Celebrating thier thirtieth year with a seventh full-length album Rotterdam, Netherlands-based melodic death-doom metal sextet OFFICIUM TRISTE continue to source inspiration from the gothic death and doom metal of the 1990’s on this cumulative update to their sound. Leaning into profundity rather than plain excess ‘Hortus Venenum‘ takes stock of past-and-present strengths in accumulating some sensation of signature craft without attempting any sort of bold escape from their long-occupied niche. Reaching for a few choice hooks and some appreciable emotional resonance here and there this record does well to reinforce where these folks have been over the years and what’d proven worth carrying along over the years, charming without completely devastating the listener on this quick enough display of their full spread.

Assumedly named for the first Suffocation demo, Reincremated formed as a death metal band in the early 90’s eventually observing the tidal shift toward dark metal and the overall influence spread by the U.K. melodic death/doom metal scene, changing their name to Officium Triste and leaning into said sound circa 1994. Possibly inspired by Paradise Lost‘s third album and its somewhat rocking shift alongside the sombre drudge of ‘Dance of December Souls‘ their first demo tape (‘Officium Triste‘, 1994) featured strong use of harmonized guitar leads as its main standout feature, landing their introduction somewhere between early Celestial Season and Novembers Doom in its interpretation of the “Peaceville three” inspired sound. The ‘old school’ skulls out there will appreciate the death metal side of this tape, though the band would quickly recognize their strengths and lean into slightly more tuneful stretches on their well-regarded first EP (‘Mountains of Depressiveness‘, 1996) which’d never impressed me all that much. The best-realized versions of most of the songs found on their demo and EP would end up on the well-regarded 1997 debut album from the band, ‘Ne Vivam‘. If you’re not familiar with the band and aren’t sure where you can cut right to the good stuff that’d be it and it remains my main point of fandom as both a product of its time and an exemplar feature of melodic death/doom that is still viable death metal in spirit. If you’re less prone to address a full discography, seek out “A Journey Through Lowlands Green” as shining example of their craft.

From that point something snapped, they were “done” within a year or so and released a farewell EP (‘Roses on My Grave‘, 1999) before disbanding and then reforming soon after. At this point they’d made the dreaded transition to clean vocals using My Dying Bride‘s vision as their guidance, soon compounding this type of sound on ‘The Pathway‘ (2001) where I’d say we find something closer to Novembers Doom in general as the gothic death/doom metal spectrum takes ahold and the 90’s were then buried out back. This’d be their first recording to introduce much more prominent keyboards, not necessarily a signature but a focus in their work for some time as they’d developed a melodic voice of their own (see: “Camouflage”). This period of the band’s discography (their Displeased Records released trio) is best-loved by the melodic doom metal fandom at large, the point where they’d made their name among the die-hard crowd and such, but I’d not been all that interested beyond a few parts of ‘Giving Yourself Away‘ (2007) their most dramatic and cohesive album of said trio. They’d re-emerged in 2013 signed to the venerable Hammerheart Records with ‘Mors Viri‘ having seemingly taken stock over the years between, resembling their earlier death-doom metal attuned sound a bit more. This is where I’d picked the band back up and the main reason I’ve kept up with them, having enjoyed the prettier side of ‘The Death of Gaia‘ (2019) to some degree but holding no real expectations for ‘Hortus Venenum‘ beyond recognizing the band at a glance.

Just because a band has been around for decades, three now in their case, doesn’t mean anyone needs to consider Officium Triste “legendary” in any sense but they’ve had some notable moments along the way as they’ve built upon the classic melodic death/doom metal sound, seemingly reverting back to their core during the 2010’s. As is the case with many bands conscious of the fandom they’ve picked up over the years this particular album is cumulative without being wholly retrospective, a balancing point between the solemn return of ‘Mors Viri‘ and the sentimental dysphoria of ‘The Death of Gaia‘ which aims for two main emotional fonts, nostalgic familiarity and despair. With no reason to roll back entirely to the less original but no less effective strata offered by ‘Ne Vivam‘ they’ve at least pulled back into the dramatic intimacy of the mid-to-late 90’s here in some respect as we step into the gothic horror synth and spoken intro to opener “Behind Closed Doors” though the brain should light up a bit as the lead guitar hook and main motif of the song hits around ~1:44 minutes in. This should secure interest for the classics-minded melodic death-doom fan up front, a sound which is both familiar and affected enough to stick in mind before they complete the thought starting around the ~3:45 minute mark. As a first impression this is a finely crafted song with a simple enough level of connectivity built into its form. Consider it a strong opening statement elaborated within “My Poison Garden”, as close to a title track as we get here which upholds that melodic lead guitar driven voice and songcraft which is mapped nigh identically with two waves of dramatic reprise.

Starting off with two similarly built songs before going for a far more sentimental stroke on “Anna’s Woe” feels like a downturn from my point of view as my interest began to severely wane during that third piece. The listening experience wasn’t irredeemable in my case but I wasn’t sure that this album would have much to my interest beyond its opening moments. That said “Walk In Shadows” is probably the best song here, reprising some of the existential confessional spirit of ‘Giving Yourself Away‘ from a different perspective while also carrying over some off-kilter riffcraft which does actually reprise the spirit of their 90’s material in good (albeit different) form. If there was any magick to their work in the past still resonant in their work here it is surely felt within this piece. Otherwise “Forcefield” deserves some mention for bringing an unusually rocking heavy metal stride within certain movements, an ‘epic’ sort of build that doesn’t quite fit but ultimately compliments the full listen. Otherwise I believe longtime fans will appreciate the closer (“Angels With Broken Wings”) but I’d found it mild, somewhat generic as some of their 2000’s releases.

Though they’ve managed some substantial and standout moments here on ‘Hortus Venenum‘ the truly dreary extremes of this album didn’t ultimately do it for me. The most ancient, or, timeless aspects of this album hold up well enough to repeat listens as do the new additions to their oeuvre but I’d naturally not found every bit to my taste within an album which appears cumulative in some stylistic sense. Fans of Officium Triste shouldn’t disappointed, though, as this fairly succinct (~42 minutes) and easily approached album connects with the listener without wholly taxing them down to their marrow. Add in consideration for the richly textured illustrative work of Paolo Girardi as a first impression and the whole experience comes together nicely, with great sense as a nowadays addition to their long-held stature. A moderately high recommendation.

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