Déhà – Ashes as Rain

I promise this blog covers other artists. Occasionally. When Déhà stops releasing things.

 

If you’ve read this blog before, you already know the drill.

I live in Déhà’s discography. Rent’s due. I pay in poor impulse control and overanalysis.

 

This isn’t a new fascination. It’s infrastructure at this point.

Part of the emotional support structure—wedged somewhere between my spine and whatever part of me still thinks emotionally imprinting on black metal composers is a sound life choice.

 

At this stage, the restraining order is probably just stuck in the mail.

 

Is it getting ridiculous?

Obviously.

But alas.

Here we are.

 

Again. 

And this time—it wasn’t funeral doom.

It wasn’t depressive ambience or existential despair.

This time, he had the audacity to go full melodic black metal.

Which is my personal version of a bear trap in tall grass.

I walk straight into it every time, screaming “ooh, atmosphere” like I don’t know any better.

  

So. 

Another review.

Another entry in the ongoing saga of "Izzy Loses Her Shit Over Déhà, Vol. V."

Writing this review came with a minor detour—because I'm me.

 

I ended up listening to all of Fulgur et Morte’s previous releases.

Don’t ask. Possibly for context. Possibly for credit. Either way, the work’s done. You're welcome.

 

Ianua caught me off guard—vocals sound like they were recorded three rooms over, with bog water and static.

But then again, "raw and disgusting" was always the mission brief. Fine.

 

Which makes Ashes as Rain all the more surprising.

 

Because this isn’t rot.

It’s precision.

It’s restraint.

It’s like he distilled everything he loves into one album—and then dared it to move.

 

Now—onward.

We end in peace—quiet, gentle—and then this track brings us right back in with that melody.

The one that’s been following me around like a stray thought I can’t shake.

 

I hum it now. Under my breath. While doing the dishes. Folding laundry. Walking to the store.

Thanks for that. Well done. Truly.

It’s catchy in the most insidious way.

 

Still not 100% decided, but this might be my favourite on the album.

 

Especially the bit at 1:37—when the whole thing picks up speed and drops into this this ridiculously infectious rhythm?

I was not prepared.

And I am chuffed.

Absolutely delighted.

 

I love when black metal sneaks in rhythm like that, like it’s trying to get away with something. And then it just lets me have it before pulling me back into the core melody like nothing happened.

 

“My world was mountains, seas and rains, fire and ice, nature’s gifts

And from nature I will be reborn to haunt and hunt and maim and kill”

 

Those lines. I love them.

I can see her. I can feel her.

And the way my ears catch “and kill”—right as the melody soars?

That’s my favourite part of the whole track. Maybe the whole album.

It pulls. It paces. The guitar melody sits right up front where it belongs, giving the whole thing that melodic edge that makes it hard not to move with it.

 

At 2:03 something shifts. It breathes. There’s longing there, and I don’t even know why.

The lyrics are violent. But the sound—it opens up.

 

“With a look worth a thousand knives, he sits in front of ten kneeled down foes

Caressing the sharpness of his axe, cutting his fingers and drinking his blood”

 

Right. That.

And yet I feel yearning. Welcome to my brain.

 

And then, naturally, we storm off again like nothing happened.

Thoroughly enjoyable. I like this one a lot. 

The intro is weirdly familiar. Those underwater guitar sounds, maybe.

Can’t place it. It’s nagging at me.

 

And then at 2:20—another shift, just like in the first track—we drop into a very danceable section.

This seems to be a recurring theme now, and honestly? I’m here for it.

 

There’s something almost lighthearted in this moment. Carefree.

And I think that’s exactly what makes it work—even as the character in the lyrics gives into darkness, there’s this audible thread of not giving a fuck that pulls it all together.

 

“Exiled, hated and forsaken, he studied the forbidden grimoires

These books of all magics, nor evil nor good, meant to be hidden

Are but too big of a burden for the one who dares glance at them

His pride was too immense to deny these destructive powers

So he decided to give in to the darkness, transforming his being”

 

Nice.

This one opens with a super freaky, warbly, vibrating sound that made me immediately uncomfortable.

No idea what it is. Don’t want to know. Absolutely effective.

 

What stood out here are the cymbals—really crisp, really present—and then the bit at 2:21, where the lead guitar cuts through and breaks the song open. The drumming drops just slightly into the background, and it gives the whole thing room to breathe.

 

Otherwise, pretty straightforward for me. Solid. Not a personal highlight, but it holds.

Another lovely acoustic intro—soft, clean, a gentle exhale.

I really like this one. It settles in nicely.

 

The vocals especially land—they shift into something more whispered and strained toward the end, and that texture adds weight without pushing too hard.

 

But I trip over the fade-out every single time.

I know. I know. It’s called Drifting to the Void, and yes, the fade-out makes perfect thematic sense.

 

Still throws me off.

Can’t explain it. It just does.

Very nice “ugh” at the start. 

 

This one feels like classic black metal to me. There’s something in the riffing that gives off strong Bathory energy—especially after the spoken part around 3:30. It drops into that familiar stride and just sits there confidently.

 

And that spoken part?

That’s the first moment on the album where I really, fully recognised Déhà's voice.

Not just technically—but emotionally.

It hit like: ah. There you are.

 

That one felt familiar.

 

It’s good. I like it.

Feels known. Worn in.

Yes.


This one is mine.


Back to the acoustic guitar.

Fingers scraping the strings.

The tremolo underneath like a heartbeat.

 

And again — it’s the lyrics that catch me:

 

“Grant me the wisdom to forsake none of them, until they are extinguished.

Like a puny fire that I stomp with my bare feet until ashes remain.”

 

I root for her.


I want her to make it.

 

At 2:55, the rhythm lands again.

I knew it was coming. My body was already ready for it.


He's trained me well.

Right, then.

What can I say.

 

This isn’t Cruel Words. This isn’t Nethermost & Absolute Comfort.

Thank fuck—because those tore my skin off. 

Couldn't have handled another one of those right now.

 

This album isn’t meant to break.

It's meant to be listened to—meant to be enjoyed and meant to empower.

It carries low-key emotional weight in the lyrics, sure, but it keeps its teeth sheathed.

It assumes the danceable moments. It leans into that epic black metal feel.

 

For me—this works very well.

It holds. It lands.

It sits right in the space it’s supposed to. It does what it does with confidence.

It lives in its genre, but still makes space to move.

And I love that. The way it lets me move with it.

 

I don’t know if he intended this for kitchen dancing—

but that didn’t stop me.

Might’ve even done a little spin.

 

You’ll never know.