Entry 1570 - Pa Vesh En - Knife Ritual and Dead Womb

Style: raw black metal

Thoughts: I had a conversation with a co-worker a few days ago that was speaking about the appeal of obscure music. Naturally black metal came up and with that the sub category of raw black metal. We discussed a great deal many things including the production in black metal and why I enjoyed a well done raw black metal album. Knife Ritual and Dead Womb will offer a great examples of every talking point I had with this individual.

Pa Vesh En has been a favorite of mine within the raw black metal scene ever since I stumbled upon this project some three to five years ago. There is something about the way they put together their releases that resonates with me. The atmosphere, the riffs, the horrorscape... everything. 

Knife Ritual and Dead Womb are the two demos for the project, and they offer an even bleaker production than the full lengths that would follow. The music will literally start to cut out at points much like an old phone call that was put across too many relay stations. It's hard to hear anything that is happening at first glance, and this is the division point: do we investigate further or do we move on. Most will move on, but for those who choose to investigate there is much to be revealed within the mire.

Raw black metal such as Pa Vesh En offers many things that "normal" music does not. The music is obviously made not for the consumer, but because the creator of the music wanted to make inaccessible music. Doing so creates an inherit integrity to the music that is gone with music written for accessibility first. 

Additionally both Knife Ritual and Dead Womb offer different takes on this genre with greatly different productions. Knife Ritual offers a more murky sound where the instruments are buried deep in the mix obscured by a hazy and often harsh fuzz to the production. Dead Womb on the other hand has a much more forward production but none less harsh. The instruments, while clearer, are almost physically painful to listen to with the higher register notes that they play. The difference between the two productions is curious and one that I enjoy greatly while spinning this record.

Raw black metal offers a feast for those who would delve into the music. It has an inherit depth to it through the mired production and inherit difficulties presented to the listener. Over the years I have come to enjoy these in music that actually awards the listener for their efforts. Of course there is raw black metal out there that does not respect the listeners time and provides the most simple of experiences within the raw black metal scene. However, there are also acts like Pa Vesh En that put interesting music behind the layers of sonic obscurity that ultimately reward those who would listen.