Villains, Voices, and Victory: Amanda “Eva Marie” Lyberg on the Rise of Eva Under Fire

Villains, Voices, and Victory: Amanda “Eva Marie” Lyberg on the Rise of Eva Under Fire

Detroit has always produced fighters, and Amanda “Eva Marie” Lyberg is one of its fiercest. As the powerhouse vocalist of Eva Under Fire, she channels rage, resilience, and raw vulnerability into a sound that feels both cinematic and deeply personal. With their new album Villainous, the band steps into a fully realized world of character arcs, emotional battles, and unapologetic authenticity. Fresh off collaborations with icons like Maria Brink and Spencer Charnas — and gearing up for a massive run with Five Finger Death Punch — Amanda sat down with Highwire Daze to talk world‑building, mental health advocacy, and the decade‑long journey that shaped the band’s identity.

Introduce yourself. Tell me what you do in Eva Under Fire and how long the band has been together.
What’s up? It’s Amanda from Eva Under Fire — I’m the singer. We’ve been around for about ten years now.

Where are you based, and what’s the music scene like there?
We’re from Detroit Rock City. The music scene is long and heavy — which is great — but growing up, it didn’t always feel like there was a real scene. We were fighting to play bars a lot. But I think it’s worked out so far.

Your new album is called Villainous. Is there an overall story or concept behind the album title and that song?
Yeah — all of it. Villainous is a concept album in my brain. It’s the character arc of self‑discovery, and each song has its own special place in that storyline.

Maria Brink is on that song. What was it like working with her?
So incredible. I’ve been an In This Moment fan for a long time. When I first learned how to scream, people compared what I was trying to do to Maria Brink — which felt like pretty high standards!

Fast forward to now: we share some of the same suits, some of the same people, so when this song came up — a song that really speaks to female rage and standing up for what you believe in — she was the perfect feature.

Maria is the embodiment of a strong female lead. Her voice is unmistakable, and her artistry onstage is unreal. When we were building the world of Villainous, there was no better fit for that song. I’m so happy it worked out.

Have you had a chance to perform the song live with Maria yet?
Not yet. We haven’t gotten on those big stages together. We’re hopeful — but the big tour doesn’t happen until Five Finger Death Punch in July.

Let’s talk about a few of the songs. Starting with the first track, “Awakening.”
That was one of the first songs that came together in the studio. We knew we wanted a bouncy riff, so we were literally jumping in the studio to figure out the tempo.

It felt like the right first song to release — the band had been writing for two years, and this felt like a fresh start. We needed an awakening.

Now let’s go to the last song, “A Violent End.”
Super sick closer, right? As we were building this world and visualizing the character arc, there had to be a beginning and an end — “Awakening” and “A Violent End.”

That song came from me being really angry at things happening in the world — seeing vulnerable, innocent people taken advantage of by those who aren’t. I needed an outlet for that rage, and that became “A Violent End.”

What are you looking forward to most about your upcoming multi‑week tour with Five Finger Death Punch?
Do I have to pick just one? (Laughs.)

As a band, we’ve always wanted to play the biggest stages we could get on. We’re a live band first — we played in a garage for years, started with bar gigs. Playing live is huge for us.

So finally stepping onto some of the biggest stages out there is a dream. And to be going out with Five Finger Death Punch on a massive tour? Insane.

We’re first of three, and it’s two separate legs. This is touring in its boldest capacity. We’re a little intimidated, but we’re ready.

 “Blow,” with Spencer from Ice Nine Kills, has 27 million Spotify streams. What does that number mean to you?  It’s crazy to even comprehend a number like that.
Same — I can’t comprehend it either.

We play live, and we write from the heart. “Blow” was interesting because it was a new attitude for me to explore in the writing space, so I wasn’t confident in it at first. But the chorus is super catchy — it grew on me, and apparently everyone else agreed.

Twenty‑seven million? Wild.

I wanted to touch on your involvement with To Write Love on Her Arms and your mental health advocacy.
It’s huge for us. Mental health is a big conversation for most people who are into rock music. There’s a reason you listen to heavy music — if you’ve been through some stuff, you need an outlet.

For me specifically, I twilight as a rock artist and daylight as a psychotherapist. It’s important to me to put my money where my mouth is.

Villainous is about fighting your demons. To Write Love on Her Arms is about helping people fight theirs. It aligned perfectly.

Anchors just celebrated its ten‑year anniversary. When you look back on that album now, what do you think of it in retrospect?
Honestly, it’s still part of the foundation. We have so many fans who still reach back to Anchors — the song and the album. Some people have been following us that long.

When we wrote Villainous, we wanted to reach back to that authenticity. Anchors challenged us to be our most authentic selves — it was the first body of music that really felt like us.

On Love, Drugs & Misery, we listened to too many outside influences. It felt less us, more stripped down. We didn’t want that again. So we looked back at Anchors and asked, “What did we forsake that we need to bring back?”

And that’s how we got here.

Last question — do you have any messages for Eva Under Fire fans reading this now?
I love you all so much. We love you all so much. Thank you, thank you — and we can’t wait to see you real soon.

In Conclusion

Eva Under Fire’s story is one of persistence, evolution, and refusing to let outside voices dilute the truth of who they are. With Villainous, Amanda and the band reclaim their identity with a clarity that feels both hard‑won and triumphant. As they prepare to take their biggest stages yet — and continue championing mental health through both music and advocacy — it’s clear that Eva Under Fire isn’t just entering a new era. They’re defining it. And for the fans who’ve been with them since Anchors, and the ones discovering them now, Amanda’s message remains simple: the fire is only getting stronger.

(Interview by Ken Morton – Photos by Jack Lue)

Eva Under Fire on Instagram