PAINFUL introduce a third and final single from the dark abysses of humanity before the imminent release of their concept album Nefarious Monarchy. As we are used to from the black/death metallers, the record, which will be released in the 20th year of the band’s own history (more precisely: on May 25, 2024), provides a closed narrative framework. The four take on the role of observers without the filter of religious or political ideology, and this time present us with the gruesome events in between the lines of the French Revolution chapters in our history books.

The new single Reign of Terror is dedicated to La Terreur, the period from fall 1793 to spring 1794, during which the Jacobins around Robespierre were able to torture and execute up to 40,000 people by decree of the Convention. In the song, PAINFUL deal with a revolutionary phase in which bloody cruelty clashed so blindly and destructively with the zeitgeist of the Enlightenment that to this day we meet fundamental changes with a warning that originated from that time: The revolution eats its children.

The new single Reign of Terror presents itself quite appropriately as a morbid, slurping mid-tempo roller with a slightly psychedelic intro. Raise the curtain for the dark groove.

Get the single:https://orcd.co/reignofterror

PAINFUL explain their approach to addressing this bloodbath – which also represented a key milestone in the revolution – in musical terms as follows: “At that particular point in the French Revolution, murder and chaos reigned as everyone slaughtered everyone else – regardless of whether they were once allies or not! We tried to portray this ambivalence by using words with opposing connotations such as ‘freedom’ and ‘terror’ or ‘horror’ and ‘truth’. The whole song is also made up of different parts and rhythms. The heaviness and the swirl of lightness are reflected in contrasting heavy guitars, pounding drums and bouncing orchestras.”

With the three recently released singles Liberty (Dies), Remaining Shadows and Reign of Terror, that move between frenzy, opulence and a morbid groove, PAINFUL now have a wide-ranging foretaste of the upcoming album in store. Nefarious Monarchy will be released this spring – on May 25th – and can of course already be pre-ordered physically.

A pre-save of the album on all relevant platforms is available here: https://orcd.co/painful. Everyone eager to celebrate both the band’s 20th anniversary and the new album live will head to CRASH in Freiburg (Germany) on May 25 to get the full blast.

“Citizens, it is to be feared that the Revolution, like Saturn, will gradually devour all its children and in the end give birth to despotism with all its mischief.” – Pierre Vergniaud before his execution on October 31, 1793

Tracklist:

1. A World of Kings
2. Liberty (Dies)
3. Growing Rage
4. Reign of Terror
5. History Repeats
6. United in Blood
7. Heart of Darkness
8. We are not equal
9. Remaining Shadows
10. Fallen Hierarchies

( + bonus track United in Blood feat. Alexander Krull)

About PAINFUL

Ever since its formation in 2004 as a grimy-brutal bastard of black and death metal, the band have stood for raw, bloody pain, true to their own name. However, they soon began to turn the melancholy of the abyss into something entirely of their own, leading to the creation of powerful symphonies, which have earned PAINFUL a steadily growing fan base at countless gigs – including performances with acts such as Belphegor, Behemoth, Atrocity and Amon Amarth, as well as many of their own headlining shows.
Three albums later, and with their fourth already in the oven, they have successfully crossed iconic festivals like MetalDays, Metalfest and even the 70000TONS OF METAL Cruise off their checklist. So it’s no surprise that genre legend Alexander Krull (ATROCITY, LEAVES EYES) took notice and produced a PAINFUL album for the second time in a row in one of the renowned Mastersound Entertainment studios.

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The new album by black/death metallers PAINFUL, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2024, is due to be released this spring. To shorten the waiting time for fans until Nefarious Monarchy will reign on May 25th, another album single is now available in advance – this time with  a lyric video. While the first single Liberty (Dies), the fastest song on the album, was a throwback to the band’s roots, PAINFUL now present themselves once again in a black metal vein, albeit with a more sustained, opulent tone: Remaining Shadows is a powerful mid-tempo roller that is occasionally reminiscent of one of PAINFUL’s great early influences – SATYRICON:

The song is firmly embedded in the context of the concept album, which is dedicated to the dark side of the French Revolution and the human abysses that became evident within it. In the immediate aftermath of the Revolution, France was engaged in armed conflicts with several neighboring states. What went down in the history books as the Coalition Wars caused incredible human suffering between the bloody lines.

The band says about Remaining Shadows: “We wanted to show the brutal and devastating face of war. There’s remaining darkness after every war that was fought out. We shouldn’t despise the consequences of our actions.”

PAINFUL’s new album Nefarious Monarchy will be available everywhere from May 25th and is now up for pre-save here: https://orcd.co/painful and for pre-order here: https://linktr.ee/painfulmetalofficial. An official album release party and live show will also take place on that date.  Also, don’t forget to grab PAINFUL’s Remaining Shadows here and throw it on your playlist(s)!

Tracklist Nefarious Monarchy:

1. A World of Kings
2. Liberty (Dies)
3. Growing Rage
4. Reign of Terror
5. History Repeats
6. United in Blood
7. Heart of Darkness
8. We are not equal
9. Remaining Shadows
10. Fallen Hierarchies
 
( + bonus track United in Blood feat. Alexander Krull)

Ever since its formation in 2004 as a grimy-brutal bastard of black and death metal, the band have stood for raw, bloody pain, true to their own name. However, they soon began to turn the melancholy of the abyss into something entirely of their own, leading to the creation of powerful symphonies, which have earned PAINFUL a steadily growing fan base at countless gigs – including performances with acts such as Belphegor, Behemoth, Atrocity and Amon Amarth, as well as many of their own headlining shows.

Three albums later, and with their fourth already in the oven, they have successfully crossed iconic festivals like MetalDays, Metalfest and even the 70000TONS OF METAL Cruise off their checklist. So it’s no surprise that genre legend Alexander Krull (ATROCITY, LEAVES EYES) took notice and produced a PAINFUL album for the second time in a row in one of the renowned Mastersound Entertainment studios.

PAINFUL online:
http://painfulmetal.com/
https://www.painfulmetal.com/shop/
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialPainful/
https://www.instagram.com/painfulmetal.official/
https://www.youtube.com/@PainfulMetalOfficial
https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/3RTsCnRmhOvZrdtN5qvmLH
http://deezer.com/de/artist/3611901
https://music.amazon.de/artists/B002KYJVI6?ref=dm_sh_a905-38ec-2df1-0e60-8de06
https://linktr.ee/painfulmetalofficial

Good things take time – more so if you want to create something timeless. This undoubtedly applies to German black/death metallers PAINFUL. After an extended period of tinkering, the band, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, have announced the release date of their upcoming album Nefarious Monarchy – May 25th. The somber foursome have now come up with something special for their fans: On February 9 (Osnabrück, Bastard Club) and February 10 (Oberhausen, Helvete), the entire album will be performed live by the band for the first time as part of two “sneak prelistening” shows, revealing the complete tracklist on stage. A Nefarious Monarchy shirt, limited to 300 pieces, will also be available at the shows.

Anyone who is curious can now get an impression of what the ever evolving PAINFUL – including their new singer Latura – will stand for in 2024 with the brand new video single Liberty (Dies):

https://youtu.be/azONAx7T2KI

The song is the fastest track on Nefarious Monarchy, drawing heavily from the band’s black metal roots, both musically and in terms of its lyrical content. Embedded in the dark – and also human – abysses of the French Revolution, Liberty (Dies) is the direct follow-up to the opener of the concept album and describes the crippling omnipotence of the church, of which Voltaire and other contemporaries tried to warn the royally ruled people in various ways. With the fury of a shackled animal, the song contributes to the backdrop that would later implode in blood and fire, giving way to a new age of enlightenment and grassroots power.

The band thus resolutely pursues its path, completely dispensing with (anti-)religiosity and fantasies, searching for the horrifying in the history of mankind and dragging it into the light under an incantatory mosh: from the Black Plague (Imagines Pestis) to the decade-long cultural firestorm at the end of the 18th century, to which we owe our liberal democracy.

PAINFUL’s new album Nefarious Monarchy will be available everywhere from May 25th and is now up for pre-order here: https://linktr.ee/painfulmetalofficial. An official album release party and live show will also take place on that date. Don’t forget to grab PAINFUL’s new single Liberty (Dies) here and throw it on your playlist(s)!

Ever since its formation in 2004 as a grimy-brutal bastard of black and death metal, the band has stood for raw, bloody pain, true to its own name. However, they soon began to turn the melancholy of the abyss into something entirely of their own, leading to the creation of powerful symphonies, which have earned PAINFUL a steadily growing fan base at countless gigs – including performances with acts such as Belphegor, Behemoth, Atrocity and Amon Amarth, as well as many of their own headlining shows.

Three albums later, and with their fourth already in the oven, they have successfully crossed iconic festivals such as MetalDays, Metalfest and even the 70000TONS OF METAL Cruise off their checklist. So it’s no surprise that genre legend Alexander Krull took notice and produced a PAINFUL album for the second time in a row.

PAINFUL online:

http://painfulmetal.com/
https://www.painfulmetal.com/shop/
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialPainful/
https://www.instagram.com/painfulmetal.official/
https://www.youtube.com/@PainfulMetalOfficial
https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/3RTsCnRmhOvZrdtN5qvmLH
http://deezer.com/de/artist/3611901
https://music.amazon.de/artists/B002KYJVI6?ref=dm_sh_a905-38ec-2df1-0e60-8de06
https://linktr.ee/painfulmetalofficial