Death is June - OFFICIUM TRISTE : "Hortus Venenum"

This is the 7th album by this Dutch death-doom band, and the most striking thing about the sound of the opening track is how the backdrop of synth and guitar melodies being growled over sounds like something from a horror movie soundtrack. This is later balance out by a more hopeful soaring riff things climax into. All this tells me they are more than just dialing in a Paradise Lost tribute here. More of a doomed out melancholic lethargy possesses the second song which sonically is more somber. They shift the dynamics and build up into a more death metal pace that offers a little more light at the end of their tunnel, and thematically keep things in a similar spectrum minute the more horror movie-like creepiness this time. 

While things might not sound like a horror there is a cinematic feel to the big melodic sounds of "Anna's Woe". It is done in a manner that reminds me a bit of some of the more orchestral moments from post-rock bands like Sigur Rios. The vocals are beginning to become a little one-dimensional, and one of the few things anchoring the song to the metal roots. The low growl is not especially expressive and stays in the one lower register. 

"Walk in Shadows" is more atmospheric right from the start as you are hit with lush synths. This overall sound leans more in the direction of doom. There is a spoken word section, that changes the narrative voice in a more indulgently dramatic fashion that brings My Dying Bride to mind. The feel is not heavy, but this sounds great and is well arranged, so hard to fault them for not being the heaviest thing going as this feels like it is coming from a genuine place. It drifts down the same sad river, with the guitar melodies the shifting force over that directs things. This song is less hopeful which I appreciate as the bleaker tone adds a darker mood. 

There is a more mournful mood to the dirge-leaning "Forcefield". The vocals do shift by dropping into even lower growls. Things take the most drastic turn when they speed into more of a triumphant gallop. This also marks the second time a guitar solo has blazed out of the song with a more traditional metal approach. It would not sound out of place on an Iron Maiden album. It's on the more melodic breakdown when the drummer's nuanced approach is most noticed. They begin to float in a more optimistic chord progression that is juxtaposed by lapses into a more funeral doom-type thing. The last song just kind of coasts, there are some cool guitar lines in it but at ten minutes it needs more dynamics even with the level of melodrama the atmospheric elements bring.  Taking that into consideration and how dedicated they are to it for all ten minutes I will give this album an 8.5. If you like doom more than death metal this album should work for you.6th on Transcending Obscurity Records. /div>

pst305