With a couple of stops and re-starts in the early years, the Dutch doom/death heavyweights Officium Triste are now well into the third decade of their existence, having honed their mastery of tragedy to a razor’s edge, creating music of both heart-breaking poignancy and crushing despair. On December 13th they will release their sixth album, and their first through Transcending Obscurity Records. Entitled The Death of Gaia, it explores ruinous loss on an epic scale, with music that matches the sweeping catastrophe of its conceptions.
Today we present the album’s closing track, “Losing Ground“, which provides a grand summation of the band’s powers, and of the changing dynamics of their music. It provides little reason for hope, but its hopelessness is nevertheless absolutely spellbinding. Continue reading »
