TÄGTGREN is honest about the process: it’s not just him anymore, and there are more hands in the mix than there used to be. Still, the new material is shaping up strong.
Some of these singles might end up on a future PAIN album, some might stay as one-offs. Each track stands apart from the last, and that variety is something he leans into, not away from.
His writing is instinctive — he grabs onto whatever rhythm or melody catches his ear, metal or not, and bends it until it fits the PAIN shape.
For “I Don’t Give a Fukk,” the idea hit TÄGTGREN all at once — straight after watching the news, stepping into the shower, the phrase already loaded with frustration. The verses were the hardest part. Rapped or spoken delivery isn’t his comfort zone, and it forced him to cut the language sharper than usual. He wanted a guest for those lines, but when that didn’t happen, he did it himself. The video plays it up, making it look like he got pushed into the role.
SEBASTIAN TÄGTGREN co-wrote the track, keeping the father-son partnership that already drove “Revolution” and “Don’t Wake the Dead” on “I Am.”
Lyrically, this is PAIN at their most direct: calling out political theater, manipulation, and the endless static of clashing realities. It’s not an argument. It’s a refusal to play along.
PAIN has been running close to thirty years now.
It started as TÄGTGREN’s space for everything that didn’t fit inside HYPOCRISY, the death metal band that put his name on the map in the mid-90s.
The 1997 debut was a one-man studio project, and that sense of freedom — no boundaries, no rules — has stayed at the core, even as the live lineup grew to include SEBASTIAN TÄGTGREN on drums, JONATHAN OLSSON on bass, and SEBASTIAN SVALLAND on guitar.
“Nothing Remains the Same” (2002) and “Dancing with the Dead” (2005) set the template: industrial metal that hits hard but sticks in your head.
“Dancing with the Dead” came after TÄGTGREN’s heart stopped for two minutes.
Later records brought in outside names: MIKKEY DEE from MOTÖRHEAD, ALEXI LAIHO from CHILDREN OF BODOM, PETER IWERS from IN FLAMES, ANETTE OLZON from NIGHTWISH.
TÄGTGREN’s reach goes further than PAIN and HYPOCRISY.
Through ABYSS STUDIO, he’s become one of the most in-demand producers in European metal, with credits on records by DIMMU BORGIR, IMMORTAL, AMON AMARTH, AMORPHIS, DARK FUNERAL, SABATON, and CELTIC FROST. He also spent time writing and performing in LINDEMANN, TILL LINDEMANN’s project, before stepping away in 2020.
“Party in My Head” (2021) turned into one of PAIN’s biggest tracks, even overtaking “Shut Your Mouth” in streaming numbers. That momentum carried straight into “I Am,” the ninth PAIN album, released in 2024 on NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS.
[VIDEO:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOCImoC_33E]
## PAIN
PETER TÄGTGREN – Vocals, Guitar
SEBASTIAN TÄGTGREN – Drums
JONATHAN OLSSON – Bass
SEBASTIAN SVALLAND – Guitar