70000tons of Metal 2025 Artist Spotlight: Painful

Countdown to 2026: 37 Days

SOOOOOOON, a word 70000tons of Metal cruisers know all too well, love it or hate it. 70000tons of Metal, The Original, The World’s Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise, returns for its 2026 edition from January 29 – February 2, 2026, setting sail from Miami, Florida to Nassau, The Bahamas aboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. For booking and full details are available on the official website. Read our essential packing guide here. Check out the testimonials from several 2025 artists at this location.

70000tons 2025 Round 13: ARTIST 32 of 61 Painful

Stats

2025 Voyage:

Dates: January 30 – February 3, 2025
Destination: Miami to Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Ship: Independence of the Seas

Artist Spotlight

Band: Painful
Number of 70000tons Appearances: 2 (2016, 2025)
Set 1: January 31, 2025 – Studio B – Ice Rink – 1:00 pm
Set 2: February 2, 2025 – Star Lounge – 11:45 pm
Attended: Set 1 – Yes, Set 2 – No
Country: Germany
Genre: Black/Death Metal
Latest Album: Nefarious Monarchy (2024)
Standout Moment(s):
With only a small handful of black metal bands, an even smaller black/death selection, Germany’s Painful became a must-see. Unfortunately, out of all 61 bands that performed (and all 61 we managed to cover at least once), Painful had the worst luck. And this goes beyond the dreaded 5:00 AM set times. Covering every band is never easy, let alone catching both sets. The Star Lounge is notoriously difficult to shoot, but if we need to squeeze in a band or two, we make it happen. However, Painful’s Star Lounge set landed on the very last evening, directly during Sepultura’s final performance and just before the Skipper’s announcement. By that point, cameras were down, and making it across the ship was nearly impossible. I did manage to see their first set two days earlier in the Ice Rink at 1 PM with no conflicts. I’m not sure what happened, but the house lights were on, and the stage lights were off for the entire portion of the set I was able to catch. Whether the problem was fixed afterward, I don’t know, but it was disappointing to see. Despite the lighting issues, the band’s attitude and energy never wavered. Painful delivered an impressive and powerful performance for those who showed up early, proving that lights or no lights, they were there to make an impact. This band deserves another shot at the cruise, with better set times, and they’re absolutely worth checking out.

Painful – Set 1

Latest Painful News

Painful celebrated their twentieth anniversary this year with a run of special shows and the release of their music video for “United In Blood,” featuring Alexander Krull. By November, the band had officially wrapped their anniversary performances, and just a few weeks later, they began looking ahead to 2026. Their first show of the new year is already booked for January 24, 2026, with more announcements expected to follow.

What is the Artist Spotlight?

Well, it’s more than a review of their performance; as 70000tons goes, each band is a headliner, and we treat each one as such, giving them their own spread, discussing who they are and what they’ve been up to since the cruise. Each spotlight coincides with any updates from 70000tons organizers (if any), leading to days before setting sail. An extensive coverage like no other.

70000tons 2026 Lineup 51 out of 60:

Amorphis
Anthrax
Arkona
Beast in Black
Bloodred Hourglass
Cemetery Skyline
Darkane
Dark Tranquillity
Dødheimsgard
Dragonland
Dust Bolt
Eluveitie
Ereb Altor
Firewind
Gama Bomb
Groza
Haggard
Harakiri For The Sky
Heathen
Hiraes
Hirax
Hour of Penance
Ignea
Illdisposed
Illumishade
In Mourning
Insomnium
Izegrim
Kamelot
Kanonenfieber
Orden Ogan
Paradise Lost
Persefone
Rhapsody of Fire
Royal Hunt
Satan
Saturnus
Seven Spires
Skeletal Remains
Skyclad
Soen
Soilwork
Suidakra
Tribulation
Tyr
Vader
VBO
Vio-lence
Wind Rose
Wolf
Xandria