Burial, or Lingua Ignota.