ALBUM REVIEW: Pa Vesh En – Maniac Manifest

Belarusian Raw Black Metal entity PA VESH EN has returned with a 3rd album of mystical torment. Out via Iron Bonehead Productions on September 10th.

Ambient passages begin our journey in typically unsettling fashion that is meditative but with an ultimately foreboding touch. Screeches and bellowing riffs strike in a bestial violence with crashing cymbals, concocting an eerie and domineering soundscape with underlying synths. It is immediately clear that once again we will not only be experiencing Black Metal’s vibrant ferocity but a lurking and untamed sense of loathing and anguish that is far more punishing than many contemporaries in a sonic and emotional sense. Ritualistic cymbals chime with a religiously indicative tone while the hammering toms and scathing guitars create a monolith of melancholy-tinged disdain. Vocally the screeching is unnerving to say the least, calling Silencer to mind while definitely not falling into the more depressive sub-categorisation that has been popular post millennium. This music is as savage and violent as Black Metal is supposed to be, while not being afraid of nuance and experimentation such as mournful synth passages and industrial drumming that breaks open the cacophonous blast beats and sanguine riffing to only drop us back into oblivion in a most sadistic manner.

Continuing to delve down charnel passages, the rift between instruments and vocals is but merely visible as the entire creation here works in unison to conjure an apparition of ghastly, spectral ambience while the manic and schizoid Black Metal glistens with dissonance and a feeling of utter solitude. Interestingly, Pa Vesh En continues to utilise this magnificent ability to write funereal music that doesn’t feel weak or meagre, in fact this is perhaps some of the most to-the-bone and aggressive material to date. If you took the dissonance of Skaphe, the bestial violence of Conqueror and the bleak reverberations of their fellow Raw Black Metal peers Black Cilice, that might give you a vague guideline as to sound. However sound, while the main matter of importance here, is not the entire picture. Painting a daunting image of ritualistic and malicious intentions, this is certainly the kind of thing one has to experience rather than merely hear. The way in which this infects the mind and spirit is so unique, only previous Pa Vesh En releases would make a worthwhile comparison and even those would only get me so far. On “Maniac Manifest” we see the most dissonance, the most aggression and ultimately the most impressive material with some fearsome riffing, more intricate drum work and diverse vocals with complementary synths, while still retaining that impenetrably dark production style.

Pa Vesh En’s return is triumphant. This is Raw Black Metal with emphasis on the Black Metal. Contagious riffs aplenty and more than enough blasting to rupture spleens, there is no denying that Pa Vesh En is one of the far superior entities of the genre with their volatile and upheaving music. Be forewarned, this is not intended to be a comfortable or welcoming listen, but if you are reading this review, that may be redundant information. For the rest, usher in this scolding ritualism and witness some of the strongest Pa Vesh En soundscapes unfurl into a deep psychosis.