Rammstein
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The incense material hits with immediate, almost aggressive presence—resinous and peppery—whilst saffron adds a spiced, slightly medicinal bite that recalls expensive oud shops. Within moments, you're enveloped in something ceremonial and dense, the styrax lending a subtle sweetness that immediately contradicts any notion of comfort.
Frankincense and cypress emerge to create an austere, almost architectural dryness; the leather becomes discernible now, rough-edged and slightly acrid against the woody framework. The composition settles into an intensely introspective phase where individual notes remain distinct rather than blending into seamless harmony—each element maintains its own weathered character.
The resins and sandalwood gradually dominate, the fragrance mellowing into something warmer but never soft, more akin to aged wood and ancient stone than skin-friendliness. What remains is essentially a resinous, woody whisper—intimate rather than diffusive, holding close to the body as a quiet affirmation of its austere beauty.
Kokain Black Ash arrives as a deliberately confrontational fragrance—one that eschews prettiness in favour of austere, smoky grandeur. Alexandre Illan has constructed something more akin to ritual incense than conventional perfumery, with the incense material and saffron opening acting as a pungent overture before frankincense and cypress carve out a distinctly ecclesiastical heart. What emerges is profoundly introspective: imagine stepping into a monastery's shadowed interior where centuries of ceremonial smoke have impregnated the stone walls, mingled with the acrid burn of leather left too long near candlelight.
The leather here is neither supple nor refined—it's rough, almost burnt, rendered austere by the woody cypress and resinous base that refuses to soften its edges. Sandalwood attempts gentleness, but the predominant styrax and unnamed resins keep the composition tethered to something darker, more primal. There's an almost alchemical quality to how the spicy saffron threads through the heavier elements, never quite sweetening them, instead adding a bitter-warm dimensionality that prevents the fragrance from becoming monotonously smoky.
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3.6/5 (77)