Review by Jeger on September 11, 2024.

Sweden’s renowned death metal scene has been one of dissonance, one of brutality, and also one of tragedy: Entombed, Dismember, Bloodbath, and a dude you may not have heard of: the Sverige Son of Death (made that up) himself, the prolific Rogga Johansson. The man plays in about 1000 bands and has been a true underground champion since the late ’90s with a little outfit you may have heard of - Paganizer. Boasting a comprehensive discography featuring 12 LPs, a slew of EPs, compilations, and splits, Paganizer operate much like a black metal band - always toiling the underground - creating some of the purest and untainted by the mainstream extreme metal the world has ever lain ears upon. And yes, they also sound like Entombed. More nuanced, though, and more melodic. Refined and harmonious death metal that crunches and bulldozes like that monster truck, Gravedigger, from back in the day. Every album is like a death metal Monster Jam… This Fall, as the world around us begins to die and as the Autumnal death grip takes hold, an offering of the flesh will be made. On November 1, 2024, worldwide, Paganizer will unleash Flesh Requiem via the always aqua and the always fucking brutal Transcending Obscurity Records. 

Where to begin… We’ve got cannibalism, Vikings, necrostuff, and world demise, packaged up beautifully with cover art by Mariusz Lewandowski and engineered by some dude who I don’t feel like looking up, but nonetheless did an incredible job producing this record. I just love how they do death metal overseas. The USDM scene is just a fucking pissing contest to see who can sound the best, but over in countries like Sweden, Ireland, England, and even Australia, death metal is nothing more than an uncomplicated celebration of the macabre. Fuck all the technical mumbo-jumbo, because you can’t conjure up images in someone’s head of unspeakable grotesqueries when they’re too busy listening to the guitarist jerk himself off… Flesh Requiem - a balanced recording that begins in classic fashion with 'Life Of Decay' - getting gradually more elaborate with every following cut until you get to 'World Scythe' and blow your load. What a treat, a little Gothenburg melodicism to keep things more than just interesting. Thunder-cracked skies welcoming in series upon series of stunning riffs: the flow, man, like chakras and shit… 

A wise approach to everything here from the lyrics to the album’s multilayered yet evenly measured compositional layout. Unpredictable but safe in a good way, an experience akin to riding around through Jurassic Park in one of those indestructible bubble-mobiles, just spellbound by the scenery and navigating the terrain confidently. Death metal that will definitely have you banging your head or possibly buying a Volvo. Can’t say enough good things. You could listen to this thing for a year and not get tired of it. Paganizer - a little secret tucked away in Sweden like that body in your backyard - a gem of a band who just put together the death metal album of the year, at least in my book. You guys know you have to follow this up at some point, right? 

The very best for last… 'Skeletons' features lead guitarist, Dennis Blomberg at a playing vantage that not even the greats can dare. What an ear for melody and what a touch: fundamental, sexy, and stylistically comparable to guitarists like Shatraug (Horna, Sargeist), or dare I even say Steve Clark (Def Leppard), or the greatest of all fucking time, Mr. Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) - like a guitar god - inspirational and triumphant, not breaking any barriers, just keeping true to a rich history of Sverige extreme metal melodicism and doing it in ways that feel familiar like an ‘80’s montage or a Big Mac. Guitar performance of the year material (they don’t actually have a guitar performance of the year). 

Take a step back from the music you’re making if you’re in a death metal band and ask yourself if the music is something you can feel or if it’s something that is simply manufactured, because every cut on this record penetrates to the core: mind, body, and spirit, and it should always be that way, at least to a certain degree. That’s how perfection is achieved and how “winning is done!” (Rocky). Maybe I’m just super high, but I’ve been doing this for a while and this is some superlative, brilliant, magisterial! death metal. I’ll be listening to it every day. You won’t because you don’t have the promo… Just clear your calendar when it comes out. November 1, 2024 Transcending Obscurity, Paganizer, Flesh Requiem… Cum on it!

Final Score: 10 out of 10

Review by Alex on August 20, 2019.

And the candles are once again lit in arrival of Pa Vesh En's latest working of wickedness. This figure has been active since its inception having released records that have garnered high critical acclaim. It is with this second full length record the mystique behind the massive sounds of solitude and sacrilege delivers his best necromantic offering to date. Pa Vesh En cares not for the season, he performs whenever the urge bites, whenever the call from the void shakes the walls of the ossuary. Hidden from the glare of luminescence, new sessions have been put in motion to invite the listeners to waltzes with the distinguishable evil of Pa Vesh En's latest spell of intolerance, Pyrefication. It's only been a few months since we were given a peek into the warped mind of this madman, Church of Bones hit with a resounding echo in October of 2018 which was then followed up by Cryptic Rites of Necromancy that saw his songwriting skills begin to take effect as the compositions that time took the strengths of his split with Temple Moon, Church of Bones and amalgamate them, thus crafting a dreary atmosphere fused with some poignancy. Pyrefication shares the same sentiments with greater emphasis on song structure and total album flow. This entry marks a decisive step towards the maturity of the entity. Not to be mistaken, the sound and feel deeply associated with Pa Vesh En's work is still present lushfully but has undergone some modifications to magnify the appeal of the music, after-all, it still is such.

On this funerary rite, Pa Vesh En has prepared 8 combustibles serving as the apparatus to establish the pyre. 'In Ghostly Haze' conjures the air of malice we are more than familiar with by now when it comes to his sonic ability. From there, 'Wastelands of Plague' resumes the work done on Cryptic Rites of Necromancy, only this time Pa Vesh En's confidence has reached a new high. Now he seems to understand what makes his music so familiar to the genre yet diverse from so many bands. The musical textures he manages to mix is what I am referring to; as on prior releases he has exhibited a knack for melody driven compositions conspiring with the groovy, thick, clouded baselines, catchy guitar leads, raw candid drumming and his trademark overall corrupt production. Chants that sound indigenous have been added to the Pa Vesh En formula of mystique, mayhem and melancholy, further displaying transformative growth in his compositional skills. This tempest-like level of song writing continues; 'Call of the Dead' applies it's undefeated anger and hatred to the ritual, sweeping away the poignant mark of the opening invocations to execute an muscle-flexing though still haunting and abrasive installment. Appearing to be influenced by Mayhem's 'Freezing Moon' and 'Life Eternal', Pa Vesh En's 'Call of the Dead' takes the listener/s back to a time when black metal had began to take its first steps outside of it's ancient and glorious 1st wave ovum. The character on Pyrefication continues to glow with tracks such as 'Grotesque Abomination' which assembles a throne of thrashing and furious blasting snare drum structures, followed by 'Fog of Death' and 'Pyre of the Forgotten'; both of which are inscribed with dreaded cavernous growls into their husks.

Pa Vesh En's work is rather reclusive as a whole, in a sense, his discipline is ascetic or monk-like; in particular the familiarity of his sound remains committed to his projected quest even when introducing new elements in small samples. Better organization of the tracks have proven to be more effective in controlling the deluge of instruments and vocals. Austere the principles of this Belarusian figure that wanders the ancient catacombs of black metal; with Pyrefication and all prior releases campaigning somewhere between raw black metal and white noise, what you get with Pa Vesh En is more than your average raw black metal band would put forth. The strong bass driven melodies return in ensuring the record's longevity, fused with the clouded vocals of the mysterious project curator, this entry does precisely what was expected musically which is adequately sustained by a production that at this point has become synonymous with Pa Vesh En. In just over a year or so he has managed to ensconce a kingdom of dominance overlooking this sub-genre of black metal whilst rendering few capable and more-so worthy of standing amidst the shadows manoeuvred with. Pyrefication is definitely the best effort to date from this project, it's everything you loved about Cryptic Rites of Necromancy and Church of Bones cohesively dilated with a few added features to succor, nurture and intensify it's tonality.

Dormant soul corruption:

• Wastelands of Plague
• Call of the Dead
• Grotesque Abomination 
• Fog of Death

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Alex on August 20, 2019.

And the candles are once again lit in arrival of Pa Vesh En's latest working of wickedness. This figure has been active since its inception having released records that have garnered high critical acclaim. It is with this second full length record the mystique behind the massive sounds of solitude and sacrilege delivers his best necromantic offering to date. Pa Vesh En cares not for the season, he performs whenever the urge bites, whenever the call from the void shakes the walls of the ossuary. Hidden from the glare of luminescence, new sessions have been put in motion to invite the listeners to waltzes with the distinguishable evil of Pa Vesh En's latest spell of intolerance, Pyrefication. It's only been a few months since we were given a peek into the warped mind of this madman, Church of Bones hit with a resounding echo in October of 2018 which was then followed up by Cryptic Rites of Necromancy that saw his songwriting skills begin to take effect as the compositions that time took the strengths of his split with Temple Moon, Church of Bones and amalgamate them, thus crafting a dreary atmosphere fused with some poignancy. Pyrefication shares the same sentiments with greater emphasis on song structure and total album flow. This entry marks a decisive step towards the maturity of the entity. Not to be mistaken, the sound and feel deeply associated with Pa Vesh En's work is still present lushfully but has undergone some modifications to magnify the appeal of the music, after-all, it still is such.

On this funerary rite, Pa Vesh En has prepared 8 combustibles serving as the apparatus to establish the pyre. 'In Ghostly Haze' conjures the air of malice we are more than familiar with by now when it comes to his sonic ability. From there, 'Wastelands of Plague' resumes the work done on Cryptic Rites of Necromancy, only this time Pa Vesh En's confidence has reached a new high. Now he seems to understand what makes his music so familiar to the genre yet diverse from so many bands. The musical textures he manages to mix is what I am referring to; as on prior releases he has exhibited a knack for melody driven compositions conspiring with the groovy, thick, clouded baselines, catchy guitar leads, raw candid drumming and his trademark overall corrupt production. Chants that sound indigenous have been added to the Pa Vesh En formula of mystique, mayhem and melancholy, further displaying transformative growth in his compositional skills. This tempest-like level of song writing continues; 'Call of the Dead' applies it's undefeated anger and hatred to the ritual, sweeping away the poignant mark of the opening invocations to execute an muscle-flexing though still haunting and abrasive installment. Appearing to be influenced by Mayhem's 'Freezing Moon' and 'Life Eternal', Pa Vesh En's 'Call of the Dead' takes the listener/s back to a time when black metal had began to take its first steps outside of it's ancient and glorious 1st wave ovum. The character on Pyrefication continues to glow with tracks such as 'Grotesque Abomination' which assembles a throne of thrashing and furious blasting snare drum structures, followed by 'Fog of Death' and 'Pyre of the Forgotten'; both of which are inscribed with dreaded cavernous growls into their husks.

Pa Vesh En's work is rather reclusive as a whole, in a sense, his discipline is ascetic or monk-like; in particular the familiarity of his sound remains committed to his projected quest even when introducing new elements in small samples. Better organization of the tracks have proven to be more effective in controlling the deluge of instruments and vocals. Austere the principles of this Belarusian figure that wanders the ancient catacombs of black metal; with Pyrefication and all prior releases campaigning somewhere between raw black metal and white noise, what you get with Pa Vesh En is more than your average raw black metal band would put forth. The strong bass driven melodies return in ensuring the record's longevity, fused with the clouded vocals of the mysterious project curator, this entry does precisely what was expected musically which is adequately sustained by a production that at this point has become synonymous with Pa Vesh En. In just over a year or so he has managed to ensconce a kingdom of dominance overlooking this sub-genre of black metal whilst rendering few capable and more-so worthy of standing amidst the shadows manoeuvred with. Pyrefication is definitely the best effort to date from this project, it's everything you loved about Cryptic Rites of Necromancy and Church of Bones cohesively dilated with a few added features to succor, nurture and intensify it's tonality.

Dormant soul corruption:

• Wastelands of Plague
• Call of the Dead
• Grotesque Abomination 
• Fog of Death

Rating: 8.5 out of 10