"The Haunting Of Sablewood" is the fourth EP from the Austrian black metal band, CARATHIS. It was independently released on May 5th, 2023. It will be released on the Personal Records label on September 15th, 2023. This is my first experience with this band. They inject a fair amount of gothic elements on this EP, which seems to be a haunted house concept album. The opening track, "It's Haunted!," begins with a somewhat old school guitar melody. Shortly afterwards, the keyboards come in playing a harpsichord tune that accents the riff nicely. The vocals are standard second wave black metal rasps with occasional spooky deep-voiced clean singing. The tempo changes from moderate to fast throughout the track. The atmosphere reminds me of KING DIAMOND at times. It's an excellent first track in that it showcases what the entire EP is all about.

The second track, "A Dark Secret," has a GHOST vibe, especially in the keyboard arrangement and the way the melody accentuates the guitar riffs. The tempo ramps up to what I would call traditional black metal speed at times. This sets them apart from what GHOST is doing and shows off their originality. For the most part, this is more of a gothic metal album than a black metal one along the same lines of TRIBULATION's current output. Most of the EP plays out with plenty of campy fun. The fifth and final track, "Skeleton Christ," has a punk feel with its high speed drumming and mostly clean vocals. It is a nice change from the eerie vibe of the other four tracks.

"The Haunting Of Sablewood" is not mind-blowing. It is, however, a well-orchestrated cheesy selection of tracks that are perfect for Halloween.