Introducing: SAME PAINS

Australian band SAME PAINS are on a mission to put their territory back on the map with a vicious metal sound filled with belligerent riffs and discordant vocals that they describe as “personal, anguished, Musashi.”

The quintet hails from North Queensland, formed of a collective of stalwart musicians from across the region. They grew up in the Mackay and Townsville regions (south of Cairns) and have known and played music alongside each other for years. But around 2020/2021, they decided it was time to start writing together, between Magic: The Gathering commander nights at home.

On the sound they’ve crafted since, vocalist Justin told us: “We sound like refined garbage. That sometimes likes to feel pretty and other times gets angry and talks too much about how garbage feels inside. Empty and whole all at once.”

Our latest taste of this is terminal, which was released yesterday. It opens up with a menacing spinning sound that drops into lively guitars and drums under vicious screamed vocals. A cry of “fuck it” drops into crushing guitar chords and wild sounds as the intense vocals continue. That ends with a beautifully positioned “bleugh” ushering in big, low-tuned guitars, then piercing guitars under vicious screams, before the heaviness ramps up again. The intensity increases with fast-paced stabbing guitars and drums, before the pace suddenly drops, then blasts into big drawn-out guitars ending with little heavy flurries. That ends with a wild scream and guitar noises before ending with slightly creepy synth sounds.

Ahead of its release, Justin said: “Super excited. This, to us, is an extension of our aggression. Extremely fun to play, the song just rips from the go. It makes me want to platform 9 and 3/4’s a Lime scooter at full speed.” Check it out in the video below, and check out the comments for some amusing tales of Justin’s random acts of kindness.

terminal follows on from SAME PAINS’ debut album closure – an aggregate, which was released in October. It’s packed with more of the same aggressive metal goodness, including the vicious opening track candle memory, the superb lockjaw, a personal favourite blur, which opens up with a delicious diving riff, more filthy riffing on nausea OD, the seriously dark unsew, and the surprisingly melodic penultimate track kin of death.

The SAME PAINS sound draws on a long list of metal bands, including the likes of Underoath, Sworn In, Counterparts, Kingmaker, Yuth Forever, Norma Jean, Dillinger Escape Plan, The Chariot and, according to the band, “the OG” IceJJFish.

And on what inspires them to write music, Justin explained: “We all have our own very distinctive influences and love for music. Generally based on bands from the 2000’s and 2010’s in our formative years as musicians. For us it’s the drive in creating something that gives a sense of relativity and community. To hopefully spark influence in others, especially the generation below us, to follow their passions. Thematically, it’s self-deprecating and angry alongside naked emotion with a saddened poetic nuance.”

Having travelled around Australia a couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to spend a bit of time in Cairns and further north in Darwin. So we asked the band about the music scene in their local area. “We take great pride in where we are from, and we love doing all we can to represent our roots,” they told us. “Currently, it feels like things are getting back to a healthy place regionally, and we were lucky enough to run a few AA shows to cap out 2025, which, to us, meant the world. To see what’s coming in the near future from our own backyard, we will do our best to show off what NQLD has to offer and support those coming through. To us, it is more than just music in that sense, it’s humidity, it’s sweat, it’s tears, it’s XXXX Gold, it’s Qwwwwuueeeennssslannddaaaaaaaaa!”

There’s plenty more to come from SAME PAINS, including more new music in the next few months and doing their best to tour as much as possible throughout this year. And they have plans to record more new music towards the end of the year.

And Justin added: “Pop out and see us, there are always extra seats on the PAIN TRAIN. That hurt me to write that, chugga chugga. We outside. Come have a yarn.”

You can follow SAME PAINS on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, get their merch, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.