Pain Magazine is the result of a collaboration that ends up being far more than the sum of its not insignificant parts. Existing in an electrifying place where post-hardcore favourites Birds In Row – which includes singer-songwriter Quentin Sauvé – meet with industrial techno duo Maelstrom and Louisahhh, Pain Magazine is an uncompromising prospect. Perhaps they’re not yet on your radar, but their ability for self-propulsion and seemingly indefatigable appetite for performing live means they soon will be.
Their debut album, Violent God, arrived last month and melds the two disparate yet highly compatible sonic palettes of the participating entities. With no party a stranger to angular, abrasive missives, they make room for melody to seep in too – particularly in keeping with Quentin Sauvé’s solo output. Whilst these passages allow light and air to enter, don’t be fooled into thinking that Pain Magazine are operating at anything other than full throttle.
Consider us excited at the prospect of welcoming Pain Magazine to Roadburn. Birds In Row will already be familiar to many in the Roadburn community, but this foray into new territories is an exhilarating one – and perfectly in keeping with the festival’s curation.
– Becky Laverty
