Eight Lives Down – Fates

I’ve come to realize that I approach new music with an inquisitive attitude. If something doesn’t click with me, I’m quicker to question my bias and expectation than the quality of the music. And that is probably what made me love Eight Lives Down. What it comes down to is that I enjoy having my taste, comfort zone, and perspective challenged, while this band obviously likes to challenge their listeners. My experience has been that to many people, myself included, their music comes across as jarring and uncomfortable… on first listen. But I want to emphasize that last part. Having consistently listened to their debut album, “Humans”, over the last 5 years, I’ve gotten used to their often raw, bizarre, and unexpected choice of aesthetics. And that put me in a good headspace to fully take in their recently released second album, “Fates”. So bear in mind, this band might take some time to get used to, especially if you like “comfortable” music. But I assure you they’re worth the time investment.

In a time when more and more bands are using backing tracks, samples, effects, and all sorts of hi-fi production tricks, Eight Lives Down feels like it’s from another era. It’s stripped down, raw and primitive, and everything you hear is performed by the band. The kick drum is fat and punchy, the toms and snare are slightly damp and hollow, and the cymbals sound like glass crashing and sea waves. The guitar tone smells like decomposing flesh, and the bass can’t decide whether it’s chilling with a joint under a tree in the scorching afternoon sun, or violently abusing someone. On top of this, the vocals sound like all the things, except for all the things you expect. But it’s all coherent.

Eight Lives Down – Void

In terms of genres, Eight Lives Down offers an experimental and progressive take on thrash and groove metal, with strong punk aesthetics and the occasional flirting with black metal. Certain ethnic elements subtly make their way into the mix as well, most obvious being the Greek influence in “Phobia”. The lyrics explore wholesome homely topics like religion, societal issues, ominous political landscapes, mob mentality, violation of one’s agency, war, and the sweetest of them all, DEATH. The album title is starting to make sense at this point.

What makes ‘Fates’ brilliant to me, is the subtle way of informing the listener about what they are hearing, and the coherence of lyrics, compositional choices and aesthetics. The album is deeply thought through but also allowed to breathe and express itself naturally. For example, ‘Dog’s Breakfast’ describes collective helplessness and the manipulative as well as violent means by which it is enforced. It’s a criticism of power-mad leadership, and society’s apathetic response to it. The riffs and drum parts are constantly stomping down in oppressive violence. The vocals and melodic choices sound slightly sarcastic and carry a nasal, distorted tone of mockery. Guitar leads are always interrupted to maintain the dull, battering of riffage, and the tempo only spaces out for one moment that feels like a sarcastic imitation of a politician’s speech. The drum parts are loaded with clever, progressive kick patterns, counterintuitive time signatures, and swift fills. But then there’s this one cymbal being battered into oblivion like it’s being played by a toddler that wants to make sure you DO! NOT! FORGET! THE! TEMPO! It almost adds a comedic effect that fits perfectly into the punk aesthetic and tone of mockery.

‘Void’ and ‘The Point’ bring a similar attitude to different topics, with the latter feeling like a mockery of one’s self in a humorous attempt to self-regulate chaos and frustration.

Then there are songs where the punk vibes are toned down and the metal is fully brought to the forefront. ‘Fishbones’, is a good example, mixing fast paced aggression with a confidently macho harmony in the opening guitar riff and bass line, and the most burly, chug-heavy caveman riffs in the chorus.

Eight Lives Down – Phobia

But with all the hostility, aggression and confrontational nature of the above mentioned songs, “Fates” is not yet complete. Songs like ‘Green Light in the Distance’ and ‘The Process of Dying’ add futility, tragedy and suffering to the emotional delivery. The former alternates between clean, atmospheric sections with morbidly high, soothing vocals (yes, that combination is possible), and scarring black metal sections with blast beats and shrieking. The latter opens with a funerary tone and proceeds to guide the listener through… well… the process of dying. In these songs, wailing vocals, funerary tones and shaky guitar solos with suspended string-bending peaks create a sense of distress and dread. You’re probably waiting at this point, for me to start talking about a silver lining amidst all this darkness. But it’s not there.

Stepping away from the overall moods, concepts and aesthetics, each member of this band deserves praise for their playing abilities. The riffs are complex and often take a while to repeat. The time signature likes avoiding 4/4. The drums carry anything from slow grooves to battering extreme metal sections. The bass has some fantastic lead moments, my favourite being the song ‘Storm’, in which the guitar feels like a support instrument while the bass takes the spotlight. And the vocals move through heavy and power metal belting, nasal weirdness, false chord noise, soft falsetto, death growls and black metal shrieking. Every composition and technique nerd has something to appreciate about ‘Fates’. Every old-school metalhead has a cornucopia of aggression to relish in. And every human chained by the shackles of this cruel world, will likely find themselves in some of the emotions portrayed throughout this dark and hollow journey.

Wow, looking back at all that, you could almost say they’re reflecting the never-ending problems and unfairness of the real world. And somehow, despite all the decay on display, this album makes me happy. It’s just brilliantly expressed and put together. It takes the darkest aspects of human experience, and turns them into something I can enjoy… repeatedly… excessively. And if that’s not damn brilliant artistry, then I don’t know what is.

Track List:

1. Void (04:51)
2. Dog’s Breakfast (05:39)
3. Fishbones (04:35)
4. Phobia (04:28)
5. Deicide (04:20)
6. The Point (03:17)
7. Green Light in the Distance (07:16)
8. Left Behind (04:48)
9. Storm (07:33)
10. Constantinople (04:56)
11. The Process of Dying (07:17)