Eight Bells
Portland-based Eight Bells ventures through Spokane on their 2025 fall trek to present their deep atmospheric soundscapes drawing inspiration from 1970s rock with a 19th-century ghostliness that conjures evocative music imbued with natural tones and haunting female vocals.
EIGHT BELLS
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Eight Bells was forged in 2010 in Portland, Oregon by guitarist and singer Melynda Jackson as a collaborative genre-bending metal songwriting project. A continuation of her previous dark psych project Subarachnoid Space, the original trio configuration featured drummer Chris Van Huffel and bassist/vocalist Haley Allen.
The band’s early records, 2013’s The Captain’s Daughter (The Flenser/Seventh Rule/Tartarus Tapes) and the much-evolved 2016 follow-up Landless (Battleground/Tartarus Tapes), conjured emotive and often bleakly atmospheric soundscapes. Debut album, The Captain’s Daughter took a thematic approach that resulted in powerful, deeply evocative music that paid respect to the natural tones and grandiosity of the 1970s. Its follow-up, Landless combined contemporary metal, haunting female vocals, and 19th-century ghostliness; a sound that transcended genre and time entirely and earned the band tour dates with Voivod.
"Wraithlike vocals and numbed melodies hanging over pinprick prog fretwork... The pulse of ethereal '70s rock – from Pink Floyd to Hawkwind's more celestial moments... Dual vocal lines emanate from some unseen place, sometimes braided together in a conjoined plea for connection... Heartbreakingly beautiful." –Pitchfork
After significant lineup changes, 2022 saw the release of the third album, Legacy of Ruin (Prophecy Productions) and brought sharper focus to Jackson's relentless pursuit of utilizing sound as emotional translation with contributions for the album from Matt Solis (Cormorant/URSA) on bass and vocals, and Brian Burke (Cave Dweller) behind the kit as well as guest appearances by Andrea Morgan (Exulansis) and Melynda Amann (Hound the Wolves/Jamais Jamais).
“Recorded against a backdrop of wildfires, power outages, political cruelty and social unrest, it’s unsurprising that Legacy Of Ruin might feel apocalyptic and drained of hope. There’s anger here and much sadness, and this is reflected whether the trio are fashioning huge, storm- battered crags of riff, going off full tilt with tremolo-picked ice blasts or gazing quietly inwards with twining, near-choral vocal harmonies.” – The Quietus
Over the years, the band has made appearances at Fall Into Darkness, Psycho Las Vegas, Northwest Terror Fest, Cascadian Midsummer, and various regional and local shows and tours.
Fall 2025 live performances are set to include Jackson on guitar and vocals, Joy VonSpain (Eye of Nix/To End It All) on keys and vocals, Evelyn Holland on bass, and Andrew Eguchi playing drums.
