A French psychedelic rock band formed in Nice in 1969, Catharsis consisted of Roland Bocquet (organ, piano, glockenspiel, vocals), Yves de Roubaix (guitar, vocals, rattle), Patrick Moulia (guitar, musical saw, Jew's harp, harmonica, vocals), Charles Eddi (drums, percussion) and Charlotte Boutillier (vocals, violin, percussion). Signed to the Saravah label, the group, which includes Alain Geoffroy (charango, piano, vocals), made a name for themselves on their debut album of the same name, featuring four predominantly instrumental tracks, punctuated by backing vocals, onomatopoeia and shouts along the lines of "Masq", chosen as the theme tune for Europe No. 1's radio program C'est ma planète, "Cantique" and "Tunel extatique", shortened versions of which were released as 45-turn singles. After having accompanied actor Bernard Verley in the narration of poems on the album Rimbaud C'Est Toi (1972), the second album includes the pieces "Les Chevrons" and "Rien", which form part of the group's stage repertoire alongside the other emblematic tracks "32 mars" (1972), "Styx", included on the album Le Boléro du Veau des Dames (1974), "Cachemire" (1975) and "Dis oui " (1975), which opens the following Et S'Aimer... Et Mourir... Et Mourir... (1976). After the group split up in 1977, the compilation Masq - Les Chevrons - 32 Mars, released by the Griffe label in 1990, featured various versions of the chosen tracks. In 2004, Catharsis returned with Roland Bocquet, Yves de Roubaix and Pascal Duchêne, for the album Oxo.
