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Pictures Of Pain is a new band from Norway, their album was released via the Cyprus-based label Pitch Black Records. That's the facts, to learn more about the guys I sent over some questions which were answered by Frode and Hans. Thanks a lot!
Please introduce Pictures Of Pain to our readers! And tell us why you named the band Pictures Of Pain!
Pictures Of Pain is a metal band from Norway. It's quite difficult to explain the 'style' of the band. We don't want to put any limits on the music we make, we play 'music' that we like. Since we all listen to a lot of different type of music, we are quite open minded due to music and 'styles'. Of course we could have been playing straight power, thrash or whatever, but that would have been a wrong formula for the band.
The band name comes from one of the first Pictures Of Pain songs called Pictures Of Pain. It's quite difficult to find a band name that's still 'available'. But in our opinion, the band name fits into the music and the lyrics of the band, that’s quite related to the 'darker' side of life.
After 2 demos you have now your debut album The Reckoning out via Pitch Black Records. How does it feel to have the album in stores now?
It's a pleasure, of course; finally to have the debut-album released. We are thankful that Pitch Black Records believed in the band, and decided to release the album. We are pleased. It seems that Pitch Black Records are doing a good job with distribution, promotion and especially the communication-part is very good.
Are you happy with the feedback?
Yes, so far we are pleased with the feedbacks. Most of them have been really positive! But of course, whatever kind of music you deliver, you can never please everyone 100%. And as we like to mix a lot of different styles the cd needs more than one run through. To be honest, we believed this would be a bigger 'drawback' in reviews than it has been. But we have to make the music that we like and representing who we are. But so far, the feedbacks have been really good!
You combine different sounds, how would you describe your sound?
Hm... A difficult one.. We sound metal, but which type and style??? It's impossible to tag the sound into just 'one style'. Pitch Black Records asked us before the release to describe the band's 'style'. We have to admit, we had problems with that one. We suppose they also had hehe... It's a mix of a lot of different music-'styles' (metal, thrash, power metal, death metal, heavy metal etc).
Do you have a main songwriter? Or is it a band effort?
Mainly, the songs start by a riff or an idea from guitarist Rune, which we work / jam further on. The basic structure of the song first, then melody-lines for the vocals, and at last the lyrics are made.
How long did it take you to write the songs for The Reckoning? And how long to record it?
Some of the songs are from earlier demos, back in 2005 and 2006. These were re-recorded, and some minor changes were done to some of them. The others are newer ones. The main issue is not how long it takes to produce songs, but the quality of the songs. The recording went really well. We used the same studio and producer for this record as for the demos. This made it smoother, since Stein Sund at Black Dimension Studio already knew which sound we wanted.
Andy LaRocque did the mastering, will you work with him again? Expand your cooperation?
We are very satisfied with Andy's work. He has a quite strong CV, included band such as In Flames, Hammerfall, Evergrey, Falconer and of course his 'own band' King Diamond. The cooperation was quite random; he sent us a friend-request on MySpace. For the next album, he will definitely be considered to do this work again.
Who had the idea for the cover artwork? And who realized it?
We did some research on the Internet. We came up with 3-4 different possible covers, but we did all agree, which one to choose as front cover. We then contacted the artist, Mario Pereira, to check out the possibility of using his art, and he was positive. Since he had a lot of good artwork, we decided to use him for the booklet also, which was a good choice. We have received a lot of positive feedback on the art and his booklet-work, and the front-cover was also picked out as one of the best covers for November by Pete Alander at Bandmill Webzine (Artwork for K K Downing, Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Tarja Turunen, among others, on his CV).
Any plans to do a video clip? Which songs would you like to do a video for?
Yes, hopefully. We have one fan that will put together a video, and he has already started this work. Which song it will be is not decided 100% yet, so you'll have to wait and see. ;)
What inspires you? Which bands / artists influence(d) you?
Oh, that's a lot, and quite different. Just to name a few, and show the specter; Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, Metallica, Dimmu Borgir, Ozzy, Dio, Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend, Obituary, Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Jimi Hendrix, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Immortal, Malmsteen, Van Halen, Pantera, Arcturus, Alice In Chains to name just a few.
How was the release party? And what about live shows?
The release-party was a big success, a lot of people, more that 100 CDs sold and a lot of merchandise etc. Approx 200 people came to the show; many of them have also traveled for some hours to come to the party. We are living on a small island, and not the 'world center'. It was also minus 12 degrees this night, hehe... We want to thank everyone that showed their support, and made it to a big success!
At this moment, we have just started the gig-search. Some places have already showed their interest, and live-updates will follow on our website. It's not a big problem to get local gigs, but hopefully we will get someone outside of our 'area' as well.
Anything I should have asked? This is your chance to add something...
First of all, we want to thank you for showing interest for the band, doing this interview and making a review of the album. Keep up the good work, and don't hesitate to keep in touch for further band news or whatever it may be, always appreciated!
Of course, we also want to thank Phivos at Pitch Black Records, for believing in the band and releasing the album, and of course EVERYONE that shows support for the band!
We hope that the people out there will take some time, checking out our material at www.picturesofpain.com , hopefully give some feedback, and if you like the music – show your support and buy the CD.
And at last, thanks to YOU all for showing interest and reading this interview!
This was their first step into the spotlight and perhaps we will see them on the road soon... Anyway, keep an eye on Pictures Of Pain!
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