After a brief spell spent operating as a traditional death metal band named Reincremated, the Netherlands' Officium Triste were reborn in 1994 as a traditional doom/death band -- and an exceptionally capable one, at that -- taking much inspiration from the works of Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Katatonia. And, since launching their career via 1996's Mountains of Depressiveness EP and 1997's eagerly embraced Ne Vivam LP, neither permanent bandmembers Pim Blankenstein (vocals), Gerard de Jong (guitar), and Martin Kwakernaak (keyboards) nor later additions Lawrence Meyer (bass) and Niels Jordaan (drums), who joined after 2001's The Pathway album, have found many reasons to waver from this philosophy. The closest they came to doing so was by dabbling in funeral doom tempos on subsequent albums like 2004's Reason and 2007's Giving Yourself Away, but given the latter's consistently engaging if largely surprise-free songwriting standards, there's little doubt that Officium Triste will carry on mining their chosen creative vein for many years to come. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia