This multinational Progressive/Groove Metal four-headed creature is back with its sophomore opus, looking at forces beyond human control and how we respond in the face of helplessness.
Looking at forces beyond human control and how we respond in the face of helplessness, building and exploring tensions created from a sense of unease, Fates, the sophomore album by the multinational Progressive/Groove Metal four-headed creature Eight Lives Down, is a journey into the shadows of mortality. Recorded and mixed by Dan Baune at Tectonic Tone, mastered by Rasmus Andersen at Raw Sound Studio, and with a classy artwork by Diana Sawicka of What the Moon Brings, the follow-up to their 2020 debut Humans turns inward and downward, fixating on death, decay, and forces beyond human control. It’s a gaze into the abyss, and a study in how we respond when all sense of agency is stripped away, all masterfully brought into being by Aliki Katriou on vocals, Paul Allain on the guitar, Marcin Orczyk on bass, and Rodrigo Moraes Cruz on drums.
Dark and sluggish sounds kick off the opening tune Void before exploding into a modern-day blend of Groove and Progressive Metal, all embraced by Aliki’s vicious, raspy vociferations, who also declaims the words to the next song, titled Dog’s Breakfast, with tons of passion (“Everything changed seemingly overnight / Everything messed up and suddenly felt so right / Everyone covered eyes and ears / And climbed inside the anthill / Of despair and death / To practice learned helplessness”) amidst an overdose of heaviness. Fishbones sounds less violent while also leaning towards more melodic and experimental sounds, with Paul’s guitar transpiring electricity; and Aliki’s dark and pensive vocals are perfect for Phobia, again exploding into a feast of heavy and groovy sounds with Rodrigo dictating the song’s frantic pace with his classic beats and fills. Deicide brings forward more of the band’s caustic riffs supported by Marcin’s heavy-as-hell bass and Rodrigo’s killer beats; and Aliki sometimes sounds like a Death Metal version of the iconic Mike Patton, which is obviously awesome, like in the visceral tune The Point.
Then the band switches gears to a more melancholic, darker sonority in Green Light in the Distance without forgetting to blast our faces with their harsh sounds and tones; and the quartet still has a lot of fuel to burn, with Left Behind being a very good example of how they can mix harsher metal sounds with nuances from several non-metal styles. Marcin then blasts his bass, extracting pure metallic sounds in Storm, while Aliki keeps declaiming the song’s Stygian words nonstop (“It starts like liquid, water / One and the same / And I find comfort in the shelter / Hiding from the blame / I feed off you every day / And you infect my mind / In this race of coming out ahead / I’ve already fallen behind”). Constantinople is a bit disappointing compared to the rest of the album, sounding generic at times, but the band gets back on track in The Process of Dying, one of the most diverse, dynamic and vibrant of all songs, with Aliki kicking some serious ass on vocals. Furthermore, the bonus track (available on Spotify) featuring the iconic metal choir Hellscore, directed by Noa Gruman, sounds even more powerful.
Musically, Eight Lives Down maintained their progressive spin, with raw thrash foundations audibly peaking through in Fates (available in full on Spotify), while the album weaves Greek Zeibekiko, snotty Punk, Black Metal, NWOBHM, and even Brazilian Forró rhythms into a dynamic sonic landscape, being therefore highly recommended for fans of System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, Sepultura, Carcass, Pantera, Prong, Faith No More, Lamb of God, and Jinjer. you can find those unstoppable metallers on Facebook and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel, and purchase Fates from their own BandCamp page, from their webstore, or by clicking HERE. In other words, simply sit down, relax, and descend into the abyss of heavy music crafted by Eight Lives Down. You won’t regret the experience at all.
Best moments of the album: Void, Phobia, Storm and The Process of Dying.
Worst moments of the album:Constantinople.
Released in 2020 Independent
Track listing 1. Void 4:51
2. Dog’s Breakfast 5:39
3. Fishbones 4:35
4. Phobia 4:28
5. Deicide 4:20
6. The Point 3:17
7. Green Light in the Distance 7:16
8. Left Behind 4:48
9. Storm 7:33
10. Constantinople 4:56
11. The Process of Dying 7:17
Spotify bonus track
12. The Process of Dying (Hellscore version) 7:14
Band members
Aliki Katriou – vocals
Paul Allain – guitar
Marcin Orczyk – bass
Rodrigo Moraes Cruz – drums
Guest musicians
Hellscore – metal choir on “The Process of Dying”
We were born to ride on the wings of Canadian underground metal together with three of the must-see bands of the current scene on a rainy night in Toronto.
INTRO: A perfect night of Canadian metal almost ruined by one of the heaviest traffics ever experienced in the city…
I’ve always hated the QEW, and will forever hate it, but the traffic this Saturday night to get to the city was beyond any level of patience I might have to face any type of situation. Rain is the new snow, and it was absolute chaos to get to the cozy Horseshow Tavern in time to see LUTHARO, BLACKGUARD and KILLOTINE in another killer event of the Canadian underground organized by Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment. It took me over two fuckin’ hours for a 30km drive, and when I met my buddy Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi at the venue I was completely drained and exhausted, and there were only five minutes left before the first attraction of the night, so I can say I was a bit numb during the first half of the show. I don’t know what I’m going to do in the near future as the city is growing in population but not in infrastructure, and more and more companies are demanding their employees to return to the office five times a week, which means any day of the week from now on will be fucked by heavy traffic. I might have to start handpicking my concerts, and that’s very depressing.
I don’t like to start a review of an excellent night of Canadian metal with a rant like that, and I’m sorry about it. Fortunately, Hamilton, Ontario’s own Thrash Metal marauders KILLOTINE brought a lot of energy back to my tired soul with their frantic and vibrant performance. The reigning champions of Wacken Metal Battle Canada 2025 proved why they were the chosen ones to represent Canada at Wacken Open Air this year, kicking some ass onstage with their no shenanigans blend of Thrash Metal spearheaded by the charismatic vocalist and guitarist Matt Fraser. I don’t know exactly which songs they played, but I guess it was pretty much the entire 2024 EP Live at the Whiskey Pit, available on Spotify, with songs like Survival of the Wicked and Isolate sounding amazing live, already igniting some wild mosh pits for our total delight. Go check more details about Killotine by clicking HERE, but be careful as thrashing is their business, and business is good.
Band members Matt Fraser – vocals, guitars
Jesse Luciani – guitars
James McNeil – bass, backing vocals
James Beck – drums
The second band of the night, Montreal, Quebec-based Symphonic/Melodic Death Metal horde BLACKGUARD, might not have released anything new since their excellent 2020 album Storm, but the band fronted by the talented Paul Ablaze showed why they’re one of the most beloved bands of the Canadian scene with a breathtaking performance, melting our faces with their hybrid of Children of Bodom with Swedish melodeath and elements from Symphonic and Black Metal, all spiced up by the hammering beats by Justine Ethier. Once again I have no idea of their full setlist, but all songs sounded amazing, like Northern Storm. You can check their full discography on Spotify, and get more information about the band HERE, as I’m sure you’ll have a blast with such an amazing band. My only “complaint” is that they could have played the song A Dying Season with the multi-talented Lyndsay Schoolcraft, former keyboardist for Cradle of Filth (who was in the house as a fan) just like in their album. Nothing to really worry about, though, but as a fan of Lyndsay’s work I personally thought she would have been a nice touch to their fantastic concert.
Band members
Paul Ablaze – vocals
David Gagné Guitars – lead guitars
Terry Roadcase – rhythm guitar
Vincent Harnois – bass
Jonathan Lefrancois-Leduc – keyboards
Justine Ethier – drums, percussion
The night was getting better and better inside the Horseshoe Tavern (and kudos to the house DJ for playing only songs by Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne the entire night, as a beautiful tribute to our beloved Prince of Darkness), and of course the incendiary Melodic Death Metal by Hamilton, Ontario’s most ass-kicking band ever, the unstoppable LUTHARO, was the icing on the cake on such an excellent metal party. Playing songs from all of their albums, but of course focusing more on their 2024 beast Chasing Euphoria (available in full on Spotify or for purchase by clicking HERE, by the way), the band led by the stunning frontwoman Krista Shipperbottom, who was sporting an awesome outfit with an altered Lutharo shirt and a huge smile on her face during the entire show, set the whole place on fire with their striking performance.
Krista was of course flawlessly supported by her bandmates Victor Bucur, Jeff Wilson (who paid a subtle tribute to the recently deceased iconic wrestler Hulk Hogan during one of the songs), Chris Pacey and Cory Hofing, adding even more energy to their breathtaking performance. Fans were loving every single song played, with Time to Rise, To Kill or to Crave and Reaper’s Call being some of the favorites of the night. It felt like Lutharo were a veteran band used to play at arenas simply having fun at a small venue so professional and passionate they sounded, and I really hope now that they’re embarking on a fun European tour that they become the next big thing in the Old Continent. When they returned to the stage for their more-than-special encore with Born to Ride (my favorite of the night) and Lost in a Soul, it was the coronation of a perfect night for the band. Go check more details about Lutharo if you know nothing about the band by clicking HERE, because they were definitely born to ride on the wings of Heavy Metal, and we were all born to rock to the sound of their beautiful music.
Setlist Phantom
Ruthless Bloodline
Bonded to the Blade
Creating a King
Time to Rise
To Kill or to Crave
Wings of Agony
Hopeless Abandonment
Reaper’s Call
Paradise or Parasite
Encore:
Born to Ride
Lost in a Soul
Band members Krista Shipperbottom – vocals
Victor Bucur – guitars, backing vocals
Jeff Wilson – guitars
Chris Pacey – bass
Cory Hofing – drums
The debut album by this up-and-coming metal act from Canada will pulverize your senses with its modern and technical fusion of Death Metal and Deathcore.
Hailing from “la Vieille Capitale” Montreal, in Quebec, Canada, the ruthless Death Metal/Deathcore four-piece act Fracturus has just released their first full-length album, entitled Versus The Void, following up on their 2021 debut EP L’appel du vide. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Chris Donaldson (Cryptopsy), and displaying a sinister artwork by Abysmial, the album features a modern and technical style of Death Metal powered by the aggressive vocals by Alexandre Leblanc (Dark Century, Neuraxis), the razor sharp guitar riffs by Greg Nicholls (Dark Century, Pyramidion), the ground shaking bass work by Peter Hamm (Cryptic Forest), and the lightning fast drum thunderstorm courtesy of Alexis Serré (Dark Century, Transe Metal Machine), turning the album into a must-listen for fans of the more modern and melodic version of Death Metal from the current scene.
The futuristic, modern intro titled Ascension invites us all to join Fracturus in their quest for heavy music to the sound of Storm, showcasing wicked lyrics barked by Alexandre (“Born to defy, an agent of demise / Created to resist, unaffected by the lies / Forged by a code of beliefs, a one-man creed / With nothing to corrupt, this unbreakable will”) and a demolishing sonority blending Groove and Death Metal with Deathcore. In the title-track Versus the Void, Greg delivers sheer adrenaline through his riffs while Peter hammers his bass in the most intricate way possible, or in other words, it’s an amazing option to slam into the circle pit, whereas Alexis dictates the pace in Forget the End, blasting his drums like there’s no tomorrow supported by the thunderous bass lines by Peter, therefore resulting in one of the heaviest and most technical of all songs.
As the rain falls the band will kill in Hand of Man, spearheaded by the fulminating drums by Alexis and the always venomous roars by Alexandre, uniting Death Metal and Deathcore in the name of pitch-black darkness; whereas Dissolve is perhaps the most Deathcore of all songs from the album while also showcasing hints of Progressive Death Metal, bringing forward an amazing job done by Greg armed with his stringed axe accompanied as usual by the relentless bass by Peter. Lastly, in Rational / Animal we’re treated to one final round of their acid lyrics (“Either food or killer, hunter or prey / Nature favors the strong, survival of the species / Primitive aggression, a king among beasts / Dominant upon a savage domain”), with Peter and Alexis making the earth tremble with their progressive yet infuriated kitchen before everything fades into a melancholic piano outro.
If you want to experience all the heaviness and rage flowing from Versus The Void, you can simply stream the album as many times as you want on Spotify, but of course in order to show your utmost support to the underground you can purchase a copy of the album from Apple Music, from Amazon, or by clicking HERE or HERE, and don’t forget to also start following Fracturus on Facebook, on Instagram and on YouTube. The guys from Fracturus are definitely taking a huge step forward in their career with Versus The Void, making the Canadian metal scene stronger and, consequently, offering us all another very good reason to keep banging our heads and having some fun inside the circle pit to the sound of their newborn opus.
Best moments of the album:Storm and Forget the End.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2023 Independent
Track listing 1. Ascension 0:42
2. Storm 3:40
3. Versus the Void 3:58
4. Forget the End 3:27
5. Hand of Man 4:16
6. Dissolve 3:46
7. Rational / Animal 4:35
Band members
Alexandre Leblanc – vocals
Greg Nicholls – guitars
Peter Hamm – bass
Alexis Serré – drums
Before even starting this tribute to our metal chick of the month of July, let me just say her life is pretty much an open book. I mean, you can find pretty much anything about her online, and what you’re about to read might not be a surprise for you at all. However, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve to be featured on our webzine, as she’s not only extremely talented and passionate for heavy music, but she’s also a hardworking metalhead that never stops creating top-of-the-line music and videos for the delight of hundreds of thousands of metalheads from all over the world. Not only that, apart from her life in Heavy Metal she’s also a model and a makeup artist, proving her success, respect and admiration from her fans are not in vain. I’m talking about the unstoppable Moldovan vocalist Lena Scissorhands, the ravishing frontwoman for an up-and-coming Alternative and Nu Metal act that goes by the classy name of Infected Rain. Having said that, are you ready to be “infected” by Lena’s charisma and electricity here on The Headbanging Moose?
Born on November 22, 1986 in Chișinău, also known as Kishinev, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova, nestled between Ukraine and Romania in Eastern Europe, Lena Scissorhands, whose real name is Elena Kataraga, fell in love with alternative music when she was 13 years old, although her real “crush” for metal music happened when she was 14 as she got simply mesmerized by the energy flowing from the sound of heavy guitar riffs and the brutality from harsh, guttural vocals. Due to her poor beginnings in Moldova, life was quite challenging for Lena and her family, forcing her to start working at a very young age to support her parents (who were very young when they had Lena) and her two younger sisters, with whom she mentioned she used to share her clothes and eat whatever was available (as well as pretend to be the Powerpuff Girls with them to lighten things up a bit). Looking on the bright side of life, those tough early days turned Lena into a very strong woman, always eager to achieve more through her work and always ready to provide help to the ones in need.
Currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the United States, Lena mentioned in one of her interviews that the idea that the “Sin City” is a weird place bursting with people from all over the world only works if you’re a visitor, as living there is a complete different thing. She said if you live in Vegas you’re not really that much in contact with that lifestyle, unless of course that’s part of your job, but living there is pretty quiet due to the city’s remote location. Furthermore, apart from her current life in Vegas, Lena has also lived in different European countries, which kind of explains why she’s fluent in four languages, those being Russian, Romanian, English and Italian. “I’m very proud to speak all these four languages, and unfortunately I used to speak another language fluently. When I was a child, I used to live in Armenia, and I used to know Armenian like I know English – very, very well. I lived there for many years. But unfortunately, because of different life changing and living in different countries, and I was not in touch with my father because my parents separated and stuff like that, so I didn’t really use it. And a language, you lose it when you don’t use it. I do understand a little bit, and I can say a few things, but that’s it. So I don’t even consider that,” said Lena, who also explained she writes all her lyrics in English as the language became very natural to her, especially when she was attending university, although she actually started writing lyrics in Russian when she was a teenager at the age of 14.
It’s time to get down to business and start talking about Lena’s life with her awesome band Infected Rain, the band she started over ten years ago together with guitarist Vidick and Dj Kapa. At first, Lena said she didn’t know if she would be able to sing in a band in a professional way, but with the support from her bandmates and after starting taking vocal lessons with Tatiana Robertovna, with whom Lena learned how to breathe, how to feel the music and how to sing, Infected Rain became her number one priority and her reason to live. Formed in 2008 in her hometown Chișinău, Infected Rain combine a wide variety of styles such as Alternative, Death and Nu Metal with Metalcore and even elements from electronic music in an infectious sound, having already released a self-titled demo in 2008, the EP Judgemental Trap in 2009, and four full-length albums, those being Asylum (2011), Embrace Eternity (2014), 86 (2017) and more recently the excellent Endorphin (2019), showcasing all the power and versatility of the band currently comprised of our metal goddess Lena and her henchmen Vidick and Sergey on the guitars, Vladimir on bass and Eugene on drums. There are several official videos on YouTube for some of the best creations by Infected Rain, such as Me Against You, Mold, Stop Waiting, At The Bottom Of The Bottle, Serendipity, Enslaved By A Dream, a kick-ass cover version for Slayer’s Stain Of Mind, Judgemental Trap, Sweet, Sweet Lies, Fool The Gravity, Intoxicating, Orphan Soul, the absolutely stunning The Earth Mantra, Storm, Lure and Passerby, or you can also go to their official website or Big Cartel page to purchase their albums and some pretty cool merch.
Before signing with Napalm Records in 2019, Lena and the boys used to manage Infected Rain by themselves for around 10 years, booking their own concerts, taking care of all agreements and duties of a regular manager and so on, facing tons of challenges and hassles along the way. In one of her interviews, she mentioned that one of the biggest obstacles for Infected Rain during those years were promoters and booking agencies that didn’t want to work with them simply because they were independent, thinking they were a difficult band and that’s the reason why they were independent, when the only reason for that was the fact they came from a poor country with no possibilities at all. Having said that, why not enjoying a full performance by Infected Rain from their independent years, more specifically from their 2016 incendiary performance at Rockstadt Extreme Fest or from their 2017 concert at Club Thing in Germany? In addition, simply check this video titled “10 questions with Lena Scissorhands | Infected Rain” to know a little more about Lena and the band.
Apart from her life with Infected Rain, you can also find our multi-talented artist on a few other distinguished bands and projects, showcasing all her skills as a musician and her passion for music in general. For instance, she has been doing some singing during the live performances for a Moldovan Progressive Death Metal act called Neuromist since 2010 (although I couldn’t find any online video recording of her with the band), she has recorded a cover version for Russian duo t.A.T.u’s biggest hit All The Things She Said together with LA-based Alternative Rock act Chase The Comet, and also participated in some of the songs by Moldovan Progressive Metal/Rock band Seas on the Moon such as Promise and Hovering. As you can see, singing and playing became Lena’s own type of “drug”, her personal and healthy addiction, inspiring her to exercise and experiment a lot with her voice in different styles. All that work and experimentation would leave her voiceless for days in the beginning, but after starting her vocal lessons with renowned vocal coach Melissa Cross in 2013 everything changed for better in her life and career, allowing Lena to start delivering all the emotions, experiences, fears and disappointments in life from her very personal lyrics on stage without hurting her vocal cords.
As the amazing frontwoman that Lena is, she has obviously been asked a lot of times about how she views the current role and importance of women in heavy music, and what can be done to further enhance their relevance in the scene. However, although feminism and sisterhood in the metal scene are quite popular topics nowadays, she doesn’t consider herself a true feminist. “I know a lot of people expect me to be a little bit more feminist, or to talk more about how awesome it is to be a girl in metal. I really don’t do this big of a difference. I love seeing many girls in metal in general. It’s really cool because it takes dedication and women usually are very busy with their everyday life, with their families, with their kids, and it’s not that easy if you’re a woman, to give up everything. It’s a little bit easier for a man. Maybe. I don’t know,” said Lena, who also thinks that there isn’t a big difference between men and women in metal music, especially due to the fact she grew up in the company of boys in her neighborhood and considered herself very boyish until she was 15 or 16 years old. “I became more feminine later, but that’s it. That’s only the way I look. Inside I’m very fragile, I like being a woman, I like being fragile, I like being loved, I like being taking care of. But trust me, a man can say the same. Men also love to be loved, men also loved to be weak sometimes, and men also have weaknesses and emotions. We have blood, muscles, we are the same! Right? So, I really don’t see a big difference.”
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Lena is unsurprisingly addicted to sports, to touring and to adrenaline, saying she’s disciplined enough to work out at home, backstage or in a hotel room before her concerts. “I love yoga a lot because I become stretched really well. I like building up my body and you know, doing some weights sometimes. I don’t do cardio, because I have very low blood pressure, but at the same time I love hiking, I tried climbing as well, and I like biking a lot,” said Lena, who also mentioned she has a ritual before hitting the stage every show and sometimes even during her days off, requiring between half and a full hour of exercising and a minimum half hour of vocal warm-up, plus another hour to do her makeup, allowing her to feel perfectly prepared, stretched and warmed up prior to each concert. Moreover, Lena’s creations with Infected Rain are all meant to be played live, as according to our talented growler they’re extremely close to reality, expressing exactly what Lena was feeling when writing them, with some songs becoming even stronger during the band’s live performances.
As a huge fan of cartoons and horror flicks, Lena seems to be really into Disney and vampire movies, two completely different things that ended up helping her shape up her own persona quite well. “I became a big Disney nerd at an older age. When I was a kid I grew up in a pretty poor family and we didn’t really watch Disney movies unless they were on TV. So, I would say I really love Lion King because this was my first Disney movie I’ve ever seen and it’s very emotional. I also absolutely love Snow White, because I think it’s just amazing how unique it is, and it was the first cartoon movie that was made so… I also love a lot Alice in Wonderland, because I’m a big fan of the book as well, and I really like how unique the movie is, but still – you know – having the lot from the book… I can go on and on like this forever and ever. There are so many good ones,” commented Lena, who also said in one of her interviews that as she grew up with the tales of Dracula, she loves every type of vampire movie ever made, even lower budget productions or comedies about vampires, complementing by saying that she has also been watching a lot of zombie movies, that she has already gone through all the Halloween and Friday the 13th franchises, and that now she wants to watch all the Resident Evil and A Nightmare on Elm Street movies as well.
As already mentioned, Lena also used to be a hair stylist and makeup artist, and as a proud vegan she usually tries to use vegan makeup instead of the regular brands you can find anywhere, saying one of her favorite brands is Kat Von D as she’s a vegan artist and all her makeup line is vegan as well. However, despite working with makeup, she truly believes charisma and kindness are what really attract her in people, saying that’s the true beauty in everyone. Furthermore, she also thinks there’s too much judgement or bias based on how a person looks nowadays, saying she doesn’t reply and she deletes all types of unnecessary comments such as “you’re too skinny”, “you have too many tattoos” and so on from her social media, complementing by saying we all punish ourselves too much already inside our minds to allow strangers to do the same for no reason.
Regarding veganism and her view of what’s happening to our environment, our skillful vocalist said she decided to become a vegan to see how she would feel, how much that would impact her health and her body, realizing she started to have a lot more energy on tour after adapting her eating habits around three years ago. Hence, you can notice the impact of her vegan lifestyle in the music by Infected Rain, with songs like the amazing The Earth Mantra beautifully (and darkly) representing everything that’s wrong with mankind in terms of all the wicked things we are doing to our planet. Despite not considering herself a true environmentalist, Lena is trying to be sensitive about nature, about animals and plants, and being more aware of her surroundings and how her actions impact everything and everyone in her life. Although a lot of people are trying hard to change their habits to have a minimal impact on our planet, Lena still thinks that’s not enough, that the current situation is extremely bad and that unfortunately it will take decades for the human race to change. If you’re also trying to make the world a better place you’ll certainly love the official video for The Earth Mantra, where Lena “interacts” with different bugs and other animals most people are not comfortable dealing with. “All the animals were real. I was very gentle with them. The owner of them was there, telling me how to hold those animals so no harm was done. I’m not scared of any bugs or anything. It’s actually a problem because I’m not afraid and I want to pet them and I want to touch them. So no, I’m not afraid,” commented the dauntless Lena.
Lastly, as also mentioned in the beginning of this tribute to Lena, her life is like an open book online, and let’s say she’s very proud of not being afraid of sharing all aspects of her life with her family, friends and fans worldwide. One of the main places where you can know everything about Lena is her official YouTube channel curiously titled BANANAS (as well as her own Patreon page), where you’ll find pretty much anything about her life, her hobbies, her career, her tattoos and other nice-to-know details, including also some interviews and chats with artists the likes of Melissa Cross and CJ McMahon (Thy Art Is Murder), and with all videos being edited by one of her bandmates, guitarist Vidick. For instance, there’s a very interesting video of Lena talking about the origins of Infected Rain which you might find very entertaining and informative, showing how much she’s not only a fantastic singer, but also that she was born to be in the spotlight so natural and smooth her onscreen performance is, and that’s exactly how she wants her YouTube channel to be for the foreseeable future. “When I decided to have my own YouTube channel and I saw that the band is becoming more known around the world and people are curious about me as a person, I made myself one promise, and I’m just trying to stick with that, and that’s it. It’s just I’m always going to be myself, and if people are not gonna like what they see or what they hear, it’s not in my power to change anybody’s mind, and I will never try to do that,” said Lena, inviting us all to join her in her world of heavy music, veganism, tattoos, and of course, bananas.
“Reality is frustrating sometimes, music has become my escape. I want to help as many people as I can with my music. I want to touch people somewhere deep inside, try to end their fears and give them that escape that they always search for. Music saved my life, but when I started to sing is when my life acquired color.” – Lena Scissorhands
Looking at forces beyond human control and how we respond in the face of helplessness, building and exploring tensions created from a sense of unease, Fates, the sophomore album by the multinational Progressive/Groove Metal four-headed creature Eight Lives Down, is a journey into the shadows of mortality. Recorded and mixed by Dan Baune at Tectonic Tone, mastered by Rasmus Andersen at Raw Sound Studio, and with a classy artwork by Diana Sawicka of What the Moon Brings, the follow-up to their 2020 debut Humans turns inward and downward, fixating on death, decay, and forces beyond human control. It’s a gaze into the abyss, and a study in how we respond when all sense of agency is stripped away, all masterfully brought into being by Aliki Katriou on vocals, Paul Allain on the guitar, Marcin Orczyk on bass, and Rodrigo Moraes Cruz on drums.
Musically, Eight Lives Down maintained their progressive spin, with raw thrash foundations audibly peaking through in Fates (available in full on Spotify), while the album weaves Greek Zeibekiko, snotty Punk, Black Metal, NWOBHM, and even Brazilian Forró rhythms into a dynamic sonic landscape, being therefore highly recommended for fans of System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, Sepultura, Carcass, Pantera, Prong, Faith No More, Lamb of God, and Jinjer. you can find those unstoppable metallers on Facebook and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel, and purchase Fates from their own BandCamp page, from their webstore, or by clicking HERE. In other words, simply sit down, relax, and descend into the abyss of heavy music crafted by Eight Lives Down. You won’t regret the experience at all.
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 