Ragana is an American

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

duo from

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

formed in 2011. In 2014, the band relocated to

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. As of 2024, both members have moved back to Olympia. The band has been described as a “queer antifascist black metal/doom duo".

History

Ragana formed in 2011 after the duo Maria Stocke and Noel Gilson met each other at a grocery store in

and bonded over the Olympia black metal band

Wolves in the Throne Room Wolves in the Throne Room is an American black metal band formed in 2002 in Olympia, Washington, by brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver. They have released seven full-length albums, two live albums, and two EPs to date. They have stated one of the ...

. Maria originated from

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

while Noel came from

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. The band’s name is the Latvian and Lithuanian word for "witch". The duo released their debut album ''All's Lost'' in 2012 and their second album ''Unbecoming'' in 2013. That year, both members moved to California. In 2015, Ragana released their third album ''Wash Away'' on the

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

-based record label An Out, which the band carefully chose because of the label's

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and delibera ...

ideology. The band rejected another label's offer to put out the album because the duo felt that the label did not take any strong political stances. On November 9, 2016, the day following

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's victory in the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

, Ragana released "You Take Nothing", and proceeds went to

Standing Rock Indian Reservation The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota controls the Standing Rock Reservation (), which straddles the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lako ...

's Sacred Stone Camp. It became the title track to the band's fourth album, released in 2017 on An Out, which contained songs such as "Spare No Man" written about

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

. In 2018, the band released a split album with

Thou The word ''thou'' () is a second-person singular pronoun in English. It is now largely archaic, having been replaced in most contexts by the word '' you'', although it remains in use in parts of Northern England and in Scots (). ''Thou' ...

titled ''Let Our Names Be Forgotten''. Ragana was slated to play an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

concert event in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in January 2019 but canceled due to a member's illness. The band released the cassette-only EP ''We Know that the Heavens are Empty'' in 2019. In 2022, Ragana opened for

The Microphones The Microphones were an American indie folk, indie rock, and experimental project from Olympia, Washington. The project was founded in 1996 and ended in 2003, with a short reunion following in 2007 and revivals in 2019 and 2020-22. Across ever ...

on their West Coast dates and signed to record label

The Flenser The Flenser (also known as Flenser Records) is an American record label founded by Jonathan Tuite in 2009 in San Francisco, California. It describes itself as a "dark music" label or a "dark experimental record label". Bands that work with or ha ...

. Their fifth album '' Desolation's Flower'' was released in 2023, which was their first in six years. The band described the title track as "a hymn of gratitude for queer and trans ancestors." It received the "Best New Music" honor from ''Pitchfork'' and was named the third-best metal album of 2023 by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', who praised its "proudly queer, anti-fascist politics." The title track was listed as the 91st-best song of 2023 by ''Pitchfork''. Following the album's release, Ragana performed at the 2024

Roadburn Festival The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name. The festival has been held at Tilburg ...

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

, Netherlands, including a collaboration with labelmate Drowse titled ''The Ash From Mount Saint Helens.'' In 2025, the band opened for

Mount Eerie Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum (also of the Microphones) is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. ...

on their west coast dates.

Musical style

Ragana's sound has been described as "blackened doom metal". Both members call the drums as their primary instrument and alternate vocals, guitar and songwriting. Maria believes her songwriting leans more simple and lyrics-based, while Noel writes the more complex songs. The band has cited artists such as

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a solo artist. Born in ...

Grouper Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...

and

Battle of Mice Battle of Mice was an American post-metal Supergroup (music), supergroup consisting of Julie Christmas, Josh Graham, Joel Hamilton, Tony Maimone, and Joe Tomino. The band's name was derived from a saying by Alexander the Great pertaining to a m ...

as influences.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''All's Lost'' (2012) * ''Unbecoming'' (2013) * ''Wash Away'' (2015) * ''You Take Nothing'' (2017) * '' Desolation's Flower'' (2023)

Split albums

* ''Let Our Names Be Forgotten'' (with

) (2018)

Extended plays

* ''We Know that the Heavens are Empty'' (2019)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Band's website

Bandcamp profile
2011 establishments in Washington (state) Musical duos from Washington (state) American black metal musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from Washington (state) LGBTQ-themed musical groups Heavy metal duos