SAD OFFICIUM – Hortus Venenum

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7.0

• Band:
  SAD OFFICE
• Duration: 00:41:02
• Available from: 06/09/2024
• Label:

• Transcending Obscurity

Streaming not yet available

Officium Triste, veterans of the Dutch death-doom scene, celebrate thirty years of career with “Hortus Venenum”, their seventh album. This new work undoubtedly confirms the coherence of the Rotterdam group, which in its path has always preferred to proceed at a relaxed pace, aiming, as much as possible, for quality rather than quantity, almost as if they wanted to replicate the staid and melancholic mood of their music.
Since their debut, the band has embraced an atmospheric and sorrowful sound, with romantic traits that have never faded despite the passing of the years and the profound change in the metal landscape. “Hortus Venenum” continues on this path, without deviating too much from the sounds that have made the sextet a point of reference for fans of this particular genre.
It must be said that, compared to their early days, the influences of My Dying Bride, although still perceptible, are certainly less dominant today. Over time, Officium Triste have tried to emancipate themselves from the shadow of the Peaceville triad (also including Anathema and Paradise Lost), trying to define their own style within very traditional parameters. Release after release, the band has built its own solid identity within the European panorama, becoming in its own way an example, as well as a living testimony of a way of understanding these sounds that has certainly seen better times, in terms of popularity and hold on the public. In this sense, “Hortus Venenum” could easily be a product of twenty or twenty-five years ago, in its recalling the atmospheres of old glories of their country like Orphanage and Celestial Season and in recalling the so-called golden age of European death-doom.
In any case, the new album is not completely devoid of novelties or subtle evolutions. Some songs are in fact a bit more compact and airy than the usual standards of the repertoire, with sometimes a reduced insistence on certain gothic superstructures (choirs, violins, etc.) and on the more doom atmospheres, in favor of a vague vivacity that can recall some solutions of Novembers Doom. This slight evolution does not betray the roots of the Dutch, which remain firmly anchored to dark and heavy sounds, with an undeniable nineties touch. In this sense, Officium Triste demonstrate once again that they know how to carefully handle a musical genre that for many others has totally gone out of fashion, remaining one of the last pure standard-bearers of a musical current that has seen many of its historical protagonists abandon it in a more or less blatant way.
Sure, some passages can actually be a bit too predictable and a certain lyrical imagery can sound dated, but, if you look closely, it is also true that it would not be up to veterans like the Dutch to experiment and introduce novelties in this field. For those looking for new frontiers, the wait is for the new blood, if they ever decide to arrive. In its own right, “Hortus Venenum” proves to be a pleasant listen, which confirms the intact passion and authenticity of the band grappling with yet another tribute to a musical season now almost forgotten.