PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Masters of all things Doom, Officium Triste return with their latest album ‘The Death Of Gaia’
2019 marks a momentous landmark in the history of Officium Triste, as the guys from Rotterdam celebrate their 25th anniversary. And what better way to fly the flag and remind us all of how incredibly influential a band they have been, and indeed still are, than by releasing a true monster of a record in the form of ‘The Death Of Gaia’
Considering the length of time the band have been in existence, you might expect the back catalogue and output to be a lot more than it is, however Officium Triste have never been about adhering to the norm, continuing as they have to develop and test not only their own musical concepts and directions but testing the genre boundaries as well. ‘The Death Of Gaia’, to me anyway, confirms that. Yes it is unashamedly OC but it is also an album that could only have been born from a combination of maturity and a changing outlook on life and death and all things in between, a mixture of the benefit of hindsight and the uncertainty of the future
Opener, ’The End Is Nigh’ is filled with classic tones of sadness and grief and yet still has the ability to move you, never becoming too depressive that the listener can’t at least cling on to some tenuous threads of hope. The for all intents and purposes, instrumental track, ’A House In A Field In The Eye Of A Storm’ is slightly lighter and uplifting but still carries a suppression that holds you right to the very end
Female vocals and Doom, to me are a marriage made in Heaven, and on this album, enhance greatly the overall vibe. However, one of the most notable elements of this and previous OC offerings is how clear and accessible the male growl vocals are, again enhancing and weaving the album story as we travel through. Musically, the album is as strong as ever, a perfect balance of power and depressive riffs matched with a gloriously measured and incredibly strong rhythm section, the addition of string passages in places also lifting proceedings above and beyond the status quo
The way that the commercial side of things is these days, the album appears in a variety of formats and packages which can all be found on the Transcending Obscurity Records website, and I’m sure these will all be gobbled up by fans and collectors. However , this band has never been about hits and gold discs, it’s all about the release of feelings and emotions, and surely that is the greatest format of all
25 years is a long time in anyone’s books but this album shows beyond doubt that Officium Triste are riding the crest of a creative wave at this moment in time, proving with this album that they are still more than a force to be reckoned with
Recommended Track – World In Flames
Track Listing;
1. The End is Nigh
2. World in Flames
3. Shackles
4. A House in a Field in the Eye of the Storm
5. The Guilt
6. Just Smoke and Mirrors
7. Like a Flower in the Desert
8. Losing Ground
Band Line Up;
Martin Kwakernaak – Acoustic Guitars and Keyboards
Gerard de Jong – Guitars
Pim Blumenstein – Vocals
Niels Jordaan – Drums
William van Dijk – Guitars
Theo Pleisier – Bass
The Death Of Gaia is released through Transcending Obscurity Records on December the 13th
http://Transcending Obscurity Site
http://Officium Triste Bandcamp
http://Official YouTube Channel
