OFFICIUM TRISTE - Hortus Venenum
Transcending Obscurity Records
So if you're into Euro style Death Doom with a heavy slant towards the inbetween of a melodic / gothic sound then maybe you've heard of this Dutch band. Then again if you haven't well you're forgiven and I'll explain why. First off since the Dutch Death Doom scene already has some high profile acts. You can see why OFFICIUM TRISTE might get pushed to the back of the line for a listener to check out (more on that later).
Secondly OFFICIUM TRISTE are not the type of band who'll pump out releases on a regular basis. For most of their career (and they did have a short break up in the late 90's) they've taken their sweet time. Now if you're a fan then that's a plus because you want the best musical offering from the artists. So here we have their seventh full length release in a thirty year career.
Now in all honesty I didn't get into OFFICIUM TRISTE until I'd say 2012. That's about a close proximity. But anyways I have three heritages aka: Dutch, Irish and German (yeah the tough ones) and of course if I see some Dutch extreme metal I'm gonna check it out. But hey I'm one of those people, mentioned earlier, who checked out other acts first.
So yeah over a decade ago I got three of their releases which came out on Displeased Records all because they were highly recommended. Two of which were the full lengths Reason from 2004 and Giving Yourself Away from 2007. The third release I got was a compilation from 2009. Now as much as I liked those releases I never invested into their early stuff nor did I bother to check out what came afterwards. In fact I didn't check out their last release The Death of Gaia which came out on this label. But hey life allows for second chances.
Now I alluded to OFFICIUM TRISTE's musical style within the genre earlier but let me give you a better analogy. If you're familiar with Death Doom from England and Finland then OFFICIUM TRISTE's sound is right inbetween. In fact it's always been like that which might've been why they've never been a house hold name.
I just wanna say after my first listen to Hortus Venenum I went back to the stuff I have by em and compared. Now sure I like the releases I have but this new one in this year is really fuckin good. I mean Pim Blankenstein's bear/beast vocals (he also does spoken word stuff) is classic as far as the style goes. But when you blast this inside a room (actually my office) it comes across at times as if he's there talking / singing to ya. Which can be a little freaky.
Add to that musically the riffs are not a main crushing focus. The keyboards helmed by former drummer Martin Kwakernaak are one part of the atmospheric sound structure. The other part is the melodic guitar soloing which runs throughout this six cut album. Listening to this is like waking up in the morning with the sun shining through the window onto your face.
In other words it's a melodically uplifting sounding release. I mean sure some people consider Euro Death Doom to be like sitting in a dark room, dressed in black and staring at a bottle of vodka and a loaded hand gun. That would be Finnish Death Doom. As far as the English version then that would be thinking vampires are real and you haven't been laid.
So in my not so humble opinion right now yeah this is my favorite OFFICIUM TRISTE album. I think it's one of the most amazing albums of 2024 (says the guy who loves old school DM). I'll also say if you're looking for something accessible to your adventurous musical tastes then this is a great starting point. The beast and beauty meet perfectly when it comes to Death Doom.
LISTEN HERE:
https://officiumtristedoom.bandcamp.com/album/hortus-venenum
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