Reason

which CD is nearest to my heart? Well, then I go for Officium Triste. I purchased ‘Reason’ during their tenth anniversary concert at the Baroeg on the 12th of June and it is an album that shows from front page to colophon which music I prefer.

This is however no sudden ebullition of mine, for as a fervent doom metal fan I bought ‘Ne Vivam’ years ago and later on ‘The Pathway’ was an excellent sample of melodic doom too. Those who love My Dying Bride and Anathema should not miss this Dutch band! They have stayed too long in the shadows by their own humbleness and activities on other dominions, while they always stood for quality. With this third release it is about time to spread their name.

With its 42 minutes the album contains only five compositions, but three of them are good for eight minutes in length. Not a second you are aware of this massive length because of the subtle changes of mood and rhythm. Above all the production sounds impressive. Each song glides majestic further on a melodic guitar-carpet that can be seen as a prolongation of the tradition of My Dying Bride and the English trilogy of doom. The music is completed with the warm grunt of Pim, who in contrary to the previous album, uses no clean vocals this time, but we meet some serene spoken interludes. There are regular accelerations with tight rhythms and matchless dynamic, to return to the primary doom idiom in the end.

The ominous keyboards sling through the songs constantly but yet it are the melancholic guitar melodies catching your attention mostly. Including some guitar-solos, for these are missing in most of the doom/death productions but not here. It is an album you better listen to as a whole to drag along in the heavy mid tempo haze where sadness reigns unconditionally. Slow, intense and high class!

This Dutch Doom Metal band called Officium Triste released a new cd in may 2004, called Reason. The cd contains 5 songs and they all sounds very good. Sometimes you can hear some Shape of Despair influences. But now about the album: The first song on this cd is In Pouring Rain. This is the shortest song of the cd. In it you hear very good guitar riffs and very beautiful keyboard parts. In this song the vocals start after 3 seconds. The drums are very slow, but sometimes they have a medium tempo. You also hear some guitar solo's in this song. About the next song, called The Silent Witness: I think that this is my favorite song of this cd. The song begins with a keyboard part. After one minute the vocals join in. I like the guitar riffs very much. You can hear some great guitar solo's as well. In this song you also hear some parts with clean vocals that sound good as well. The 3rd song, called This Inner Twist, begins with a guitar sound and a keyboard. After one minute you can hear the vocals. In this song you also hear some very good guitar riffs. After the guitar solo you hear a very beautiful keyboard part and at that same time you hear clean vocals as well. I like this song very much too. Than the 4th song, called The Sun Doesn't Shine Anymore. This song is the longest song of this cd. It starts with a keyboard part and after that you hear guitars. After 1 minute and 35 secons the vocals join in. In this song you hear very good guitars riffs, good drum riffs and also good keyboard parts. The 5th and last song is called A Flower In Decay and begins with a kind of piano part and at the background you hear the keyboard. The vocals can only be heard after 1 minute and 35 seconds. In this song you also hear some good guitar, drum and keyboard parts. I like this cd very much. It is maybe one of the best releases of the year! great job, Officium Triste.

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