On February 3rd, 2023 internationally, PERSONAL RECORDS is proud to present a new double-EP from CARATHIS, Amethyst & Moonstone, on CD format.
CARATHIS’ second release for PERSONAL, Amethyst & Moonstone includes two EP recordings – 2021’s The Amethyst Fortress, previously only available digitally, and the otherwise-unreleased The Moonstone Temple – totaling 45 minutes across nine tracks. Truly, these two recordings see CARATHIS hitting a fever pitch of creativity. Whereas the band upon their Hymns to the Tower debut EP (later released by PERSONAL as a split with SULFURE) were a duo and here Skol was in charge of the drum assault, the band now has recruited Palisade to take care of the skins and the result could not be better. In the string department we have mainman Erech Leleth, who concurrently plays in label mates GRANDEUR as well as Ancient Mastery, Narzissus, and Golden Blood and who delivers and all out epic attack. As such, Leleth takes the CARATHIS sound to uncharted mysticism and splendor. The first five tracks on this collection belong to The Amethyst Fortress, which is aptly titled, for a purple-velvet sensation arises from its grim hysteria, creating a unique disconnect amidst the nowadays “Bandcamp black metal” scene.
Clearer and more cutting is the four-song Moonstone Temple, which follows next on this CD. The medieval organs are even more prominent here, often leading the charge and yet never softening the central attack. It might be tempting to qualify CARATHIS at this stage as symphonic black metal, no matter how raw they remain, but more accurately could one put the band alongside other organ-prominent practitioners like early Solefald and Sigh or even Negura Bunget and the brass-led Sear Bliss. But, it’s early days still for CARATHIS, and Erech Leleth is already proving to be a formidable entity with Amethyst & Moonstone.
