Officium Triste

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Officium Triste
General information
origin Rotterdam , Netherlands
Genre (s) Gothic metal , death doom
founding 1994, 2000
resolution 1999
Website www.officiumtriste.com
Founding members
Drums
 Martin Kwakernaak
guitar
 Johan Kwakernaak
Electric bass
 Maarten vd Giessen
singing
 Pim Blankenstein
guitar
 Gerard de Jong
Current occupation
guitar
 Gerard de Jong
singing
 Pim Blankenstein
Keyboard
 Martin Kwakernaak
Drums
 Niels Jordaan
guitar
 William van Dijk
Electric bass
 Theo Plaisier
former members
Electric bass
 Johan Mijnster (1996-2000)
guitar
 Johan Tonnon (1999-2000)
Electric bass
 Lawrence Meyer (2000-2015)
guitar
 Bram Bijlhout (2007-2014)
Drums
 Ronald Lagerwaard (2008-2009)

Officium Triste is a Dutch Gothic Metal and Death Doom band that emerged in 1994 from the death metal band Reïncremated .

history

Dissatisfied with the creative direction of the death metal band Reïncremated, founded in 1991 by Martin and Johan Kwakernaak, both decided to leave the band. At that time Reïncremated consisted of the drummer Martin Kwakernaak, the guitarist Johan Kwakernaak, the guitarist Gerard de Jong, the singer Pim Blankenstein and the bassist Maarten van der Giessen. In April 1994 Martin and Johan Kwakernaak informed the other members of Reïncremated of their decision and justified this with a creative standstill of the group. In a clarifying conversation among the musicians, they explained another way of playing music that was more oriented towards Katatonia , Celestial Season , Type O Negative , Paradise Lost , Anathema and My Dying Bride . After the rest of the Reïncremated members were enthusiastic about the idea, the band decided to start over under a new name with a different style.

After the renaming, the group produced a demo tape in 1994 and in 1996 the EP Mountains of Depressiveness as well as a split demo MC with Kurb Saatus on their own. Meanwhile, van der Giessen left the group and was replaced by Johan Mijnster. With Ne vivam appeared in 1997 on the small Dutch and specializes in death metal independent label Teutonic Existence Records. The album was recorded in the Excess Studio in Rotterdam. The reviews of the album ranged from positive to mediocre. In particular, a lack of orientation was criticized. Years after its release, Blankenstein explained that the album wasn't a great success, but that it still made the band name known. Sporadic appearances followed, including an engagement as a support act for Anathema.

After another split release on their own, the group failed in 1999 due to internal conflicts. As a result of Blankenstein, the group argued too much and spoke too little to one another, which led to the dissolution of Officium Triste. Blankenstein as well as Martin and Johan Kwakernaak founded the project XI: LIX with Johan Tonnon as additional guitarist and Blankenstein as singer and bassist. Soon afterwards, the Officium Triste members met to look back together. The meeting soon turned into a reformation of the band, to which Tonnon joined at short notice as the third guitarist. Since he did not see a role for himself in the band, however, he left Officium Triste again in 2000 without having participated in the group's productions. Mijnster also left the group and was replaced by Lawrence Meyer.

After releasing another demo, the band signed a deal with Displeased Records to record the next album at Valvesound Studios. The recordings in the newly opened studio in April 2001 caused problems with the studio technology, which the owner of the studio had not yet mastered, and the band's alcohol consumption while mixing, resulting in a reduced sound quality of the album. The Pathway was released in October 2001. The reviews of the album were divided. While some praised the album as an upcoming genre classic, others condemned The Pathway as a clichéd disaster .

In the following two years the band made various appearances and began the writing process for the third studio album Reason , which was recorded and mixed in the band's own El Pato studio in February and March 2004. Reason was released in May 2004, as was its predecessor, via Displeased Records. Blankenstein describes the album as a concept album . Reason thus deals with the question of why certain things happen in life . The album was mostly discussed. It sometimes contains some genre classics and is considered one of the best releases and a showpiece of the group. Only a few texts on the album were judged to be clichéd and pubescent.

After further appearances, the band recorded their fourth album Giving Yourself Away in January 2007 in the Excess Studio in Rotterdam . After completing the recordings, founding member and guitarist Johan Kwakernaak decided to leave the band. The album was released on Displeased Records in May of the same year. In the meantime, Bram Bijlhout from Imbolc took over the vacant role of guitarist in April 2007. The album was little received and received mixed reviews. The judgments range from the fact that Giving Yourself Away is boring and uninspired Metal, to the fact that the band is "not yet in the Champions League" of the genre with this album, but "in the domestic league (...) right at the front "Up to that it was a" true Doom masterpiece ". In the same year the band recorded the track Crying Blood and Crimson Snow for the tribute album Rising Of Yog-Sothoth: Tribute To Thergothon, released in 2009 via Solitude Productions and dedicated to the band Thergothon . In 2008 Martin Kwakernaak moved to Germany and decided to give up the position of drummer in order to concentrate on the function of keyboard player. Ronald Lagerwaard, who had previously played with Bijlhout at Imbolc, joined Officium Triste as the new drummer. With this line-up, the band released the compilation Charcoal Hearts - 15 Years of Hurt with rarities, alternative versions of well-known tracks, a new track and a cover version of the track Love Like Blood by Killing Joke . The compilation published via Displeased Records was praised in reviews as a coveted collector's item due to the rarities it contained. In the same year Lagerwaard left the group due to scheduling problems and in his place Niels Jordaan from In Age and Sadness took over the position of drummer.

The following years the band spent mostly doing gigs and writing the subsequent album Mors Viri . The spatial separation and the professional obligations of the band members meant that the album was mainly written, rehearsed and recorded on weekends in the El Pato Studio, which had moved to Bergweiler with Martin Kwakernaak. Even before the release of Mors Viri , the split EP Immersed was released in 2012 with the German Death Doom band Ophis on the Spanish label Memento Mori . The album, however, was released the following year on Hammerheart Records . Mors Viri received increased attention compared to the previous albums and, unlike previous releases, almost consistently positive reviews, which it as a "really strong album (...) full of tension, goosebumps and bittersweet mood" as well as an "increase to the already very successful 'Giving Yourself Away" and (over) the entire season (...) exciting ”. Other reviewers such as Andreas Stappert from Rock Hard magazine praised the music as “enormously intense goosebumps songs with long-term emotional effects” and emphasized the band's resistance in the genre to more popular genre performers such as Katatonia or Anathema.

After the release of Mors Viri , the band's activity continued to decline. Officium Triste bought the rights to the recordings published on the label from Displeased Records in 2014, initiated a Bandcamp page to digitally sell the albums, some of which were out of print, and in 2016, in cooperation with Vic Records, had the album Reason re -released. Meanwhile, guitarist Bram Bijlhout left the group in 2014 and was replaced by William van Dijk from Whispering Gallery . Lawrence Meyer left the group the following year and was replaced by Theo Plaisier in 2016. However, there were no new publications.

In January 2017, the group announced that it would cooperate with Transcending Obscurity Records in the future . With World in Flames, the label released a demo piece by the band on a label sampler. Both Officium Triste and Transcending Obscurity Records made the piece available for download free of charge. In the same year a new release of the group appeared with the editors cover The Weight of the World, which was also sold as a download . The track subsequently became part of the split EP Broken Memories with the Chilean death-doom band Lapsus Dei , released in 2018 via Australis Records . The Death of Gaia was published in December 2019 and was praised as “a late hour of greatness” as well as a “beautiful spiritual examination of the fall of Mother Earth” and was included in various annual best lists.

style

The music played by Officium Triste is often assigned to Death Doom . In doing so, the group crosses the "borders of Death Doom" to Gothic Metal . The band is often compared in reviews to early and genre-defining representatives of Gothic Metal such as My Dying Bride , Paradise Lost , Katatonia and Anathema . The musicians confirm the influence of these groups and add other representatives such as Chorus of Ruin and Celestial Season to the list . Other recitals locate the group entirely in Gothic Metal. So called Garry Sharpe-Young notes played by Officium Triste style as Gothic Doom .

According to Markus Endres from metal.de , Officium Triste have been following this style since their existence “for sad, epic Death Doom Metal, as it was fashionable in the early 90s”. Meanwhile, the band's music is "characterized by melancholy soundscapes, with gorgeous, strong melody lines from guitars and keyboards, slow rhythms, deep growls and clear vocals." The song structures, which are considered to be complex compared to other genre performers, are often further emphasized. The group is not afraid to present its “technical skills.” The frequent use of guitar solos , which is atypical for the genre , is not an end in itself, but rather build in melodies that would shape the mood conveyed.

Discography

  • 1994: Demo '94 (demo, self-published)
  • 1996: Mountains of Depressiveness (EP, Weeping Willow Records)
  • 1996: Promo '96 (split demo MC with Kurb Saatus, self-published)
  • 1997: Ne Vivam (Album, Teutonic Existence Records)
  • 1998: Officium Triste / Cold Mourning (Split EP with Cold Mourning, Weeping Willow Records)
  • 1999: Roses on My Grave (EP, self-published)
  • 2000: Promo '00 (demo, self-published)
  • 2001: The Pathway (Album, Displeased Records)
  • 2004: Reason (Album, Displeased Records)
  • 2007: Giving Yourself Away (Album, Displeased Records)
  • 2009: Charcoal Hearts - 15 Years of Hurt (Compilation, Displeased Records)
  • 2012: Immersed (Split-Ep with Ophis, Memento Mori)
  • 2013: Mors Viri (album, Hammerheart Records)
  • 2017: The Weight of the World (Bandcamp download single, self-published)
  • 2018: Broken Memories (split EP with Lapsus Dei, Australis Records)
  • 2019: The Death of Gaia (Album, Transcending Obscurity Records)

Web links

literature

  • Garry Sharpe-Young: AZ of Doom, Goth & Stoner Metal . Rockdetector, 2003, ISBN 978-1-901447-14-9 , pp. 303 f . (English).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Aleks Evdokimov: Officium Triste Interview 15 Years of Fun by Pim Blankenstein. Doomantia, 2009, archived from the original on August 22, 2018 ; accessed on August 22, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Officium Triste: Bio. Officium Triste, November 2017, archived from the original on January 13, 2018 ; accessed on August 22, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Officium Triste. Malta Doom Fest, 2018, archived from the original on August 22, 2018 ; accessed on August 22, 2018 .
  4. ^ Eduardo Rivadavia: Officium Triste. Allmusic, 2008, archived from the original on August 22, 2018 ; accessed on August 22, 2018 .
  5. ^ Oscar Strik: Officium Triste: Ne Vivam. Doom-Metal.com, archived from the original on July 25, 2011 ; accessed on August 23, 2018 .
  6. ^ A b Pedro Azevedo: Officium Triste: Ne Vivam. Chronicles of Chaos, March 10, 1998, archived from the original on August 28, 2004 ; accessed on August 23, 2018 .
  7. ^ Officium Triste. Doom-Metal.com, 2013, archived from the original on March 8, 2013 ; accessed on August 22, 2018 .
  8. ^ Cl: Officium Triste: The Pathway. Obliveon, 2002, accessed August 24, 2018 .
  9. ^ Aldo Quispel: Officium Triste: The Pathway. Doom-Metal.com, 2002, accessed August 24, 2018 .
  10. ↑ a b Jez Andrews: Officium Triste: The Pathway. Maelstromzine, 2004, accessed August 24, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Florian: Officium Triste: Reason. metal.de, June 14, 2015, accessed on January 3, 2019 .
  12. ^ Rene W .: Officium Triste: Reason. June 23, 2015, accessed January 3, 2019 .
  13. ^ Christliar: Officium Triste: Reason. Trashcore, June 23, 2006, accessed January 3, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Alex: Officium Triste: Reason. metalreviews, 2004, accessed January 3, 2019 .
  15. ↑ janhuss: Officium Triste: Reason. metalstorm, September 17, 2004, accessed January 3, 2019 .
  16. ^ Joxe Schaefer: Officium Triste: Reason. crossfire-metal, 2014, accessed January 3, 2019 .
  17. ^ Calen Nesten: Officium Triste: Reason. metal-temple, July 13, 2015, accessed January 3, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Yiannis Dafopoulos: Officium Triste: Giving Yourself Away. metal-temple, accessed January 3, 2019 .
  19. ↑ a b Zimmer: Officium Triste: Giving Yourself Away. schwermetall.ch, accessed on January 3, 2019 .
  20. ↑ Marcel Hubregtse: Officium Triste: Giving Yourself Away. .metalstorm, accessed January 3, 2019 .
  21. ^ Lars Christiansen: Officium Triste: Charcoal Hearts - 15 Years of Hurt. Metalcrypt, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  22. ^ Mourning: Officium Triste: Charcoal Hearts - 15 Years of Hurt. Aristocrazia Webzine, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  23. ↑ a b c Markus Endres: Officium Triste: Mors Viri. metal.de, March 14, 2013, accessed on January 4, 2019 .
  24. ↑ Oliver Schreyer: Officium Triste: Mors Viri. music reviews, March 14, 2013, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  25. ↑ a b Andreas Stappert: Officium Triste: Mors Viri. Rock Hard, 2013, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  26. ^ Andreas Schiffmann: Officium Triste: The Death of Gaia. Rock Hard, 2019, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  27. ^ Peter Mildner: Officium Triste: Mors Viri. metal.de, 2019, accessed on March 31, 2020 .
  28. ↑ The Best Doom Metal Album - Metal Storm Awards 2019. Metal Storm, 2019, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  29. ↑ De Beste albums van eigen bodem uit 2019. Zware Metalen, 2019, accessed on March 31, 2020 .
  30. ^ A b Jan Müller: Officium Triste: Mors Viri. metal1.info, April 3, 2013, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  31. ↑ Garry Sharpe-Young: AZ of Doom, Goth & Stoner Metal . Rockdetector, 2003, ISBN 978-1-901447-14-9 , pp. 303 f . (English).
  32. ^ PM .: Officium Triste: Mors Viri. obliveon, 2013, accessed January 4, 2019 .