Paul Raven

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Paul Vincent Raven (born January 16, 1961 in England) is a rock bassist best known for his work in the seminal post-punk/industrial group Killing Joke. He later played in Alternative rock/industrial rock band Prong.

His early musical career included stints in Neon Hearts and the short-lived 1982 glam rock band, Kitsch. Kitsch is also notable for including Tyla before he would go onto larger success with his band, Dogs D'Amour.

Raven's big break came when he replaced original Killing Joke bassist Youth in mid 1982, just in time for the North American tour documented on the Ha! live EP. He was with the group through its most commercially successful period, appearing on the Fire Dances, Night Time and Brighter Than a Thousand Suns albums, before leaving during the recording of 1988's Outside the Gate, rejoining in time for 1990's Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions.

After touring in support of this album, Killing Joke split up, with everyone except singer Jaz Coleman going on to form Murder, Inc. in 1991, adding singer Chris Connelly. During this time, Raven also participated in Pigface, a project conceived by Murder Inc./Killing Joke/PiL drummer Martin Atkins, as an ever-morphing musical circus with a fluid line-up.

Killing Joke reformed in 1992, but it was with original bassist Youth back in the fold. Raven next joined Prong, appearing on their Cleansing and Rude Awakening albums. After Prong split, he began a career as a producer and remixer and also played with the group Zilch, along with Hideto Matsumoto, Dave Kushner, Joey Castillo and Ray McVeigh.

In recent years, he has worked as bassist in Godflesh and rejoined Killing Joke for their 2003 eponymously titled album and its follow up, Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell. In 2005, Raven began working with Al Jourgensen of Ministry for their latest album, Rio Grande Blood. In 2006, Raven completed a European and American tour with Ministry.

(Note: British rock singer Gary Glitter recorded under the name of "Paul Raven" while on Decca Records in the 1960s.)