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This is not an easy band to keep up with. Déhà spans multiple genres and provides an outlet for Olmo Lipani's seemingly endless creativity, and he has released nearly 40 albums since 2018 on top of countless other projects, such as Impending Triumph. Ashes as Rain is his second release this year, a melodic black metal album following Nethermost & Absolute Comfort, which I haven't heard but see described as funeral doom. That's part of the fun with Déhà: you're almost always going in blind, never quite knowing what to expect, other than some kind of atmospheric touch.

As far as black metal is concerned, this catches the ear quickly. Opener "Purification by Death" kicks off with a Saor-like melody before erupting into raspy mayhem. Lipani's shrieks drip with despair, and while this runs faster than your typical depressive black metal release, the anguish conveyed, through both the tortured vocals and the gloomy melodic lines, cements that association. For the first three tracks, the playing is tight, with tremolo riffs layered in harmonies that are elaborate, effective, and rarely overdone, drawing you in.

That said, the midsection does lose some steam. "Drifting to the Void" and "The Faithless Wanderer" stray toward mediocrity and sap momentum before "Serenity Prayer" pulls things back into focus. The shrieking vocals, which is central to the album's character, can wear thin, and with riffs sometimes blending together, the grip established in the first three tracks weakens a little. Still, to Lipani's credit, his songwriting keeps the record on the right side of generic. It may not be otherworldly, but if you're into melodic black metal, Ashes as Rain is worth a listen.