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Our debut Album "Humans"
“Humans” explores aspects of the human condition and mental tendencies. Perspectives are often shifted within songs, jumping from rage to fear to sociopolitical statements and the confusion they cause. This is reflected in the music, which plays with time signatures, song structure and a variety of musical influences. ‘Humans’ was mixed & mastered by Dan Baune at Noise Foundry Productions while drums were recorded at A-Tonal Recording Studio. Artwork by Dylan Sutton.
‘Humans’ Tracklist :
1. Opening Shots
2. Misguided
3. Angela
4. From The Cradle
5. Sacrifice
6. Organize Your Mind
7. Colder
8. Why
Release Date :
5th September 2020
Label:
Cult of Parthenope
Catalogue Number :
COP003
UIN :
5070000133218
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About
PHOTOS / Logos
Eight Lives Down are
DETAILS
Based in Rijeka (HR), London (UK), Barcelona (E), and Leiden (NL)
Founded in 2016
Genre: #Metal #Extrememetal #Thrashmetal #Progressivemetal #Groovemetal
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Band Bio
Eight Lives Down are a 4-piece, progressive extreme metal band, founded by Greek-Kiwi vocalist and lyricist Aliki Katriou who is joined by bassist Marcin Orczyk, drummer Rodrigo Moraes Cruz, and guitarist Paul Allain. They released their first EP entitled "May Cause Death" in 2017 (with James Scott, who left the band shortly after, on guitars).
Eight Lives Down's progressive take on extreme metal has deep roots in thrash and groove metal but constantly branches out stylistically, incorporating influences from death-, and black metal, as well as various other musical genres such as punk, blues, and traditional folk music. The vocals range from low growls and high screams to clean and even operatic phrases. All of this creates a truly unique sound - unmistakably heavy and angry, yet refreshingly different and unpredictable as the band plays with time signatures and song structure. Fittingly, Eight Lives Down’s members are a motley crew of different nationalities, hailing from Greece, New Zealand, France, Brazil and Poland. They are currently based in Croatia, Spain, the UK and the Netherlands.
Eight Lives Down, particularly Aliki Katriou, are known for their energetic live performances, which they proved in shows in and around London, as well as Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. In 2019, they reached the semi-finals of Metal2TheMasses London, as well as the finals of the Female Metal Event - FemME battles.
In March 2020, Eight Lives Down opened for legendary Norwegian black metal act Ancient at their exclusive UK show in London, more gigs were set up in Switzerland, Spain, the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands, before the Covid-19 pandemic changed everything.
On a positive note, 2020 also saw the much anticipated release of their debut album, which was released by extreme metal label Cult of Parthenope on September 5th. “Humans” explores aspects of the human condition and mental tendencies. Perspectives are often shifted within songs, jumping from rage to fear to sociopolitical statements and the confusion they cause. This is reflected in the music, which plays with time signatures, song structure and a variety of musical influences. ‘Humans’ was mixed & mastered by Dan Baune at Noise Foundry Productions while drums were recorded at A-Tonal Recording Studio.
In July 2022, Eight Lives Down came back to the stage with a bang, playing two co-headliner shows (in Belgium and Germany) with Israeli progressive symphonic metal heroes Scardust. In November of the same year, they were booked as co-headliners of the prestigious Bremer Metal Fest (B:M:F).
In 2023, they played a bunch of international gigs, including the official W:O:A warm-up show in Bremen, the FemME Festival in the Netherlands, and the Queens & Metal Babes Festival in Belgium.
They didn't sit idle during the pandemic but worked on a new, even more progressive and intricate new album, which is expected to be released in 2024! Stay tuned!
4.5/5
"Humans pieces together many elements that set it apart from anything I’ve ever heard but it still has the familiarity of a thrash/groove metal record."
9/10
"Extremely capable musicians, almost virtuosos, full of creativity, musicians who demonstrate brilliant intelligence in drawing the best ingredients from the history of extreme music to create an original, fresh, attractive, magnetic and absolutely engaging album!"
7.5/10
"Versatile and unpredictable, the band's performance turns out to be particularly energetic and intriguing one ... A cosmopolitan style, Eight Lives Down's trade mark, which has no limits and extends to the exploration of totally innovative sound shores, completely free from conditioning or preconceptions."
90/100
"Humans is a more than an average debut album. The band shows they feel comfortable with many different musical styles. Aliki, Paul, Rodrigo and Marcin take us into the eclectic world of "Humans", where they explore several heavier kinds of metal (to say the least), but also know how to switch to using completely different approaches. Versatile is therefore the word that best fits this album."
7/10
"[...] I would say that musically, this album is very interesting as it demonstrates that the band has a great foundation to build on and offer superior quality work."
3.5/5
"Until then, while we wait for the creative mind of Aliki to provide us more insanity in the form of music, we can keep banging our heads nonstop to Humans, by far one of the best alternative albums of the year."
8/10
"We can spend all day analysing the foundations, but we should not overlook the most important thing – these guys are exceptional musicians and skilled songwriters."
86/100
"I'm convinced that Eight Lives Down live must be quite an experience. [...] The intensity of Eight Lives Down is phenomenal. So [...] hurry up to get a copy of this gem asap. You won't regret it…"
9/10
I don’t take the phrase ‘progressive’ lightly. Progressivism is an art movement, not just a genre. A band that makes “Progressive Rock/Metal” music is not necessarily progressive as per definition. Eight Lives Down, however, were progressive in ‘Humans’ in the finest way possible. ”.
N/A
"An intriguing debut by Eight Lives Down, who in ′′ Humans ′′ combine groove, prog, thrash and nu metal while remaining in constant tension between the quest for modernity and the passion for the nineties."
4/5
Sometimes I feel extremely old school in my metal tastes. It does pose certain difficulties in listening to stuff like this because my references are very narrow. So all I can go on is if I like what I hear or not. And as this album progresses the more I realize that it isn’t too bad. I even find myself banging my head to certain songs, like “Misguided”. This one turned out to be a nice surprise.
55/100
First of all, it must be said that Eight Lives Down know how to homogenize a multiplicity of styles and sounds in an apparent meaningless mixture, which instead from a musical point of view is surprising, even though they are aware of the fact that nothing new has been invented. Musically the album is pleasant, but the vocals [are] from the first listening particularly disturbing and clearly affect the final result of the album.
7/10
"Il reste un opus intéressant et prometteur pour la suite, car ce mélange d’origine a débouché sur un album hors des grands standards et que ça fait du bien un peu fraicheur dans le Metal."
75/100
"Humans flies in all directions. Every band member has contributed to this versatile album and is given ample space to express his or her ideas. You can clearly hear the fun. Real teamwork. However, not every track is a highlight. Especially the second part of the album has a little dip. Opening Shots, From The Cradle, Sacrifice and the nine-minute melancholic ending Why are the best business cards. The honest sound - it's like the band is performing - also earns bonus points. Therefore a pleasant introduction to the studio material of Eight Lives Down.”
7.5/10
"Die Musik ist abwechslungsreich, eigenständig, mitreißend und live-tauglich, die Spielfreude unüberhörbar und die Produktion fett und transparent. Neben vertrauten Klängen gibt es auch viele verschiedene ungewöhnliche Einflüsse, die aber auf wundersame Weise wie aus einem Guss klingen und gut zusammen passen. Groove Metal mal anders und vor allem interessant und ohne Trendanbiederung!"
7/10
"The band gives enormous importance to guitars, excellently played, with a use of tremolos and picks that your brain can absorb. Paul Allain's work is surprising and overwhelming. It gives a dynamism to the sound that makes the album highly entertaining. The rhythmic bases can sometimes be reminiscent of classics like SLAYER or PANTERA, and some of the latest MACHINE HEAD. And of course, that immeasurable and powerful production that enriches the whole to make it highly recommended. "
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