Eths: Autopsie & Samantha

French metal quintet revisit their early EPs

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Eths have been going for absolutely ages but it’s only within the last five or so years that they’ve started to gain recognition outside their native France. This reissue of their first two proper EPs is for the recently enlightened curious to hear how the quintet’s bittersweet blend began.

The 18 tracks here are a showcase of one of France’s finest contemporary metal bands. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Eths’ early material is truer to their post-nu metal and core influences than the avant-garde metal fusion of their more recently released albums. Autopsie’s no-nonsense grind is counterbalanced by original frontwoman Candice Clot’s incredible schizophrenic melodies – she was replaced by not one but two vocalists when she left last year.

Samantha’s infectious groove and downtuned guitars make it more recognisable; it’s unsettling, compelling to listen to and the creeping multi-part symphony of Animadversion is guaranteed to send shivers down the spine. Add to that the four explosive demo versions that lurk at the end and this is a real feast for the ears.

Natasha Scharf
Deputy Editor, Prog

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.