LIONS AT THE GATE, the new band featuring former ILL NIÑO members Cristian Machado (vocals), Ahrue “Luster” Ilustre (guitar) and Diego Verduzco (guitar), alongside bassist Stephen Brewer (WESTFIELD MASSACRE) and drummer Fern Lemus, has released its second single, titled “Scapegoat”. The track, which is accompanied by an official music video shot by Vicente Cordero, is driven by massively heavy riffs, a thunderous rhythm section, intricate guitar work and the sublime juxtaposition of Machado‘s furious screams and soaring clean vocals.
“Scapegoat” and previously released single “Not Even Human” are expected to appear on LIONS AT THE GATE‘s upcoming debut album, which was produced by FAILURE ANTHEM‘s Kile Odell, who has previously worked with FOZZY and MOTIONLESS IN WHITE.
Machado states: “‘Scapegoat’ was a song brought in by Ahrue. Everyone liked the song immediately, including our producer Kile Odell. The instrumental had a chilling and beautiful metallic melody. I was quickly moved by the music and began to wonder about my own life. From there, we began to sculpt a message.
“Dysfunctional people don’t want to apologize or make amends; they want to resolve what’s broken in them by damaging others. It’s their great misconception that the scapegoat will be weak and remain powerless when it takes great strength to carry a burden you bear no guilt in.
“Kile and I realized early on that I was going through a very challenging time in my life with no outlet other than the music and that perhaps this was what I needed to begin healing. A lot of painful memories were dug up and dealt with whilst recording. I am grateful the guys had the patience to help me work through it, and that music is still in my life. Hopefully these songs can speak to other like-minded people and offer a sense of healing.
“The video for scapegoat is a performance art video. The band individually portrayed personal emotion as part of the art. Vicente Cordero‘s approach allowed us to feel comfortable in an environment where the performance and the emotion is the focus.”
LIONS AT THE GATE released its debut single, “Not Even Human”, back in June to huge excitement from fans old and new. To date, the track has clocked up 125,000 streams and nearly 100,000 YouTube views.
When LIONS AT THE GATE‘s formation was first announced in early June, Machado said: “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 added: “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 stated: “I’m more excited about LIONS AT THE GATE than anything that I’ve been a part of since I started my musical career.”
