Steve Cefala Interviewed by Doom-metal.com

by Daniel Maarat on December 12, 2016

Occasional Death Metal Underground contributor and Dawning and Pale Existence mastermind Steve Cefala was interviewed by Doom-metal.com about his No God Only Pain project. Want to read Steve discussing his influences, the corporate metal of Bob Rock and Scott Burns, survivalism, Hillary Clinton, and how the world is moving into a new dark age of uncertainty following the collapse of neoliberalism? Let’s find out!

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No God Only Pain – Roads to Serfdom (2015)

by Staff on February 4, 2016

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DMU proudly offers a stream of No God Only Pain – Roads to Serfdom. This band fuses Motorhead-styled roadhouse heavy metal with punk and underground metal to present its justifiably paranoid view of government and corporate control of our lives. Fueled by a long underground pedigree including black-doom metal band Dawning, No God Only Pain shows metal a way out from its current morass of thinkalike “underground” and hamster-safe mainstream metal.

No God Only Pain – Roads to Serfdom (2015) – “Cannon Fodder” (5:25)

No God Only Pain – Roads to Serfdom (2015) – “Lick the Claw” (1:50)

No God Only Pain – Roads to Serfdom (2015) – “Roads to Serfdom” (7:50)

No God Only Pain – Roads to Serfdom (2015) – “Servitudo Completum” (4:10)

No God Only Pain – Roads to Serfdom (2015) – “Who Forgives God?” (3:10)

Roads to Serfdom features the heavy metal distrust of society and its machinations taken to another level: seeing how moneyed interests are pushing the ordinary citizens into dependency on corporate jobs and government, while simultaneously manipulating public opinion to avoid awareness of the impending crash. Put into the form of raucous rock ‘n roll influenced heavy metal with a strong beat and instrumental chops, No God Only Pain serves as the perfect introduction to metal for new fans or those who want metal to get back to its roots.

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With stylized artwork by German artist Ketza, Roads to Serfdom shows the new wave of self-produced DIY metal music that is abandoning an increasingly conformist and boring scene. For those who appreciate Motorhead, Danzig and the punk-infused rhythms of the NWOBHM, No God Only Pain deliver a new option and a path away from the inevitable staleness in both civilization and heavy metal.

Here’s what Metro Silicon Valley had to say about No God Only Pain:

no_god_only_pain-metrosiliconvalley

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No God Only Pain release Roads to Serfdom

by Brett Stevens on December 1, 2015

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Nocturnal doom/black metal band No God Only Pain are finalizing details on their upcoming EP Roads to Serfdom which demonstrates a transition in styles of this band toward apocalyptic roadhouse dark metal. This new style features all of the Motorhead-inspired choruses, Darkthrone-infused verses and oddball, doomy structures and atmospheres of the earlier work, but with more of a nod to early Danzig in an exploration of classic heavy metal.

An exclusive stream of one track, “Who Forgives God?,” is below:

We were fortunate to catch a few minutes with the band, who dictated the following release:

This recording is a dissonant experiment under the Barkeresque transmutational concept that “anything can be created.” There’s five songs total, hinging on the theme of how (despite its appearances) modern society is still feudal in nature. Riff wise the songs still attempt to flow as a single voice yet are purposely more diverse than on Joy of Suffering.

This recording demonstrates a singular musical concept: simple Burzumy punk tunes to some epic song progressions. The album challenges itself like a madman and aims to polarize opinion like a bad Zogby poll.

Half the recording is purposely super lo-fi with a very minimal number of microphones. Purposely using so few mics (and nothing direct ) seems ridiculous, but previous attempts at for lo-fi but discernible sound sucked for me. We acquired many pieces of gear at flea markets and pawn shops to try to capture the sound we required, and most failed, but we perservered.

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Our goal was to get a dark and grungy sound, like Transylvanian Hunger, but with bass and vocals done way more professionally (Scott Burns Obituary style) which creates irony since our bassist plays groovy and fuzzy like Blue Cheer. A large part of the point of doing the recording this way is to allow more time for the bass and vocals to experiment and color the songs more, while the guitars and drums maintain more basic driving tones. The bass is not on this recording yet.

The title track is an experiment in itself as it questions how much variety in riffs and song structure a song can have and still make sense. It attempts capture in one song the variety of genres of music in metal and juxtaposes them as a metaphor for the cornucopia of ways that society trys to exert control over the individual. There are many diverse experiences, but all roads lead to serfdom.

    Track list (not finalized)

  1. Cannon Fodder
  2. Lick the Claw
  3. Roads to Serfdom
  4. Servitudo Completum
  5. Who Forgives God?

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No God Only Pain emits patches, new direction

by Brett Stevens on November 18, 2015

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California doom/punk band No God Only Pain has published its latest round of stickers featuring artwork inspired by the Hellraiser films combined with grim realism from life experience. In addition, the band has announced that it will change direction from its fusion of black metal, doom metal, punk and classic metal to “roadhouse dark metal,” embracing all that is in feral atavistic realist rock from The Doors through Motorhead as well as its own influences.

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No God Only Pain Joy of Suffering (2015)

by Brett Stevens on June 13, 2015

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Combining rough and rowdy energetic chaos music with the type of black metal staging and melody that proved effective on the first two Gorgoroth and Burzum albums, No God Only Pain could properly be described as a black metal-influenced attempt to create an atmospheric genre out of the fusion between underground metal and a hardcore punk take on more roadhouse material like Motorhead. No God Only Pain retains the gravitas of the underground while giving it the energy and flexibility of the wider metal world, using the black metal theatrical-style song structures to introduce a mixture of speed, death, punk and heavy metal riffs.

No God Only Pain start their songs with a simple progression, usually in a minor melodic scale, and build onto it with texture of drums, bass and vocals and through the use of similar riffs in opposition, forcing the progression to mutate into different forms of the same riff. Eventually the song reaches a point of conflict, and then launches off in another direction, eventually bringing it to culmination and returning to the original theme. Riffs are noisy and simple but widely varied within their chosen styles and appropriate to each part of the song, without the randomness that 99% of metal bands seem to adore intruding; the sensibility of this album emphasizes continuity through conflict, and this comes out songs that alternate between immensely gratifying dark sounds and energetic droning counter-themes.

It sells short Joy of Suffering to refer to it as black metal, as it is more like a thematically-nuanced form of doom metal sped up to Motorhead speeds with the aggression of GBH. Each song has a powerful melodic hook and yet never shirks on the sawing high-intensity riffs, which propel the song forward so that it may continue to be both simple and variegated. Bonus cover of the Ramones “Pet Semetary” shows this style applied to familiar pop-punk and in the process making it more vicious. As metal searches for new outlets, this style may help grease the wheels by escaping expectations and unleashing a wider metal style to absorb the cult and hard-rocking impulses alike, forcing them to forge a voice worthy of the darkness in metal.

http://nogodonlypain.bandcamp.com/releases

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No God Only Pain rants about how terrible the scene is

by Staff on June 13, 2015

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Surprising us earlier this year with a promising album full of content and imagination that promises to yield even greater results in the future, No God Only Pain rants about how terrible the scene is:

We are actively seeking shows. If you have a backyard we can perform at or a bar we can play with your band please contact us. We have been active for 3 months and have supported many other local acts by going to their shows etc . Scratching our heads why we are having trouble finding a show to play. Seems like the same bands and the same lineups appear week after week here in the bay area like a bad re-run of Three’s Company

https://www.facebook.com/nogodonlypain?fref=ts

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No God Only Pain releases music video

by David Rosales on May 19, 2015

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No God Only Pain has just released a music video for their new album’s title track, Joy of Suffering. No God Only pain play a brand of primitive black metal with heavy Oi! component which brings to mind early absurd at moments but distinguishes itself with more dynamic songwriting. Atmospheric and at the same time driving, this music maintains coherence and stylistic consistence while never stagnating, an improvement over past approaches to this particular musical blend. While still having loose ends, this music shows a lot of promise.

No God Only Pain contact:

https://www.facebook.com/nogodonlypain?fref=ts

http://nogodonlypain.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AClnNyXudAE

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Cenobite mythos black metal band No God Only Pain prepares to unleash Joy of Suffering

by Brett Stevens on April 4, 2015

no_god_only_pain_-_joy_of_suffering

Inspired by the mythos created by Clive Barker in his Hellraiser movies, Northern California black metal band No God Only Pain have recorded an EP of Cenobite-hailing songs to see release this May. Composed of experienced musicians with wide backgrounds in metal, No God Only Pain attempts to add more of an emotional component to a black metal scene which has either stumbled into indie-emo “emotion” or relapsed into naked mole rat style constant aggressive grating noise.

The two leaked tracks, “Human Stagnation” and “Joy of Suffering,” reflect a dark worldview translated into the metaphor of the Cenobites, metaphysical entities who exist to torment weak-souled humans who are foolish enough to open an innocent-looking puzzle box named the Lament Configuration. Recent polls indicate that if the Cenobites were running in 2016, at least 65% of Republicans and 45% of Democrats would vote for them. No God Only Pain have played one show in their native San Jose but look to branch out into new areas and are seeking a label to release future recordings.

No God On Pain’s music can be described as atmospheric black metal of a primitive nature, such that its moods emerge from abrasive primal riffing instead of the finer textures of sounds which explicitly resemble atmospheres. Instead, dark sensations emerge from grinding simple riffs and the elemental conflicts they unleash.

Members
John Dough – Guitars
Tromme Slager – Drums
Vier Saiten – Bass/Vocals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMDkmk5r1Cc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lY-1FznY7A

For more information, stay in touch with No God Only Pain using its Facebook page:

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