ETHERNITY – The Human Race Extinction (2018)
Hailing from Belgium, ETHERNITY are a female fronted progressive metal act which are about to release their new album “The Human Race Extinction” tomorrow. A band that has taken the time to truly develop before spreading their wings for global conquest, Ethernity have been plugging along for well over a decade.
Over the course of two full-lengths (starting with 2006’s The Journey) and an EP, they’ve invested themselves in nurturing something that doesn’t immediately come off as ‘yet another female fronted metal’ album.
Full of nuance and grandiose playing across the board, “The Human Race Extinction” is bound to turn some heads in the melodic metal community.
There’s a broad spectrum of influences that make their way into Ethernity’s sound. Given the sci-fi look of the cover art, there’s little surprise when you hear the heavy crunch when it comes to the riffing and dominant keyboards.
Keyboards are a highlight in particular, and for me it’s a bonus. Then there’s Julie Colin great melody vocal lines. She’s like a cross between Charlotte Wessels (Delain) and call me nuts, Pat Benatar at places.
Colin isn’t afraid to transcend some boundaries either. With a somewhat raspy and powerful delivery, she meshes nicely with the thundering riffage that often accompanies her (even on the slightly more melodic ‘Warmth of Hope’) while still providing something that’s pretty accessible in tone.
Flashy leads and solos (even some on the keyboard end) provide some wow factor without going too far into indulgent prog and frequently are a very well rounded.
Among the highlights title track ‘The Human Race Extinction’ is driven by grind guitars, great keyboards, we have a big chorus and there’s a raging solo. Very melodic all around, as the entire CD.
‘Mechanical Life’ has a more laid back vocal section that goes into a strong, though still reserved, chorus with those huge guitars. This segues into ‘Grey Skies’ with a busy and good instrumental lead in before letting loose with the chugging riffs. And another big chorus.
‘Artificial Souls’ is another track to mention plenty of keyboards / synths arrangements and an extremely catchy chorus.
As a whole, “The Human Race Extinction” is a bouncy, synth-driven progressive metal with a little ‘power’ (think somewhere on the modern side of the genre), and despite the crunchy approach, there’s some immediacy to the material as well.
It’s more fresh-sounding than you might expect. For what it’s worth, at a daunting 70-minutes in length, the album doesn’t waiver in quality, a definite nod to their songwriting chops.
Qualities that are certain to make Ethernity a quickly rising act with proper word of mouth.
Strongly Recommended
01. Initialization
02. The Human Race Extinction
03. Mechanical Life
04. Grey Skies
05. Beyond Dread
06. Artificial Souls
07. Redefined
08. Rise Of Droids
09. Mark Of The Enemy
10. The Prototype
11. Not The End
12. Warmth Of Hope
13. Chaos Architect
14. Indestructible
Julie Colin (Vocals)
Julien Spreutels (Keyboards)
Nicolas Spreutels (Drums)
Francesco Mattei (Lead Guitar)
François Spreutels (Bass)
Thomas Henry (Guitar)
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www.amazon.de/Human-Race-Extinction-Digipak/dp/B07FDKWPB2
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