Year of release: 2019
Label: Iron Bonehead Records
Rating: 7,5 / 10
The indefatigable PA VESH EN doesn’t even think about slowing down - the album “Pyrefication” has already become the eighth release in three incomplete years (and in Belarus, as usual, no one gives a fuck - everyone is waiting for new Znich or shitty videos from Dymna Lotva). On the one hand, explaining such productivity is easy: a listener who is not familiar with PA VESH EN will never distinguish one project's release from another, even if you give him ten attempts. The sound changes that have occurred over the years are really insignificant. On the other hand, the characteristic musical form of PA VESH EN was invented already on the first demo, and, in general, it doesn't require radical changes.
Nevertheless, the catacomb inhabitant behind the project develops his music - very slowly, carefully measuring every pinch of new ingredients, as an experienced necromancer should do. “Pyrefication” turned out to be a mixture of early and late PA VESH EN: the demos were slow and depressing, the first album and the ensuing EP were fast and intense. The second album is trying to balance both of them, although the victory nevertheless remained with the slow fragments. And that's good, because PA VESH EN sound coming from deep dungeons turns high-speed music into noise. “Pyrefication” prefers to move with a solemn gait, at certain moments broaching a shaded space with heart-rending screams (and sometimes even sick clean vocals), ritual lowing and reverence towards the early Mayhem. By and large, these are all notable innovations.
All in all, this is enough. PA VESH EN music successfully copes with the task of dragging the listener into the nightmarish black abyss of death and psychopathy. However, if you have the strength to resist, you can find good riffs and an impressive variety of compositions here. But the question remains open: are riffs really so good, or this special kind of sound makes them good? I think the answer to this and many other questions lies somewhere in the middle of that very black abyss.