Former ILL NIÑO members Cristian Machado (vocals), Ahrue Luster (guitar) and Diego Verduzco (guitar) have today announced that they have joined musical forces once again to launch brand new project LIONS AT THE GATE along with bassist Stephen Brewer and drummer Fern Lemus. The band have dropped their debut single “Not Even Human” today along with an official music video. Watch it below.
Machado says: “I feel so blessed to be in LIONS AT THE GATE. We’ve all been making albums for a long time but I think it was time for us to make something special and memorable again. This album is exactly that. Take away our musical history, take away our long hair, take away our personal feelings, just make believe we were never there. This LIONS AT THE GATE album is amazing. We finally made a modern metal album that metalheads will enjoy beginning to end. It’s deep, it’s memorable, I can’t wait for everyone to hear it, I can’t wait for everyone to hear the featured female artist on one of the songs.”
Verduzco adds: “I’m beyond proud and excited to announce our new band LIONS AT THE GATE. Life is all about change and I feel that this music is the most dynamic and honest that we’ve ever written. I feel a sense of freedom and am completely reinvigorated and even anxious (in a good way) to be a part of something that pulls influence from so many directions . Each member brings a unique set of talent and tools. It’s quite frankly some of the best music we’ve ever written. Organic, honest, and true.”
Luster states: “I’m more excited about LIONS AT THE GATE than anything that I’ve been a part of since I started my musical career.”
LIONS AT THE GATE‘s debut album was produced by FAILURE ANTHEM‘s Kile Odell, who has previously worked with FOZZY and MOTIONLESS IN WHITE.
In March 2020, Machado, Ilustre, Verduzco, drummer Dave Chavarri and bassist Laz Pina announced that they had “reached a mutual, amicable and binding agreement” that would allow Chavarri and Pina to continue with ILL NIÑO while Machado, Verduzco and Ilustre would move on with new projects. A joint statement released by the five musicians also indicated that the parties had “entered into a confidential settlement agreement.”
