Purest of Pain
Netherlands
Line-up
J.D. Kaye (vocals),
Merel Bechtold (guitar)
Michael van Eck (guitar)
Frank van Leeuwen (bass)
Joey de Boer (drums)
Groove, ambience, tone and melody: leave that up to the Dutch melodic metal band Purest Of Pain (est. 2008)! Their debut album ‘Solipsis’ is a force to be reckoned with. Guitarist and main songwriter Merel Bechtold, who’s already toured the world with the much respected bands Delain, MaYaN and The Gentle Storm/Anneke van Giersbergen, is leading this energetic quintet from Holland. On the 1st of March in 2018 ‘Solipsis’ will see the light of day: it’s a must for fans of Scandinavian sounding metal!
Purest Of Pain has been a relentless live act for a few years now. After having released the EP ‘Revelations In Obscurity’ (2011) and the single ‘Momentum’ (2013), now it’s time for their debut full length album ‘Solipsis’. The band didn’t hold back one bit. It took them seven years to create it from the writing process up to the final mastering.
Because Purest Of Pain is an unsigned, independent act, they assembled the budget for the recording process by playing as many live shows as possible over a period of six years.
Successful crowdfunding campaign
‘Solipsis’ was self-produced by Merel, but she couldn’t have done it without the help of Mantis Audio studio (Delain). Finally the album was mastered in October 2017 by the proclaimed sound wizard Jens Bogren, known for his work with Opeth, Arch Enemy, Soilwork and others.
With everything falling into place, Purest Of Pain started an online crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. A fruitful effort, as the target amount of 9500 euros was met within six days, realized by almost 300 backers who pre-ordered the album.
“Really digging the album, honestly! You guys have managed to blend brutality with groove and emotion in a great way!” - Jens Bogren
Organic guitar record
‘Solipsis’ is a guitar oriented record, which has been recorded as organic as possible: partly at home, partly at Mantis Audio. The song ‘E.M.D.R.’ is written by fellow guitarist Michael van Eck. All the other songs were summoned by Merel. The lyrics are written by J.D. Kaye. And even though the music is at times technical and challenging, ‘Solipsis’ is mainly driven by groove, ambience, tone and melody.
‘Solipsis’ is available on cd, vinyl and as a digital release. The cd and vinyl version have slightly altered artwork. Merel was responsible for its concept and bass player Frank van Leeuwen designed and finalized the covers.
Band facts
- winner Dutch local band competition Gooise Goden (2010)
- runner-up Dutch band competition Clash Of The Titans (2011)
- nominated for ‘Best Live Act’ by local music site 3voor12/Utrecht (2012)
- already played support slots for Opeth, Suicide Silence, Unearth, Textures and Attack Attack! (without any record available!)
- representatives for Holland at Wacken Open Air 2014
- the successful Indiegogo-campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/purest-of-pain-solipsis- metal#/
- the first single, Terra Nil, is available online
- only one plug-in, and not a single digital effect or synth was used for the recording of ‘Solipsis’
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