Interview with death metal band from Spain - PAINSTORM.
Answered Alvaro Echarren (vocals), thank you!
https://www.deadlystormzine.com/2025/06/recenzereview-painstorm-fun-and.html
Ave PAINSTORM! Greetings to the Spanish underground. I hope everything is going well for you. It should be, considering you've released the second great album of your career this year. I must admit that it literally blew me away. It's dark, energetic, and cuts like a sharp knife. It's clear that you've done a great job and that you have a lot of talent. How do you perceive the new album in relation to your debut? Where did you want to go and how do you think the recordings are different?
Hi Jakub! Thank you very much for having us for this interview, it's a real honour to be here.
Our new work ‘Fun and Violence’ is quite different compared to our debut. When we released our first album a few years ago, we thought about making a dark and heavy album paying homage to 90's old school Death Metal. With ‘Fun and Violence’ we have let ourselves go, it has been composed entirely by the 4 members who have been with us almost since the beginning, the communication between us is excellent and this is the result: the fruit of the work of 4 friends combined with the desire to take Death Metal to the next level having varied influences.
With this work we want to show to the world what we really do, music to have fun based on what Death Metal should be, violence, gore chaos... We hope that with this album we can bring something different and tour outside Spain.
"Fun and Violence" has all the attributes of good death metal. For me personally, it's an album I love to come back to. How did it come about? How does PAINSTORM compose new material?
We are very happy that you enjoy it and will continue to enjoy it. A lot of people are giving us feedback that it's an ‘easy’ album to listen to, what can you say about a 29 minutes album?
The songwriting was done in exactly the same way as the previous album. More ‘Death Metal’ ideas from Xabi passed through Frank's ‘Punk’ filter, with thrashing rhythms from Juanjo, to finally create a vocal line by Álvaro. It was relatively easy to compose the album, because we have a strong friendship and we understand each other perfectly. The idea of certain arrangements was Aaron's, giving songs like ‘Dr. Shiro’ or ‘Anthropophagus’ an incredible atmosphere.
Who is responsible for the recording, mixing, and mastering? I have to say that the sound is literally killer. It keeps making me turn up the volume on my hi-fi system. You have a sound that is cruel, raw, dark, and animalistic at the same time. How did you work together? Which studio did you record in, and how did everything go?
The recording has been done by Hector Martin from Hangar XIX Studios in Madrid, he was responsible for the sound of the band from the first works. The mixing and mastering was done by Aaron (Taake) Vazquez from M22 Prods in Malaga.
Working with them was simply impeccable.
An integral part and a kind of bonus for fans today is the CD. You released it on Base Record Production and it has a macabre cover. Who is the author? How did you choose the motif and how does it relate to the music on the new album?
The physical editions would not be possible to a large extent if it wasn't for the work of the labels. Few people know that during all these years, 100% of the band was DIY. With this new work we have managed to have the collaboration of Gáspar del Valle, CEO of Base Records who has placed all his trust in us, we are very grateful to him. To add something, the album will be released soon on tape and vinyl.
Regarding the album cover, it was created by the great Julian Mora Ibañez, he managed to capture perfectly the essence of the album, working with great professionalism and speed. We will count on him again in our next work.
I've been wandering the underworld for over thirty years and I go to Spain for music as a matter of course. I think we have a similar nature and taste when it comes to metal. I really like your bands and follow your scene closely. Maybe I envy you a little, because we only have a few death metal bands that are worth mentioning. How do you explain the fact that death metal is so successful in your country? How do you perceive your scene, fans, and labels?
We believe that extreme music has the same place in most countries, and although it may seem to you that Spain has a great scene, that's not entirely correct.
Spain has bands of the highest quality, which could be on any major stage internationally, but the support for these genres is limited. Even so, a deeply rooted community has emerged at the regional level, keeping the flame alive with numerous events in the form of record fairs, festivals, and local concerts.
As far as labels go, there are a couple of "major" labels that have worldwide distribution and not only share material but also promote their bands well, and many other smaller ones that work hard to spread the culture as far and wide as they can.
However, we're increasingly seeing "major" labels stop investing in local metal and focus on other metals, and it's a shame.
You play old-school-influenced death metal. Today, bands can't avoid comparisons, but I'd be interested to know how the idea to form PAINSTORM came about, who your role models were and are, and where you want to take your band. Are you attracted to big international festivals, and would you be willing to tour with a more famous band?
Painstorm was formed in 2019 by Álvaro and Xabi. They had in mind to form a death metal band that would pay homage to the 90s bands they always loved, such as early Cannibal Corpse, Death, or Obituary. Despite this, we've always had an open mind, which is why we could include hardcore, punk rock, black metal, and thrash metal among our other influences.
We'd love to be part of any festival or event we could be part of, big or small, and getting out of Spain would be incredible.
Playing with bands we admire is always a great pleasure. Over the years, we've opened for Sinister, Demilich, Agressor, Fulci, and Gutalax, among others. There's nothing better than playing alongside your favorite bands.
When I started my website seven years ago, I had a vision that I would try to support bands that I felt weren't getting enough attention. To let the world know about them. I think I'm doing pretty well, at least according to the feedback. How do you approach promotion? Do you leave it to the label, or do you send CDs out for reviews yourself? I buy albums that I really enjoy. How about you? Are you also fans who like to support your colleagues often? Do you go to concerts? Do you party?
We believe you're doing an excellent job of bringing awareness to bands that, for one reason or another, aren't well-known.
We're doing our best to promote the band. We hope that with the help of our label, we can reach a wider audience, but for now, social media is the order of the day, and it's very difficult to reach everyone.
We're willing to send CDs and do as many interviews as we're allowed.
In addition to being musicians, we're music lovers. We constantly consume the material of our sister bands and support other bands that aren't local. We believe that to be supported, we must show support.
On the one hand, today's new bands have a lot of opportunities to make themselves known, but on the other hand, there are so many bands that fans get lost in the crowd. A lot of people just download MP3s from the internet and instead of going to concerts, they prefer to spit venom on Facebook. How does modern technology influence you as PAINSTORM? What do you think about downloading music, Google metalists, streaming music, etc.?
It's incredible how, despite having all the music you could want at the click of a button, we're still stuck with the same three bands. We have every opportunity in the world to discover music and make friends, and that's exactly what you're saying. We believe it's part of society, it's temporary, and there's little we can do about it.
If we're honest, it seems like crap to us. Few people know this, but because of our name "Pain" and "Storm," we can't promote ourselves on any social media. We still think we're doing a good job.
I like to ask musicians what death metal means to them. How would they define it, is it more of a philosophy and lifestyle for them or "just" relaxation. What does it mean to you? How do you perceive and experience it?
For us, death metal, and extreme metal in general, is the escape route for a generation that grew up on the classics, but needs more. Extreme metal saved metal in the '90s, no matter who might dislike it, and the legacy of the great death metal bands of that time must be respected and updated. We don't hide it; for us, death metal is fun and violence.
Finally, a classic but important question. What does PAINSTORM have planned for the coming months? Where can we see you in concert? If you want to say something to your fans, labels, promoters, here's your chance...
Painstorm has just released an album, and this is just the beginning. In a few months, Base Record will be released on vinyl and tape, and starting in 2026, we hope to tour all over Spain and beyond.
First stop: Leyendas del Rock, one of the biggest metal festivals in Spain.
Thanks to all the fans for their support, to Gaspar, to our friends, and to you for this excellent interview.
Thank you very much for the interview. I wish you every success with your new album and hope that your fan base grows as much as possible. I look forward to seeing you live somewhere and wish you all the best, both musically and personally. I'm going to blast "Fun and Violence" into my head again!
We wish you all the luck in the world and hope to meet you soon.
Hugs!
Recenze/review - PAINSTORM - Fun and Violence (2025):
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