Death Angel and Armored SaintSupport slot
12 March @ The Forum Sydney!

March 12th, 2008

Paindivision" hit the stage next week in Sydney with Death Angel and Armored Saint. The show will be the farewell performance for singer Jordan Howe. The band has been busy auditioning over Jan/Feb and has been overwhelmed with the number of candidates for the position. Coming up,

Paindivision will be part of a huge line up in Sydney on Saturday May the 2nd, Featuring Vanishing Point, Paindivision and Argument Soul touring from Japan - This bill will be rounded out by Brisbane metal band Sedition and local acts Dred and Inslain. Tickets through moshtix soon - details as they come to hand. Regional dates are being confirmed now for mid to late 09.

New look Paindivision

January 12th, 2009

The last six months have been some of the busiest and toughest times for the band with recording and releasing "One Path". These stresses have ended in some members departing the group to pursue other interests and have also introduced new members joining the fold, ready to kick ass in 09.

We would like to announce the addition of two new members who bring a powerful, focused energy to the band and in early rehearsals everything is sounding great.

Mark Hobson ( Lead Guitar),
Mark’s history involves at one time, being Stu’s guitar student and playing in various metal acts. Mark takes on the dual shredding role along side Stu. Marks style is a very powerful free flowing sound that works very well against Stu’s.

Comments from Mark:-
"Joining Paindivision has presented an amazing opportunity to work with the best and hardest working musicians in the business, the band as a collective is now stronger ,hungrier and the monster created is charging forward. It's only a matter of time before this monster grows with the hard work that's being put in. With this animal, It's a very easy thing to say - Bring it!"

Peter Hunt (Drums) - Ex-Dragonforce / Marshall Law.
Pete’s history includes 20+ years of pounding metal across Europe, touring with numerous bands, his explosive style is a perfect fit for the band. Pete has been a breath of fresh air to the band and with an international tour looming for mid 09, we can't wait for people to see his talents.

Comments from Pete:-
"I am thrilled to be a part of this machine known as Paindivision, I am excited for what lies ahead. The bands sound of hard rock rawness, dipped and drenched in metal really provides me with a perfect sound scape to lay down some brutal and crushing drumming. The guys in the band are very focused and the talent and experience which exists in this outfit is pretty amazing to say the least. I can't wait to meet the bands present and future fans out on the road where it all happens. Bring on '09!"
 
With these changes we announce the departure of Joe Rahme and Jordan Howe. Both Joe and Jordan have contributed a great deal to the sound of Paindivision over the last few years and move is seen clearly as a mutual one by all sides. We wish them the very best. Bass player Dan Quinlan will complete vocal duties for the immediate future. Paindivision is currently auditioning singers throughout the month of January and we are all excited about this new chapter.

Regional touring dates will be announced soon.

"One Path" currently available in Australia nationally through RIOT! at all JB' Hi-fi stores and is scheduled for release in Japan through Soundholic records on Feb 25. Visit www.myspace.com/paindivision for all news and information.

Paindivision sign Japanese record deal with Soundholic records!

November 24th, 2008

PAINDIVISION are proud to announce signing a deal with "Soundholic" records in Japan.

Alongside label mates such as Hatesphere and Soilwork, Soundholic have built a reputation as one of the most respected metal labels in Japan.

From the band "We are very happy to be releasing through such a well respected company like Soundholic. The Japanese metal fans have shown strong support for the band on our 2007 tour and the current plan is to head back to Japan in support of the new album in 2009."

Soundholic will release the Japanese version of the album with a special bonus track. The featured track will be "Like Hell" a cover of Japanese metal legends "Loudness" . From Stu (guitarist) - "I have always been a big fan of the guitarist from Loudness "Akira Takasashi", he's one of the most underrated guitar players and has influenced and entire generation of players. In Japan he's a god, so this was a test from a players perspective for me and we had a great time recording it. We performed the song live on our final show at Takamatsu in 2007 and it seemed the perfect choice for the new record."

"One Path" was recently released in Australia by Riot Entertainment in October this year. The album has received critical acclaim from reviewers while scoring 8 out of 10 from two of Australia's most respected metal review sites. "One Path" signals a return to high powered shred metal while remaining true to the classic metal roots of WASP, Motorhead and Black Sabbath.

The release is scheduled in Japan for Feb 2009. Check www.paindivision.com for all new song samples and news.

September 27th, 2008

Paindivision - One Path

The story so far.....

Hey guys, I thought it might be an idea to put some info together on how this album came about. Hope you find it an interesting read.

Mid to late 2007 found us releasing our debut cd. That album was a learning curve for the whole band, as I mentioned in the debut liner notes. When you produce yourself it's a very challenging thing to do. We chose to produce ourselves purely out of budget issues or lack thereof. Many metal fans may not know but some bands pay upwards of $30000 in order to record an album. The luxury this offers the band is that they can "be the band" without the burden of dealing with the mammoth task of producing, mixing and mastering. Self producing requires the ability to not just be the band but manage, delegate, produce, mix, master and be the marketing consultant as well. The upside to this is that there is no one to tell you what or how to do it. You have complete control over the final product as a band. There's immense long hours involved, tonnes of stress and realising a single mistake that has taken 12 hours to fix, could have been resolved by a simple replacement of a microphone on a snare. These are some of the lessons. hard ones, but rewarding in the end.

After the August 2007 release of the debut, we had a minor line-up change and hit a Japanese tour which was completely insane. I had the pleasure of touring there a few times before and warned the guys it was going to be a tour to test the liver and the drinking ability, and it was, but more importantly, it exposed the band to the culture of the Japanese, something that has fascinated me since I was a kid. We were able to understand the significance of their warrior past and how it still influences many aspects of Japanese life and business. Though our various drinking sessions we were thinking on ideas for the second album and what we wanted it to be. Originally we planned for release in 2009 but started writing tunes while on tour and had a lot of songs to a point where we almost played them on that tour. We tend to work very fast.

How we did it:- A major difference on this album from the debut was a full band collaboration. There's a few songs on here with everyone's input where the first album was a collection of mostly older tunes I had. Joe had not previously written songs for Paindivision but had some great riffing ideas that were transformed into "Flames of the reaper".

We were also reviewing some of the issues and problems we had recording the debut and were pretty keen not to make the same mistakes. The main problem we found from experience was recording live drums in more than one location. Our hand was forced in that decision but we had to deal with that. Thankfully we found a great place to track drums and get the sound we needed. We chose Release studio's on Joe's suggestion and the venue was perfect for what we were looking for. Dan Quinlan who engineered and produced the first cd, (who is now our bass player) had some specific miking configs in mind and really brought the sound we were looking for.

For this album we used live drums again, unlike many bands that use drum triggers (electronically triggered drum samples), I personally put Joey up there with a player like Nicko Mc Brain from Iron Maiden, although Joe is very modest, it's tough to get the real sound of ghost notes on a snare with an electronic kit, and triggers can be unreliable. So, this gives us a very different sound to many metal bands, good or bad the decision is yours.

Personally my favourite albums are the ones that have mistakes, real bands playing, real kits and real performing. We can do the same, it just takes a little more time and effort. We are not anti trigger by any stretch and might use them in the future but this approach of using live drums was the right thing this time.

By stark contrast we used some software called "Guitar rig" almost everywhere on the cd. It's important to note that software alone will NOT do the job, it's how you use and tweak it that makes the difference. I spent a lot of hours tweaking the amps to my personal taste and we all think they sound pretty good. We also experimented with Re-amping the guitar signal which was another great way to test a bunch of amps and integrate them into the tone.

All bass guitar was recorded using the Ampeg SVX software. It's here I need to do a short thanks to an old friend "Lord Tim". (LT) showed me a lot of the pc based recording stuff and how it was possible to produce at home. He produced everything that Dungeon did and that stuff was competing along side Million dollar production values worldwide.

We used Cakewalk Sonar producer version 7 on the PC. A lot of people bang on about the preferential use of Macs V PC, personally I don't care. If it gets the job done it's good by me. So yeah, no big consoles on this one either. Mastering was done on Steinberg wavelab using T-racks mastering software and PSP vintage warmer software. There's no endorsement for these,they just work.

The editing, mixing and mastering was completed by myself and Dan Quinlan who since joining has gone well above the call of duty. Dan has worked with Deicide and Dissection on their tours out here and is the techie when it comes to engineering and sound. I am just the punk.

The Team:- We have a dedicated team working with us in the background to make it all happen. "Jasix" our web guy is also a godsend with getting everything done that is web based and promo orientated.

Our graphic designer kept making me sick with his brutality in designing the cd and booklet and, after we delivered some basic concepts, what you see is really his work. We asked for blood , bone and filth and we got it. As always we were pretty impressed with what Salty did and image wise, he surpassed our expectations. It's brutal and simple. I'll say he's the best around, if you need work done for your band, I'd be checking him out.

The approach:- We all agreed that this album had to be heavier. We found the band live was a lot heavier than what was represented on the debut. The live sound was far more brutal and aggressive, so that was the start of developing the heavier tones. The new aggression that we found was fueled by thinking about playing the songs live, creating a PIT with the crowd and thrashing out.

There are some slower tracks on the cd though. Wasting Life is one of Jordo's tunes he had with his previous band "Beware of the dog". He brought it in and we did our thing with it. The song has a real "Sabbath" feel to it and as a band we liked it. The other thing is the Japanese fans were always asking me for more shredding and solo's. My main influences are from the 80's shred period with bands like Racer X and Cacophony so I had that in mind too. The issue now is replicating it live...but hey, why not!. We tried to be creative and pour all of our energy into doing what we want and not get caught up in how other bands sound and trends, I just don't give a shit about what the guys next door are doing.

We drink, we play, we turn it up, there it is.

Our Aussie Label:- Riot Entertainment have been long friends for a while and have really supported the band, more than anyone I have dealt with. It's people like this that make it possible for us to get out there and be heard. We are lucky to be involved with them.

In closing:- Also we try and connect with people that like what we do ("fans" - I feel weird using that word). If you have a question or like what we do, drop us a line. we always respond to email and want to know what part of the world your from. To know that someone across the world likes what you do is pretty cool for any band, let alone a bunch of metal heads from Australia. Our hope is to get over to the US and Europe in support of the album.

If you like the stuff, ask for it at your local store - They can easily obtain it worldwide from our label Riot Entertainment

One Path is about to hit the stores!

September 16th, 2008

The new studio album One Path.
Pre order now and get a free poster!

Available at JB Hi-Fi, Sanity Records, Utopia Records Sydney and Crazy Horse Records Brisbane.

International fans special.

One Path CD + Poster + Shipping = $25US

Paindivision Debut CD + One Path CD + Poster + shipping = $40US

International fans click here to order

Wanna be a Paindivision Zombie?

September 15th, 2008

Hey Painheads!

Paindivision are filming the new clip for 'Flames of the Reaper' this weekend. We are looking for extras to be zombies for the video shoot.

Where?
Shop 13 / 19 Graham Hill Rd
Smeaton Grange, NSW
:- 5 minutes from Campbelltown

When?
Sunday 21st September
8.30am SHARP!

***RSVP to rangott@hotmail.com *** (or you can't be in it)

Be first to get the new CD direct from the band on the day BEFORE the national release!

If you are late you will miss out!

Jasix - Team Pain

Paindivision - Unleash new album art and studio report.

August 19th, 2008

Paindivision are set to tear the world apart with their second album “One Path”

“This time we have really infused a lot of our influences like Motorhead and WASP meets RACER X, again with our own brand and power. We have just finished tracking the album with mixing to start this weekend. With the writing process we have had more time as a band and also focus on more shredding from Stu.”
Production is again handled by Dan Quinlan who has worked with Deicide, Suffocation and Dismember on the recent tours to Australia.

Paindivision will be adding a full song for download very soon on the bands myspace (www.myspace.com/paindivision) and even now, there are two full tracks from the debut album available for complete download.

The band’s impressive debut album drew critical acclaim worldwide, with strong, well crafted songs evoking metal’s glory days of Priest, Maiden and Motorhead. Following their debut release, the band completed an international tour, conquering the highly prized Japanese market with nine massive shows..

“One Path” is an album that truly delivers a return to uncompromising heavy metal – huge guitars, hurricane drumming, and vocals from hell.....

With tracks such as ‘The Gates of Ashen Wake’ and ‘Flames of the Reaper’ the band proves it’s not afraid to pay tribute to the past while injecting a sophisticated, contemporary aggression into each cut. Strong melodies, razor-sharp shredding and a crisp production have crafted One Path into one of the stand-out albums this year.

The new album cover needed to represent the sharper brutality the band are delivering.
Handled by Andrew Saltmarsh, the cover invokes what is to come....
Larger sized images of the new album and promo posters can be found by clicking on the images below


In current production is a two-hour DVD “Beyond the pain - Live in Japan”. Created by film-maker Stephen Rangott, the DVD will includes the highlights of the Japanese tour, an in-depth studio documentary on the recording of the album, the history so far, Guitar instructional footage from Stu Marshall (Guitarist Australia Magazine) and an extended picture gallery. Release information on the DVD is forthcoming.

For more news, updates and song downloads check out www.myspace.com/paindivision

Studio Update!

July 24th, 2008

Hey Guys.

Just checking in.
Last Sunday found Joey completing drums for the new album. Just a super human effort and we are dying to hear everything mixed in. Joe has a killer ability to mix in some insane Latin stuff with some brutal driving heavy metal. We were all pretty floored by what he brought on the day, itchin for you to hear it.

This week is guitar tracking, with vocals and guitar re-amping next week.
So far we have nine amps available for the recording and the new Randall MTS Valve modules will be heavily used. I am really lucky to have the brand new Kirk Hammet KH modules, which will be be featured on the cd, they are the first ones in the country (I have been told) and sound fuckin' awesome!

D Day for completion is set for August 20, you'll find a full download of one of the songs here, first. Thanks for the feedback from everyone, we promise the new one is gonna hurt!

Oh yeah, check back next week for the new album cover for "One Path"- dripping in blood....

In the Studio!

May 26th, 2008

"We are off to start writing the new album. So far, a bunch of material was collected from the recent Japanese tour and looks like the new album will be much more brutal and heavy than our debut. The first album was put together from single ideas instead of using a band approach, and this is definitely the focus for the next cd. The aim for now is to hit the recording studio by June / July this year. Thanks to the great support of everyone with sales of the debut cd, there are only limited supplies of the last pressing at JB hi fi and Utopia, once these are gone - they are gone. We can't wait to preview the new material to you guys - it's gonna be heavy!

Ray Martens (Keys) - Departs Paindivision

May 25th, 2008

The latest update for the band shows the departure of keyboard player Ray Martens. Ray cites "Time and commitments" for his decision to move on from the group. The schedule since returning from Japan has been a very busy one and now the writing process for the new album has increased the time involved yet again. The bands heavier and more brutal sound will bring a new dual guitar attack and there are more announcements of this over the coming months.

We wish Ray all the best and his hard work and dedication to the band over the years is appreciated.

Team Pain!

Paindivision Support Helloween

February 28th, 2008

Paindivision support legendary German Metalsters Helloween! Thursday 28th February at the Metro in Sydney. Also on the same stage is our Melbourne mates Black Majesty. Show starts 8pm.

See you there!

Line up - Stu, Jordo, Ray, Joe and Dan

Pain Across Japan Tour

November 16th to 25th, 2007

Paindivision embark on a 2 week tour of Japan.

Line up - Stu, Jordo, Ray, Joe and Dan

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Welcome Big Dan Quinlan

November 5th, 2007

Paindivision would like to announce that the new bass player for the band is "Dan Quinlan". "We are really pleased to have Dan on board for the Japanese tour and rehearsals are going well". Dan will be performing at this weeks upcoming shows prior to the tour. We would like to wish Shayne all the best for the future.

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Debut Self Titled Album released

August 20th, 2007

The critics say about this hard hitting Debut album

This release is thrashy and catchy. The rock is rockin’, Guitarist and band founder Stu Marshall brings his brilliant work to this band,
(Fasterlouder.com.au)

Paindivision deserve to be ranked amongst the best the country has to offer. Whilst PainDivision are around, Heavy Metal lives! The riffing of 'Unchain Me' channels Motorhead and the gruff vocals and BLS-inspired riffs of 'Devil Preacher' all prove to be winners.
(Pyromusic.net)

I never expected anything less then the killer tunes chosen to make this debut album one of the best Australian metal albums of the year!.
(insideout666 metalzine!)

Welcome to the Show 3:23
Evilize 4:06
Unchain Me 3:26
Everyman 3:29
Anything we Want 3:06
Devil Preacher 3:58
Indian Sun 5:21
Faces of Death
Northam Grove (Instrumental) 2:51
Ace of Spades (Motorhead Cover) 2:42

Paindivision play Bar Broadway

August 18th, 2007

Paindivision play Bar Broadway to launch their new self titled debut album. Special guests for the night will include our good friends INK.

Line up - Stu, Jordo, Ray, Shayne and Joe

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4Play EP released

August 13th, 2006

Paindivision release the EP 4 Play.

Welcome to the Show 3:23
Evilize 4:06
Devil Preacher 3:58
Ace of Spades (Motorhead Cover) 2:42

Paindivision supports Zakk Wylde's Black label Society

September 26th, 2007

Paindivision support Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society at the Enmore Theatre

Line up - Stu, Jordo, Ray, Shayne and Joe

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20 Grams changes name to Paindivision

September 19th, 2007

The band has gone through changes in sound and more aggressive attitude to playing. Previously the band was called "20Grams" but with a much heavier singer in "Jordan" adding his sound. Welcome aboard Jordo and good luck to our departing singer Big Mark Probin. We wish Mark all the best in the future.

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20 Grams supports Sebastian Bach

September 14th, 2007

20Grams support Sebastian Bach (The voice of Skid Row) at Selina's Sydney - Coogee Bay Hotel.

Line up Stu, Mark, Ray, Shayne and Joe.

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20 Grams Rocks the Bull & Bush

May 20th, 2006