Merel Bechtold’s (Dear Mother, MaYaN, ex-Delain) melodic death metal band Purest Of Pains is calling it quits. The band broke the news through their social media earlier today.
“After a long silence we would like to officially announce that Purest of Pain won’t continue. It was an incredible journey where we were able to do so many amazing things and created stories for a lifetime. We have grown into different directions and decided to close this chapter,” announced the band today.
Lead guitarist and songwriter Merel Bechtold formed the band in 2008. Throughout their career, Purest Of Pain shared the stage with bands such as Suicide Silence, Unearth, Cattle Decapitation, Delain and others. In 2014, the band won the Dutch Wacken Metal Battle and was rewarded by playing on the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.
“When I was 16 years old I jammed in a local rehearsal studio with Purest of Pain every Sunday. Before it was a studio, they grew pod, it was that kind of place. Every week local metal kids came hang with us in the studio. Mosh pits for a lifetime. This was also the ‘venue’ where we played the first gig, literally a 2×2 stage. We sucked, it was chaos, but still one of the most memorable shows I’ve ever played. I mean we had crowdsurfers, moshpits and wall of deaths. I knew from the start that this is was my calling,” she recalls the beginnings of the band.
Together with the help of their fans, Purest Of Pain managed to release their debut album “Solipsis” in March 2018. “I literally grew up with this band and it gave me stories for a lifetime, good and bad ones (but mostly epic). It was a massive push, but we were able to release the album ‘Solipsis’,” comments Merel. “Something we worked towards to for a long, long time. We will never forget the support we received from the Indiegogo backers. It was amazing!”
All of the Purest Of Pain members are working on their own projects; Merel, drummer Joey de Boer (Delain) and bass player Frank van Leeuwenon on their new modern metal band Dear Mother influenced by artists such as Fit For A King, Dayshell, Architects, Bring Me The Horizon, PVRIS etc. The band has already finished recording their debut album. More details to be announced.
Metal Goddesses 