No desire to live
Yet I don’t deserve to die
It comes in waves until I’ll find peace But depression won’t be the death of me

Me and my friends
We’ll stick it out until it ends

12 - Ouroboros

Gauge my eyes and cut my tongue in two 
So I could see and talk like you
I wonder if I miss being me 
When I’m asleep
I wonder if there is a light that can’t be seen
Could a life of love be enough
For both of us

And they keep telling me
It will all be fine in the end That a life of pain is one well spent
Then they just embalm me in empathy

So crush my arms Break my legs
I’ll suffer some more Practice makes perfect
And in the end you won’t even recognise what I’ve become At least we’ll both die under the same sun.

Freedom is a prison 
Comfortable yet full of inhibitions
Silver hair and one last breath 
“The purpose of life is a silent death”

We’re all bastard children of a dying sun 
Nothing matters to me. 
In the end we al burn.

11 - Zenith

This world I never chose or cared for 
Will swallow me whole
These people I used to call friends 
Are crushing my soul
Everyone keeps changing 
Someone please save me 
I’m still living in this cave
And it’s become cold and empty

Self help
My little corner of hell 
Tomorrow’s a new day
But I know it’ll be more of the same 
A penny for your thoughts
And a cloud for the pain

Put myself on a pedestal 
Cause I’m all I’ve got
It all seemed so simple 
Guess you forgot
And I’ve always worn gloves 
So I’ll leave you as I am 
Broken and down
In desperate need of friends

Nothing is lost
I just need something new

Another step forward and I’m still losing my mind 
I wish we could meet but I ain’t got the time
No future friends 
But I’ll be fine
I’m no longer weighed down by this heart of mine 

Crush my soul.

04 - Catharsis (Self-Help)

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B-side of our debut album "Bluest Shade Of Black"

Thousands of thoughts 
All at once 
I'm losing focus 
Should think of one 
You said if I were patient things would change 
But patience changed me 
Can't you see you've become nothing but a chain? 
A flesh and bone restraint keeping me here 

"If only we had met at a different time 
Maybe both of us might still be fine 
But there's always one thing you've failed to see: 
You can't change me" 

Even with your kaleidoscope eyes you can't see 
How every colour's a part of me 
I feel frostbite blue 
And see pitch black 
See the light went away 
When you turned your back on me 
Goddamn it's easy to say 

Footprints left in the dirt 
Fingers full of papercuts 
A head full of hurt 
You came dragging a spade 
My queen of hearts 
You said we'd be safe 
In this house of cards 

Then came the storm 
Laid waste to this land 
You said we'd start over 
I said "never again" 

Living with you 
Turned into 
Life without me 
Said I would rather be dead 
Buried but free.

Stretch Marks

Soft knives
Warm blood
In a dimly lit room

I think I belong here.

WHEN MY MIND FINALLY BREAKS I WILL FULLY LIVE. HOUSED IN THIS FLESH SHELL I FEEL THE NEVER ENDING BURDEN OF MY USELESS EXISTENCE. LET ME ROT. LET ME SLEEP. I NEVER BELONGED HERE. SOFT KNIVES, WARM BLOOD IN A DIMLY LIT ROOM. I THINK I BELONG HERE. CYCLES OF SUFFERING IN THIS PURGATORY WE CALL HOME. WHERE EVERY SINGLE WOUND FESTERS AND THE LIGHT BARELY COMES IN. LET ME ROT. LET ME SLEEP.

06 - EVERY STRANGER LOOKS LIKE YOU - BLISS

Come closer, I can teach you how to burn
Desire lures and you’re craving the hurt
Let it mark you until you’re scarred
Know you will never be whole if you’ve never been torn apart

Soon you’ll be like me

But when drinking from a broken cup
The thirst remains and lips get cut
Still we seek where the night is warm
And burn our lungs only to be buried at dawn

Out in the streets
When the world’s asleep

Passion burns beneath your marble skin
Cold to the touch
But there’s warmth within you

Engulf me, soon you’ll feed
Forward to the end /
Counting every breath /
My palms to the sky /
This life’s a slow death

05 - EVERY STRANGER LOOKS LIKE YOU - MOTH

Dead, but still breathing
When will this life finally leave me?
Chained, but not caged
So you will never be safe

I can’t start feeling alive when my heart’s not beating right
I need to know where my love now lies so I can feel the dying of light

Summer’s scars, I still remember
How our hands were slowly severed
You said “bend your head and focus on breathing”
The pin hit my neck as you were leaving
Silk waves, wash me away
Concrete heat melted heavy rain
Frozen in time, mind down the drain
As summer sang I’d see you again

Sing to me
So I can see
Love still lives where we buried our dreams
Only me
Selfishly
I just need this to be real

Slowly I rot
But you won’t fucking see

04 - EVERY STRANGER LOOKS LIKE YOU - TYING THE KNOT

I’m begging for release
But I’m afraid to be free
And so I’ve sentenced myself
To a life of misery

I could walk away and never return
But here is where my past silently burns

Bricks laid in blood, cemented by my suffering
Inertia reigns here and I am barely functioning

There’s a room where no-one speaks and glass eyes gaze at me
The rats come out and feed as my consciousness leaves

Panic’s at the front door
I know I’m fucking done for

Until I’m calm I’ll be here
I hope they’ll never see me
Oh can’t you hear them screeching?
I bet the walls are bleeding

Bricks laid in blood, cemented by my suffering
I’ll forgive myself when I feel the sulfur smothering

03 - EVERY STRANGER LOOKS LIKE YOU - HALFWAY HOUSE

Mindless / Speechless
Baby I can be less
Teach me how to sleep and I will show you how to see less of me
I’ll be all that I can be
For as long as you need

I’m fine
I’m fucking fine

If I could lend you a hand or an arm
You could feed off my flesh
And keep yourself warm
This is the true face of love
A rabbid fucking dog
With the face of an angel
And a tongue like a sword

But I’m fine
I’m fucking fine

Lifeless I lie
As she ties up my feet
I love it how she drags my lifeless body through the streets
I have truly become the best I can be
Numb to the pain of a future so bleak

02 - EVERY STRANGER LOOKS LIKE YOU - LOVE BITES

I peeled back the skin and allowed you to see me
A wounded, suffering flesh shell barely fucking breathing
Please salt my wounds with your concrete kiss
And let me suck the smile right off your lips

Plant the poison seed
And we could live in the shade of the tree
I think I’m losing myself
As you become me

Oh my love, let me feed
Your serotonin smile is what I need

Teach me how to sleep as I sink into these sheets

Oh my love, let me feed
Your serotonin smile is what I need
I lust for light so let me leech
I’d suck the marrow from your bones to feel free

Oh my love, let me feed
I’ve been begging since the day you broke my fucking knees

01 - EVERY STRANGER LOOKS LIKE YOU - SYNNECROSIS

“Soft knives / Warm blood / In a dimly lit room”



Every Stranger Looks Like You could best be described as the perfect soundtrack to late-twenties angst. Their unique brand of post-hardcore is as vicious and raw as it is heavy and focused.



After releasing their well-received full length debut “Bluest Shade Of Black” on Dog Knights Productions in 2017, ESLLY are now gearing up to prove they are here to stay. Their insanely energetic and highly introspective liveshows have led them both across Europe and the UK and had them to share the stage with bands such as Code Orange, Bass Drum of Death, The Shrine, Listener and many more.



A caption from the Belgian newspaper “De Morgen” might sum it up best: “…(their show is) a crushing half hour. As filthy as the dishwater in a college bar, as sharp and stinging as a well placed comparison.”



In 2018 the first part of a diptych will see the light of day. Recorded at Much Luv Studio (Brutus, Onmens,…) and mastered at Audiosiege (Full of Hell, Nails, …) “I: Levensmoeheid” sees ESLLY sounding more visceral and aggressive than ever.

Every Stranger Looks Like You

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