The members of PAINS have been playing together for well over a decade. Most of that time was spent in their current form, but the roots go back to a band from the northwest suburbs of Chicago called Kingmaker. “That band was very influenced by a variety of metalcore and deathcore bands over its duration that helped shape the band in its early years and provide the sound that most people who listened are familiar with,” they recall. Over time, the sound shifted and splintered. The identity became fragmented enough that Kingmaker was put to rest, but the desire to keep making music carried forward. That was the beginning of PAINS.
What started as a five-piece lineup with a standalone vocalist and two guitarists slowly slimmed down. Alex moved to vocals and guitar, and after another longtime guitarist left, the band debated replacing him. Instead, they leaned into being a trio. “After seeing Dying Fetus play New England Hardcore Metal Fest 2018, which we played alongside, we felt inspired enough to reshape the band around the idea of just 3 members, trying to pack the intensity of a 5 piece into 3.”
The scope of influences has shifted over the years.
Early on, the focus was narrow—Trap Them, Black Breath, Dead in the Dirt, Full of Hell, Nails, All Pigs Must Die. Much of it came from the Deathwish, Relapse, and Southern Lord catalogs.
“As we grew, we also incorporated a lot of death metal influence from bands like Decapitated, Morbid Angel, Cryptopsy, Dismember and even Job for a Cowboy, The Black Dahlia Murder, etc. Never fully feeling like a death metal band or a powerviolence, grind influenced band one way or the other, we attempted our best to fuse together our favorite genres, with metalcore and hardcore also being in the mix.”
Converge has remained a constant reference point.
At the same time, larger metal acts shaped their ambition. “The influence that bands like Gojira, Meshuggah, Machine Head, Sepultura; enormous metal bands with epic scales and massive sounds, have had on us is incalculable at this point. Pains has certainly started narrow in scope but as we have grown and blossomed, learned and lived through many experiences and influences, without a doubt we have attained larger aspirations to meet at eye level with many of those larger bands listed above. We feel we can meet the challenge.”
Songwriting has often been shaped by distance. “I’ll usually come up with a riff or a part, sit down with it and attempt to expand on it but eventually try and flesh out full songs. Writing out all the guitar/bass parts and writing a rough template of programmed drums to give Nick, our drummer, an idea of what I’m thinking. From there, I’ll try and ‘finish’ a demo as best I can and submit to the rest of the band. After that, we will all dissect it and try to see if we can fix flaws, improve sections or riffs, alter things to fit the song, etc. until we have a fully cohesive song or group or songs.” Living hours apart has forced them into this demo-driven approach, though they’ve started discussing a shift. “We have discussed really shifting away from this process as the main way to go about songwriting and move more into a heavily collaborative space from the start of a songwriting process.”
Recording has been a consistent collaboration. “Most of our recording we have done with our friend Zack Farrar who works independently under the moniker Choir Room Audio. Zack plays guitar and writes music for a great experimental metal band called meth. Across 3 releases, we have recorded 2 at a studio space in Rockford, IL and the first EP we did with Zack was done at a house in St. Charles, IL.”
His familiarity with their sound made him a natural fit. “He really grasped the power and speed that we wanted to display in our songs and has helped co-produce every step of the way to make sure the songs have enough finish on the details to stand out and feel complete.” Their most recent recording session marked a new step. “For our most recent recording session (unreleased, will eventually become Pains LP1), we chose to work with Andy Nelson of Bricktop Studios in Chicago.
Andy, the guitarist of powerviolence stalwarts, Weekend Nachos, was not just a great personality fit but has made some of our favorite hardcore/metal/pv records of all time. It was a goal to work and record with him at that studio and the final product is something we are immensely proud of. Andy’s attention to detail coupled with an efficient and direct work ethic was a match made and we are so excited for everyone to eventually hear that album.”
Looking back, they see growth without losing the essence. “Our evolution has been a slow and steady one. As we near almost 10 years as a band, I’ve reflected many times on how far we’ve come musically but also how we have kept the core identity of what we wanted to achieve with our songs. At first, it was purely about trying to narrow our focus down so we could begin really strong on one or a few aspects. Being as loud, fast and heavy as possible at the same time was the main attempt. Influenced by grind, powerviolence and music that emitted a sense of rage, aggression & intensity was paramount to getting the band off the ground and establishing our sound.”
With time, that approach became broader. “Over the years we have incorporated more melody and broader dynamics into our songwriting. What was once purely dedicated to being fast, and if not fast, just relentlessly heavy, has morphed into being intentional about slowing things down when it calls for it and injecting more than just dissonance. We’re known for bringing a lot of blast beats, speed and ferocity to the table so a lot of our evolution was trying to keep that intact while adding on new musical influences in a way that felt cohesive and natural. As we keep going, we’ll keep striving for that and to always be open for even more influence.”
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