Pa Vesh En – Martyrs (Nihilistic Raw Black Metal)

 

When just the cover of an album makes you think of self-harm, you know it’s going to be absolutely devastating. To the heart, to the soul, to your mind, to everything and everyone you know and love. Never have I felt as much self-loathing as I did listening to Martyrs. I wanted to lay on the floor, screaming and clutching at my void of a heart as I screamed out for mercy from a God that doesn’t exist. This is truly devastating, in a loving sort of way.

   

Pa Vesh En is something of a raw black metal enigma, but to be honest his earlier work is simply typical. A huge wall of static covers occasionally memorable riffs and shrieking. We’ve heard that all before; it lacks depth and, generally, feeling. I’m not sure what happened here, but Pa Vesh En has matured. Though there is a definite rawness to Martyrs, it comes not as a wall, but rather a dense fog. Meaning, you can still enter it to discover, it’s not simply blocking the path. If there’s one complaint it’s that the rawness comes with a static cling, much more noticeable in certain contexts, such as through headphones. But, it’s easy to overlook for the sheer moral apprehension this album manifests. Filled with howls of despair, it is an inescapably brooding release.

 

Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

Pa Vesh En – Martyrs
Iron Bonehead Productions
Cover Art: Band
4.8 / 5