The fourth studio album of this Dutch band would even have received a higher rating, if it wasn´t the first of those six long songs (“Your Eyes”) that stuck out in a negative way: Those clean vocals sound too weird and nerve-straining, as if someone who can´t sing just tries... Yet soon afterwards Pim Blankenstein proves that indeed he can sing, and as a team with Johan Kwakernaak (git), Gerard de Jong (git), Lawrence Meyer (b) and Martin Kwakernaak (dr & keys) they create a wonderful suicidal atmosphere. Who does not give in after the slightly failed introduction and has a heart for depressive melodies in funeral march tempo will definitely enjoy Officium Triste. “My Charcoal Heart” will put a smile on the faces of early My Dying Bride fans, and “Signals” could be a track of the ultimate Goth band Fields Of The Nephilim, before their Industrial phase. An outstanding Doom Metal CD!