Music / ETHS

Originally formed as What's the fuck in 1996, ETHS (alternately spelled as Eths) is a French goth/death/melodic/heavy metal/Alternative Metal band formed in the city of Marseille. The original lineup of ETHS, including former vocalist Candice Clot, came together in 1999 when the band was renamed to Melting Point. After the founding lineup was complete, the band again changed their name to "Hets", which they then decided to change to ETHS after realizing "Hets" sounded like the English word "heterosexual".

Their music uses a lot of Harsh Vocals and Metal Screams (performed by a female vocalist,) with often oppressive-sounding instrumentals. The lyrics often have very dark themes, using elaborate metaphors to deal with topics like abortion, rape, bulimia, death... III and especially Ankaa mark a thematic change, with many songs about mythological thematics, while retaining a similar writing style.

The band publicly disbanded in 2017, reuniting under the original lineup in 2023 for a one-off show at Hellfest.

• Melting Point (1998) (demo)
• Eths (1999) (demo)
• Autopsie (2000) (EP)
• Soma (2004) (studio album)
• Samantha (2002) (EP)
• Autopsie / Samantha (2004) (compilation)
• Tératologie (2007) (studio album)
• III (2012) (studio album)
• Ex Umbra In Solem (2014) (EP)
• Ankaa (2016) (studio album)
• The Best of Eths (2017) (best-of album)

Members:

• Candice Clot - vocals (1999-2012, 2017)^note Candice Clot and several other members of the original line-up performed during the final tour
• Rachel Aspe - vocals (2013-2016)
• Stéphane "Staif" Bihl - guitar, samples, vocals (1999-2017)
• Damien Rivoal - bass (2011-2016)
• Marc "Roswell" Burghoffer - bass (1999-2006, 2017)
• R.U.L - drums (2015-2016)
• Guillaume "Yom" Dupré - drums (1999–2006, 2011–2015, 2017)
• Grégory "Greg" Rouvière - guitar (1999-2013, 2017)

This group provides examples of:

• And I Must Scream: "Amaterasu", which is about the Japanese myth of Amaterasu and Susanoo, ends with Amaterasu begging Susanoo to let her leave the cave she was hiding in.
• Bad Ass Boast: "HAR1" alternates between describing some sort of biblical Evil Overlord and the boast of the protagonist of the song, who fights against them. The chorus is part of the boast:
  Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms
  but the horror of the shade,
  And yet the menace of years find and shall find me unafraid.
  It matters not how strait the gate,
  How charged with punishments the scroll,
  I am the master of my fate ;
  I am the captain of my soul.
• The Band Minus the Face: Candice Clot left the band in 2012 and got replaced by Rachel Aspe as the new lead singer. They only released an EP and a studio album before Eths disbanded.
• Bilingual Bonus: Most of the songs are in French, but some of the title are foreign words or phrases.
  • The Soma album is named after an ancient Greek word which means "body".
  • Tératologie opens with a short, instrumental track named "Stultitiae Laus." It means "Praise of Folly" in Latin, a pretty accurate name considering how dissonant the track sounds.
  • "Ex Umbra In Solem" is Latin for "From shadow to light."
  • "Nefas" is Latin for "which is not allowed."
  • "Nihil Sine Causa" is Latin for "Nothing without cause."
• Cosmic Motifs: The three final tracks of the Ankaa album are named "Alnitak," "Alnilam," and "Mintaka," the three stars of Orion's Belt. Ankaa itself is named after the formal name of the star Alpha Phoenicis.
• Cover Version:
  • The limited edition of III features a particularly badass cover of "Music" by Madonna.
  • Three of the songs of Ex Umbra In Solem are songs from III ("Voragine"^note English version, "Harmaguedon", "Proserpina") re-recorded with vocals performed by Rachel.
  • Soma ends with a hidden track consisting in an acoustic cover of "Ailleurs C'est Ici", the album penultimate track, where Candice does all the vocals.
• Crosscast Role: "Rutsah" is written in first person from the perspective of an explicitly male narrator. The vocals are performed by Candice with her usual voice.
• Death of a Child: In "Samantha", the eponymous character is a baby who dies from physical abuse.
• Foreign Language Title: Most of the songs are in French, but a lot of them have Latin title (e.g.: "Anima Exhalare", "Gravis Venter", "Inanis Venter", "Ex Umbra In Solem", etc.). "Nihil Sine Causa" is another song with a Latin title, with vocals in English. Also, the Soma album is titled after an ancient Greek word, and Ankaa is named after the Arabic name of a star.
• Greatest Hits Album: The Best of Eths, released the year Eths disbanded.
• Harsh Vocals: Pretty much every song utilizes this.
• Hair-Raising Hare: Tératologie artworks feature dead flayed rabbits.
• Hidden Track: Most albums end with one, which usually consists in remix of pre-existing Eths songs (the only original hidden track is "Entends-tu", at the end of Samantha.)
• Human Sacrifice: "Rutsah" is about a (willing) man burned alive as a sacrifice to the Devil. The lyrics are told from the sacrificed's perspective.
• Last Note Nightmare:
  • "Bulimiarexia" ends with the sound of a woman puking into a toilet.
  • "V.I.T.R.I.O.L." ends with a woman screaming and the sound of repetitive, muffled thumping. The terrifying implications are strong in that song.
• Later-Installment Weirdness: Most of their songs are in French, are originally written instead of being either covers or based on a poem, and feature Candice/Rachel as the main vocalist (beside some early songs), but there's two exceptions in later albums:
  • "HAR1" from Ankaa (the last album, not counting their best-of) is notable for fitting none of those properties. The song is in English, the lyrics aren't entirely original (the chorus is verse 3 and 4 of William Ernest Henley's Invictus), and the chorus is only sung by Björn Strid, a male guest (Rachel sungs the verses).
  • The limited edition of III contains a cover of Madonna's "Music", sung in English. Candice is the main vocalist on this one.
• Lyrical Dissonance: Not the original songs themselves, but the band performed acoustic covers of a few of their songs ("Détruis-moi," "Ondine," "Proserpina," "Gravis Venter") during a 2012 radio interview for the French radio station Oüi FM. It results in songs with the same disturbing lyrics, now sung with a gentle voice accompanied with a quiet tune played on an acoustic guitar.
• Metal Scream: Most song contains instances of the Harsh Vocals variant.
• Mood Whiplash: "Détruis moi" begins with fervent guitar and Metal Screams galore, and then transitions into a surprisingly calm verse.
• Non-Indicative Name: "HAR1" isn't about human genetics but about an evil overlord and their antagonist.
• Public Domain Character:
  • "Amaterasu" is about the myth of Amaterasu and Susanoo.
  • "Nixi Dii" mentions several times Juno, under various alternate names. The title is a variant of the spelling of Roman deities of birth.
• Revolving Door Band: The guitarist Staif is the sole member who remained for the whole duration of the band. In a more literal sense of "revolving" than many other examples, the original line-up performed during the 2017 final tour, Candice replacing Rachel as the lead singer.
• Self-Titled Album: Two distinct self-titled albums were released thanks to the band changing name in its early years. One year before the Eths EP, their first release was named Melting Point, after the band's name at the time.

• Soprano and Gravel:
  • Usually inverted. As the main singer, Candice/Rachel does both, though gravel is more present. A few songs feature a male guest providing extra vocals, which sound much less harsh.
  • Played straight in both version of Ailleurs C'est Ici. In the standard version, a male guest does the harsher vocals from the verses and Candice sings the soft chorus. In the accoustic version (Soma final hiddent track), the whole song is soft and Candice sings all the vocals.
• Stalker with a Crush: "Entends-tu" is about a stalker who follows a woman with the intent of raping her, and possibly killing her after the act.
• Translated Cover Version: There's two versions of III. The French edition has every track sung in French, the international edition features several of them (Voragine, Adonaï, Gravis Venter, Anateimnein) sung in English. The 2017 best-of features the English versions of Adonaï and Gravis Venter.
• Title Track: "Autopsie", "Samantha", "Tératologie", "Ex Umbra In Solem".
• Updated Re-release:
  • The Autopsie EP (first release in 2000) has been re-released in 2003 with an extra track.
  • A double album consisting in a bundle of the Autopsie and Samantha EPs has been released in 2004, consisting in the 2004 version of Autopsie with two videos of live performances, while Samantha includes the music video for the eponymous song.
  • The Autopsie/Samantha double album was reedited again in 2012, keeping the core tracks from the original EPs but changing the bonuses.
  • Soma (2004) has been reedited in 2012. The bonus tracks are four demo versions of Soma tracks.
• Villain Protagonist: "Entends-tu" is written from the perspective of a stalker who intends to rape a woman.
• Weight Woe: "Bulimiarexia" features a demon personifying bulimia and mentions of self-vomiting. The title is a neologism which could be translated as "appetite of ravenous hunger."