Radio Metal has issued an interview with PAIN/HYPOCRISY frontman Peter Tägtgren. The following is an excerpt:

Q: When I was preparing this interview, I saw a flyer dating back to the Cynic Paradise era on Pain’s MySpace. The flyer mentioned Pain as “the band led by Hypocrisy mastermind Peter Tägtgren”. After all these years, is it really useful to remind people that you’re also behind Hypocrisy? Is Pain not known for itself?

A: "I know! I guess the people who print this stuff are on autopilot, or something like that. Pain is its own thing, now. We grew up to reach the same status as Hypocrisy. It’s hard that they always put that in, or the “mastermind” thing. Whatever, it’s a band! It’s Pain! That’s what’s more important."

Q: You Only Live Twice contains some of Pain’s heaviest, hardest songs so far – I’m thinking notably of 'Let Me Out' and 'Monster'. Why did you take this direction? Did you have the feeling that Cynic Paradise was perhaps too soft?

A: "I don’t know… When I was writing this album, I was just thinking that I really wanted to do a couple of fast songs. Mainly, when I started writing, I didn’t write so much on the keyboards. I started writing music for Pain with a guitar. So I guess the album automatically became a little heavier. And with David playing drums on it, and with real bass, everything became more organic. I don’t know if it will sound that way to the audience, but I’m very happy with it. And it’s cool to shock people. When the first song comes on, you go like: 'Uh? What the hell is this?'!”

Q: Did the title and the song with the same name come to you by chance, or are you a James Bond fan?!

A: "I am a James Bond fan, but the title has nothing to do with it. It was our management, half a year ago, that said: 'Hey, let’s call it that!' And I’m like: 'Are you crazy?' They thought it was cool, but I didn’t. But I started thinking about it, and then I wrote lyrics for this song, and I thought there was more to it than was it said. So then I was like: 'Yeah, maybe we’ll keep it…' But it’s just a title. For me, covers and titles don’t mean much. The main thing is the music; that’s what I really care about."

Q: In December, you appealed to the fans on your official forum to helpyou decide which song to play or not to play during the upcoming tour. Whydid you do that? Are you afraid the people who come to your shows might get tired of hearing the same old songs – pun intended?

A: (laughs) "No, it’s more that people pay money to come and see the show, so they should be able to get what they want, instead of what we think people want. That’s mainly why we’re out on stage: we’re playing for people. I think it’s good to have a good relationship with the people who are going to pay 20 euros, or whatever it costs to come and see the show, and to get the songs that they really want."

Read the full interview at this location.

Pain have announced the bonus content for the two-disc version of You Only Live Twice, due out June 3rd in Europe and on June 21st in North America via Nuclear Blast.

You Only Live Twice bonus CD:

'Crawling Thru Bitterness' (unreleased bonus track)

'The Great Pretender' (Millboy & Peka P Remix)

'Dirty Woman' (MC Raaka Pee Remix)

'You Only Live Twice' (Rectifier Remix)

'Leave Me Alone' (Rectifier Remix)

'Eleanor Rigby' (Live at Sundown Festival, 2008)

'Follow Me' (Live in Brussels, 2009)

'I Don’t Care' (Live at Raimsmes Festival, 2009)

'Bitch' (Live at Raismes Festival, 2009)

You Only Live Twice tracklisting:

'Let Me Out'

'Feed The Demons'

'The Great Pretender'

'You Only Live Twice'

'Dirty Woman'

'We Want More'

'Leave Me Alone'

'Monster'

'Season Of The Reaper'

Pain recently released their new video for the track 'Dirty Woman'. Watch the video below:

Pain recently announced more dates for their upcoming European tour in support of the new album. Check out their itinerary below:

May

27 - P!pl Club - Moscow, Russia
28 - Glav Club - St Petersburg, Russia

June

19 - Myötätuulirock - Vantaa, Finland
25 - Graspop Metal Meeting - Dessel, Belgium

October

5 - Markthalle - Hamburg, Germany
6 - Lido - Berlin, Germany
7 - Hellraiser - Leipzig, Germany
8 - Masters of Rock Café - Zlin, Czech Republic
11 - Backstage - Munich, Germany
12 - Dynamo - Zürich, Switzerland
13 - Bloom - Mezzago, Italy
14 - New Age - Roncade, Italy
15 - UFO Club - Brunico, Italy
16 - Rockfabrik - Ludwigsburg, Germany
18 - La Laiterie - Strasbourg, France
19 - Colos-Saal - Aschaffenburg, Germany
20 - Underground - Köln, Germany
21 - Helling - Utrecht, Netherlands
22 - Trix - Antwerpen, Belgium
23 - Nor - Heerlen, Netherlands
25 - Divan du Monde - Paris, France
26 - Ninkasi Kao - Lyon, France
27 - Le Phare Club - Toulouse, France
28 - Salamandra 1 - Barcelona, Spain
29 - Sala Stereo - Murcia, Spain
30 - Caracol - Madrid, Spain

November

1 - Hard Club - Porto, Portugal
2 - Cine Teatro Corroios - Lisboa, Portugal

Check out BW&BK; scribe Mark Gromen's new Pain story, Hurts So Good: Helsinki Listening Session, at this location.