Pim Blankenstein - Vocals
Bram Bijlhout - Rhythm guitar
Martin Kwakernaak - Keyboards
Ronald Lagerwaard - Drums
Gerard de Jong - Lead guitar
Lawrence Meyer - Bass guitar
Quote:
Officium Triste is a Doom metal band from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. They refer to their style often as Rotterdoom.
Officium Triste was formed in 1994 out of the ashes of death metal band Reïncremated. The members of Reïncremated changed their style to
a more melodic and heavy approach, being influenced by Paradise Lost,
My Dying Bride and Anathema. After a couple of months their first musical act "Demo 1994", saw the light of day. A self-financed 7" EP was recorded in 1995 and released in 1996, called "Mountains of Depressiveness". These 2 releases led to a deal with Dutch label
Teutonic Existence Records. The debut album - Ne Vivam - released in '97, gained very good critics worldwide and the band started playing live more often, with supporting Anathema as a highlight. In 1998 the band released a self-financed split MCD with traditional doomsters Cold Mourning. After this release, the band split up for ~ 7 months, and after they came back together, they started writing new stuff. A promo was recorded which got them a deal with Dutch label Displeased
Records and, in 2001, album "The Pathway" was released. The 3rd album, "Reason" saw the light of day in 2004 and, in the same time, Badger Records released the debut "Ne Vivam" on vinyl and in 2005 Russia's Serpent's Lair released "Ne Vivam" on CD after years of unavailability. In 2007, they released their 4th album - Giving
Yourself Away, that is the last album featuring Johan on guitars as
he decided to call it quits.
He was replaced soon enough with Bram Bijlhout, who used to play guitar and growl in the band.
The latest news from the early 2008 said that Martin has decided to quit drumming and start focusing on the synth-parts exclusively, due to the fact that he lives in Germany and cannot come to all rehearsals, drumming being taken over by Ronald Lagerwaard ((ex- Imbolc, Absent Mind, Perpetual Misery).
/ XBTT (1) by Dejavu