Emerging Artist Reviews

Album Review: Eight Lives Down "Fates"

by The Metalverse

Updated August 12, 2025

Metal quartet, Eight Lives Down, features musicians from all across the world–with members from Greece, New Zealand, France, and Poland. The band released their long-awaited album, Fates, on March 26th, 2025.

Tracklist:

Void
Dog’s Breakfast
Fishbones
Phobia
Deicide
The Point
Green Light in the Distance
Left Behind
Constantinople
The Process of Dying
The Process of Dying (feat. Hellscore)

Review:

The first track Void starts off with ambient clean guitar and bass melodies that soon lead into booming drums, hard-hitting guitar riffage, and an overall sound. Eight Lives Down quickly create a sound that seems to blend progressive death metal with a classic thrash sound. Vocals join the fray, transitioning from rapid growls to bright singing, quickly creating a powerful sense of contrast.

Dog's Breakfast wastes no time building up with slamming drums before blasting into a breakdown intro with heavy-hitting instrumentals and rapid double bass drumming. Emphasized breaks are accented by crashing drum cymbals as vocals rapidly swap between melodic and destructive, meanwhile instrumentals stay brutally heavy throughout. Bright guitar leads add elements of melody over top of ferocious distortion as eccentric singing with rolling 'R's create a unique vocal delivery.

The next track Fishbones kicks off with a classic thrash build-up as instrumentals that remind of death metal hold down the tempo–soon raspy singing vocals are introduced before taking a more melodic tone. After a technical guitar solo that soars through the mix, Eight Lives Down fade out the track.

Phobia starts off with ambient guitar and building drums as singing vocals speak in Greek with an operatic vibe. The song soon bursts into full band destruction showcasing an overall aggressive sound alongside harsh vocals. Eight Live Down create a unique sound throughout the album blending progressive metal, death metal, thrash, and an element of intentional eccentricity that keeps things very interesting.

Track 5, Deicide starts again with clean guitar that slowly speeds up in pacing before abruptly launching into screeching guitar, and high-pitched singing joins the mix. Eight Lives Down's music has a distinct feel to it, blending cultures and influences from each of the members origins while taking inspiration from acts like System of a Down, Jinjer, and Sepultura.

The Point jumps straight into action with booming bass, racing guitars, and speeding rap-singing vocals that soon lead into full screams. The Point utilizes contrast excellently between vocal styles and gentle and harsh instrumental sections to create massive shifts in pacing and dynamics that keep the track wildly interesting.

Next is Green Light in the Distance which takes a slower sound, bringing back the melancholy, opera-esque singing as melodic instrumentals create a catchy atmosphere before launching into more upbeat, metal riffs as the singing remains. With speeding blast beats, rapid tremolos, and vocals that sway from catchy to harsh, the song bursts into a heavier sound. Drastic changes in instrumentals and vocals create an ever-changing atmosphere that leaves the listener guessing. One of the longest track of the album, Green Light in the Distanct takes listeners on a journey through its runtime of just over 7 minutes.

Left Behind starts with an aggressive, more traditional heavy metal sound as lightning-fast riffs and heavy-hitting growls create a brutally intense sound that strays at points to add a more melodic sense to the track.

Storm is the longest track of the album at 7:33 and it takes its time, starting with a slow buildup that builds energy and with funky bass lines before kicking in fully. The song creates a feeling of juxtaposition between heavy, melodic, and blues-inspired funky instrumental sections.

Constantinople starts with ominous reverbed guitar leads that soon catapault the listener into slamming drum beats, explosive guitar chugs, and ferocious death metal growls. Constantinople takes a relentlessly heavy sound, giving listeners brief moments of respite with singing before launching them back into the midst of crushing heaviness once again.

The final track The Process of Dying begins with dark singing and building drums before jumping into full death metal intensity as blast beats, heavy grooves, and general destruction ensues. An alternate version of the song is also available, featuring the metal choir act Hellscore which adds an even more ominous and dark sound to the track. The Process of Dying was one of our favorite tracks, excellently balancing a haunting and off-putting yet cinematic mix of operatic singing and eerie choirs with explosively heavy extreme metal.

Overall Eight Lives Down showcases a unique and exciting sound that mixes influences from cultures across the world with a sound that blends death metal, progressive metal, and thrash into one cohesive sound. You can stream Fate out on all platforms now.

Check out the official music video for Void below: