Alright, the Thergothon tribute has been released and we got our copies.

Bram did an interview with The Metal Circus from Spain.

Well, this tribute album is finally gonna see the light of day this autumn. We recorded our track back in '07. Still it's cool to see it actually is being released. We can tell you stories about a certain compilation that never saw daylight. But hey, it's good to see Solitude Productions finally got all bands to submit their material. Here's the artwork. You can pre-listen to samples of the album on this website. http://solitude-prod.com/blog/

On September 5th we will perform at the venue of Get Rhythm, where we rehearse. This is a kind of warm up for the shows in the following weeks.

We are very proud to appear at this new festival in Madrid. The line-up is complete and as follows:

MADRID IS THE DARK FEST
11 & 12 September 2009
Ritmo & Compás

Viernes 11 Septiembre

NOVEMBRE (IT)

SATURNUS (DK)

ISOLE (SE)

ATARAXIE (FR)

HELEVORN (SP)

Sábado 12 de Septiembre

DRACONIAN (SE)

OFFICIUM TRISTE (NL)

AUTUMNAL (SP)

PROCESS OF GUILT (PT)

AATHMA (SP)

Panddemonium – Antwerp (BE)
Ok, here we go. This was the first show for the tour. After arriving in Antwerp we met the guys from Evoken and Isole. The venue was quite small and because Isole brought a big ass drum kit there was not too much room on stage (a problem we had at some more venues on this tour) We had some other problems this night. There was no gear available for our hard disc so we had to come up with a McGyver solution by using an effect pedal as an extension for some cables. In the end it worked and we could play normally.  The show was ok and the place was packed. This felt like a good start for the tour.

The Little Devil – Tilburg (NL)
Next stop was The Little Devil in Tilburg. This was on Sunday and unfortunately not too many people showed up, especially because the soundman managed to get a great sound for all bands. The bands did their set and after that we headed home to get ready to leave for Germany the next day.

Eiche Rock Kneipe – Crailsheim (DE)
We arrived in Crailsheim in the Eiche Rockkneipe in the afternoon. We set up the backline, had dinner, did the show and had a nice after party including some big buckets of long island ice tea (made by Roman). The next day was our only day off for this tour and after sleeping for some hours (on stage and in the venue…) we decided to go into town. The weather was great and we hit a terras to enjoy some great German beers. We had some good food in a restaurant en in the evening we just chilled at the venue and went to bed quite early to get some hours of sleep before leaving to Vienna.

Escape Metalcorner – Vienna (AT)
The trip to Vienna was long but we were at the Escape Metalcorner on time. Even the owner of the venue was not there yet so all the bands had some beers in the sun while waiting. The venue was a great metal bar with a stage in the basement. Lots of people showed up this night and the soundman did a great job giving all the bands a crushing sound. We were supposed to sleep at someone’s house but decided to drive all night to Jena in Germany. Hoping to arrive there in the morning, check into our hotel and get some hours of sleep.

Rosenkeller – Jena (DE)
Everything went as expected and we did manage to arrive on time to get some hours of sleep in the hotel. After that we went to the venue. The Rosenkeller, located in a huge basement under the streets of Jena, a labyrinth with different rooms and a great stage. Before the show there was meat from the BBQ and we had some beers in the sun. At showtime the place was completely packed and all the bands gave a great show. This has probably been one of the best shows on this tour. We ended up in the hotel late that night and had a good after party in the hallway of the hotel. Some crazy things were going on and we actually managed to get some of the craziness on video…

Amnesie – Berlin (DE)
With a few hangovers here and there we headed to Berlin. After arriving at the Amnesie club we put up our gear on a very small stage, walked around a bit and sat in the sun (yes, we had some great weather this week) The show was good. The small venue was sold out and while the bands were playing it was impossible to enter the venue. Again this night was good for the bands. I think all the bands sold quite some merchandise which is a good indication that the bands played very well. After the show we went to a hostel. One of us stayed in the van that night so that we didn’t have to unload it and so we could leave early to our hometown Rotterdam for our 15 years anniversary show.

Baroeg – Rotterdam (NL)
Back in Rotterdam we were able to spend some time at Pim’s house to take a shower and rest a bit. Then we went back to Baroeg to meet up with all the other bands that were playing that night. Two great tours coming together for a great doom night. The line up for this evening was fantastic with bands like Mouning Beloveth, Mournful Congregation, Longing For Dawn and all the bands from our tour (Evoken, Isole and us). We had a lot of friends there that night and maybe because of that (a bit nervous) the show wasn’t as good as the other nights. Still we gave it all we got and I think the audience liked it. A nice addition to this show was the fact that former guitarist Johan joined us on stage for 2 songs from the Giving Yourself Away album. Pim also did some guest vocals on Isole’s Autumn Leaves. After the show we had a small party. We didn’t stay up too long, knowing we had to leave for France really early the next morning.

Doom Over Paris - Le Klub – Paris (FR)
Ok, we know that Paris is not the easiest city to drive in but actually this went pretty good until…..we had to find a parking space. We had to park the van quite far from the venue but we could unload the gear in front of the venue. Le Klub, located in the center of Paris is a small club with a very small stage. We never played with an audience so close to our instrument. They were almost on stage with us. The place looked sold out and before the show there was actually a huge line in front of the entrance. All bands did well again this night and after the show we could sleep at someones house in a small town just outside of Paris. This was a huge house were we had some beers, could take a shower and had some nice beds to sleep in. In the morning we left France to enter Belgium for the second time this tour.

Haunting The Chapel Fest – Herenthout (BE)
The Haunting the Chapel fest is being held in a small church. It’s really nice to play our music in a place like this although we had a really hard time getting a good sound at this location. Also we were unfortunate to be the only band that day that suffered 2 power breaks so we had to start over some songs. There was free beer and food all day and it was just a nice day in general. We headed back to Rotterdam after the show together with the guys from Isole. We had an after party till early in the morning and then for us the tour was over.

In this place we would like to thank a few people. Evoken for giving us chills every night with their “scary doom”. Isole for their Epic doom and a lot of laughs. And all the other bands we played with on this tour. We have to mention all the people that showed up at the shows because without them we actually had no show to play, so thanks for that. We had a great time.

Special thanks to Simone and Rene for driving, selling merchandise and helping out in general.

This was an experience we will not soon forget.

Cheerz,
Bram (on behalf of Officium Triste)

Next Saturday we kick off the short European tour with Evoken and Isole in Antwerp Belgium. Our last rehearsals went fine so we're ready to kick some ass.
good to see the Evoken and Isole guys again and we're also looking forward meeting up with bands like Ophis, Mournful Congregation, Longing for Dawn, The Eternal, Akelei Mourning Dawn, Ataraxie, Marche Funebre and of course our Irish mates in Mourning Beloveth.

Simone has packed all the merchandise and we just got word the new CD will be in on time. So make sure to buy that one at our gigs as it officially will be released on May 15th. It's got a killer new song, an acoustic version of My Charcoal Heart and more great stuff.

So another week at the job and then we're off. Hope to see you all on the road!