Friends of old ANATHEMA, early MY DYING BRIDE or MORGION should better take notice of Dutch Doom / Deathers OFFICIUM TRISTE who have been active since 1994, released various demos, EPs, albums (for a complete discography click one of the links below) and offer very traditional, melodic, melancholic music with guitar melodies extremely close to ANATHEMA, atmospheric keyboards and sinister growls dragging you into the realm of utter depression… I guess most people into this kind of music will dig “Reason” at instant since it is 100% well-crafted dark music so solid there’s hardly anything worth of being criticised. The keyboard might have been reduced or even better completely left out, since it would have given the guitars more space and would not have plastered the obviously present heavy elements of OFFICIUM TRISTE with superfluous softness futile to this band. “Reason” is well structured, diversified and solidly produced (only the bass drum could have been much louder and incisive) and its weak points are absolutely minimal. As a Doom / Death fan you are usually not very blessed by a flood of releases and the possibility of a broad selection (this certainly has its advances), but with “Reason” there is an album that should be a valuable addition to your collection. www.officiumtriste.com, www.dis-order.com (Displeased Records website).