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Trees of Eternity > Hour of the Nightingale > Reviews
Trees of Eternity - Hour of the Nightingale

"Alive In Memory I'll Stay": A Self-Delivered Eulogy - 90%

AlexLucas, November 1st, 2023

“Is it possible to cry?”. This is a question with an relatively obvious answer, so allow me to reformulate it a bit, so you can understand what I’m writing about.

Is it possible to cry because you fell in love with a voice that you know you won’t be able to physically hear anymore? Is it possible to cry because you find out about a band, then discover its singer passed away prior to the release of their only album, and then the whole record turns into an amazing debut, but at the same time, an heart-wrenching farewell?

The answer to both the obvious question and the one I reformulated is, undoubtedly, yes. If anything, because that’s what almost happened to me when I listened to “Hour of the Nightingale”, the “debut-farewell” from the short-lived doom metal project Trees of Eternity.

Trees of Eternity is a project of naiveté born out of love. It is a band of innocence rooted in despair. Its origins trace back to 2009, when Finnish guitarist Juha Raivio (Swallow The Sun) and the late South-African singer Aleah Stanbridge were working on what would be “Lights on the Lake”, from Swallow The Sun’s “New Moon” record.

Thus Trees of Eternity began to grow its roots and the plans for a debut were set in motion – with a demo, “Black Ocean”, coming out in 2013. But all the years spent crafting the perfect doom metal effort came at a cost, and Aleah passed away in April 2016 at the young age of 39, being taken away by cancer when the album was pretty much ready to come out. And it came, seven months later, almost constituting a self-delivered eulogy delivered by Aleah to her own imminent demise.

When we listen to the record, we understand that it is a typical doom metal offer, filled with nostalgic despair, an almost funereal atmosphere, and down-tempo melancholy. But when we get to know that Aleah passed months prior to it seeing the light of day, we give it a spin again and realize it’s a much more profound work than just a doom metal record.

Listening to “Hour of the Nightingale” is like listening to Aleah, already battling cancer at the time it was recorded, singing her own eulogy and conforming with her fate, knowing that she’s going to pass at any given moment and accepting it with a disturbingly beautiful sense of serenity. Normally, when we battle such disease, we are faced everyday with the death possibility and ask ourselves “why me?”. She didn’t, even though she still asked herself that same question at some point.

To further clarify this statement, take the opener “My Requiem” and “Condemned to Silence” as examples: on the first, she gives her own eulogy to the audience, almost self-proclaiming she’ll be “alive in memory”. However, on the latter, she pleads for someone to save her soul, something that she paradoxically describes as “immortal”, from a “fate worse than death” – perhaps suffering? – while she recognizes she is destined to “implode and fade” – that is, to die and then be forgotten in a couple of months or years, the so called "law of death".

But then, just like every warrior that rebounds from a heavy hit in the heat of battle, she seems to believe she has what it takes to wield the sword and face her battle: “But all I need I bear inside”, she sings with the strongest sense of reaffirmation possible on “Broken Mirror”, in a time where the album is drifting closer to its end. Other possibility that would make all the sense in the world is that "Broken Mirror" was written in Juha's perspective, with the "lie" alluding to her death, to the fact that he doesn't want to believe it that her passing has happened. The double interpretation the song conveys adds a significant layer of power to it.

Then comes “Black Ocean”, that follows “Broken Mirror” perfectly in the sense that Aleah (re)starts believing that it is possible to claim the W in the battle (contrary to what happens in “My Requiem” and “Condemned to Silence”) but starts asking herself questions because she knew she had come that far, it wasn’t easy, and it is only going to get difficult. She entrusts herself to the waters of "deep and endless night", hoping they will give her the strength she needs to fight the remainder of the battle.

Finally, when closer “Gallows Bird” comes, she appears to be, once again, resigned with the possible outcome, only pleading the bird to deliver her from all the chains and regrets of the past so “she may find rest at last”. “Gallows Bird” is also the track that makes the album come full circle, continuing the eulogy that “My Requiem” started:

“As I bear you on board
A circle is formed
Horizon to horizon
Life begins where a journey ends”.

Melodically speaking, there’s not much to say that I haven’t already mentioned. We are dealing with a subgenre that is predominantly heavy, funereal and slow, and nothing really different from those traits will come out of this record. That may perhaps be the only flaw in “Hour of the Nightingale”: The lack of rhythmical diversity, as at the end of the day you may feel like you just listened to a collection of heart-wrenching pieces.

But aside from that, pretty much everything else is on point. The production is excellent and well-thought when it came to the main goal: Give Aleah’s voice the proper spotlight, turning the record into the most fascinating debut and, at the same time, the most beautiful swan-song ever. “Hour of the Nightingale” is an album that suffered a bit when it was released (it had the misfortune of coming out in the same year as Metallica, Megadeth and Gojira releases), but some of the brightest diamonds are those who are not immediately visible on the surface. That’s the case with this record and, sadly, with Aleah Stanbridge.

Godspeed, singing angel. Rest easy.

Chilling, Tearjerking, and Emotionally Powerful - 100%

Gothic_Metalhead, July 11th, 2019
Written based on this version: 2016, CD, Svart Records (Digipak)

We should have had a few more years with this band. Trees of Eternity was a short-lived project that was formed by Swallow the Sun Mastermind and death-doom visionary Juha Raivio and his girlfriend Aleah Stanbridge. They have only released this album "Hour of the Nightingale" because Aleah Stanbridge tragically died from cancer months prior to this albums release. Tragically overshadowed by big name metal releases of the year like Metallica, Megadeth, Gojira, and Amon Amarth; "Hour of the Nightingale" is probably one of (if not) the greatest metal album of the 2010s. Like Woods of Ypres, Trees of Eternity was a band that truly made a creative impact on 2010s gothic metal during the moment in a band's history where the core member has tragically passed away. While Trees of Eternity is just another female fronting band in a sub genre where it has too many of, their sole album made them stand out as something different vocally and musically from the rest of the female fronting bands.

In a way, Trees of Eternity's music in this album almost sounds similar to The Third and the Mortal. Soothing, but depressing where it is accompanied by the soothing singing of our leading vocalist. In "Hour of the Nightingale" however, it was more crushing guitar, it's atmospherically more depressing, but has less space compared to an album like "Tears Laid in Earth." Similarly, it also crosses the line between doom and gothic metal, composing of slow tempos, and even incorporating little keyboards. There are also sounds of orchestra instruments, which doesn't escape from the doom/gothic sounds, it is adding soothing melancholy and depth. Back to the guitars, it has a lot of catchy melodies throughout the album, and it is well constructed with having these sad sounding guitars that have great unison with the vocals. Overall, the album is an epic hour of depression that gives fresh light to a dying metal sub genre, despite its inclusion of doom elements. I am not saying this album is gothic metal because it's a female fronting band, but because its music manages to be depressing in melody, atmosphere, and heaviness.

Speaking of female fronting, Aleah Stanbridge's performance is phenomenal. I also say Trees of Eternity is similar to The Third and the Mortal because of how soothing both singers in each band had that calm and tender vocal approach that managed to set the tone of the entire album. However, Aleah's approach has a gentle melancholic approach. Her dynamics are rarely heard, but when they are heard it is still able to have that mournful tone. We even get a taste of a duet with Paradise Lost Front man Nick Holmes in "Gallows Bird" where it sounds very ominous, and depressing from not just the guitar and the strings, but also thanks to how Aleah's singing and Holmes ominous vocals sound. Hearing Aleah sing in this album and in Swallow the Sun's track "Heartstrings Shattering" is chilling, it was a moment when this album's release that we really lost a great talent and it is the only release we will ever get from Trees of Eternity.

Another thing in which Aleah excels in are her lyrics. The majority of "Hour of the Nightingale" are written primarily by Aleah Stanbridge. Her lyrics gives me goosebumps whenever I think about it and are real tearjerkers. The reason that I say these lyrics are tearjerkers is some of it foreshadowing Aleah's demise and the pain in which Juha Raivio will express after her death.

My Requiem:

"Leave me to rest
Too drained to rise
To try to detect
Any light at the end of the tunnel...
Too late..."

A Million Tears:

"Please stay here with me
Just hold me while I bleed myself dry
See straight into me
Just look beyond the fear in my eyes"

Aside from that, they all show a lot of dark and smartly written material that show that Aleah excels as masterful lyricist. That's what makes "Hour of the Nightingale" an exceptionally powerful album to listen to. Its music may be depressing, but the lyrics goes much deeper in sadness and grief especially with the death of Aleah that floated around by the time this album was released.

It's unfortunate that a trend that has come around during the 2010s is which band's release their greatest piece of music whenever tragedy strikes afterwards. For "Hour of the Nightingale," its easily one of the greatest metal albums of the decade. An album that truly sends chills whenever the next time you hear the sounds of Aleah's vocals, the doom like sounds of Juha's guitar playing, and above all powerful lyrics. It's an album that definitely needs to be more noticed as the best release of 2016. Still sad that many music media sites would say Metallica's "Hardwired... To Self Destruct" is considered the metal album of the year (when it's not their best work) and fail to look deeper into the metal underground scene for better bands, let alone music within gothic and doom metal. This is truly the album of the year, and one of the biggest sparks that gothic metal has had in this decade and will probably never have for some time. It's just so tragic that someone so talented would leave the world like this and I will never listen to this album without shedding at least one tear... May your beautiful soul rest in peace Aleah Stanbridge.

Hour of the Nightingale - 97%

Twin_guitar_attack, February 12th, 2017

Trees of Eternity was a side project from Swallow the Sun’s guitarist and founding member Juha Raivio and his partner Aleah Stanbridge on vocals. Originally an acoustic project, it expanded into a fully fledged metal band with the addition of Kai Haito (Wintersun, Nightwish) on drums and the Norman brothers from October Tide on guitar and bass. The album is centred around Aleah’s voice, with melancholic music bridging doom metal and alternative rock giving the backdrop for her incredible voice to shine. Tragically Aleah passed away from cancer in April of last year before the debut album saw the light of day. Already finished, Juha wanted to make sure the album would come out, and Hour of the Nightingale was finally released in November last year. From the first vocal lines of My Requiem, Trees of Eternity blew me away at the first listen, affecting me like no other album has done for many years, despite being so heavy hitting and emotional it’s had me listening to it over and over again from start to finish. A perfect tribute, the music on this album is beautiful, a truly melancholic and heartbreaking album.

Trees of Eternity’s music sits firmly within the female fronted doom metal genre begun in the early nineties with The Third and the Mortal, The Gathering and Theatre of Tragedy, but without a sound that aspires to any of those bands, or other famous groups within the genre such as Draconian. It also has a separate sound from the death-doom metal of Juha’s main project Swallow the Sun, drawing minimal influence. Instead Trees of Eternity have found a unique sound within the genre, that moves between an atmospheric brand of alternative rock, and gothic-tinged doom metal, that’s completely vocal-centric.

Aleah’s voice is different from a lot of the singers in the genre, there’s no operatic stylings, nor is her singing style belting out powerfully over heavy riffs. Her voice is soft and dreamy, with each word and syllable intonated pristinely with crystal clarity, the huge power in her voice coming not from the volume, which is soft throughout the album, but from the stirring emotion and strength she puts into her singing. The lyrics are suitably heavy hitting on each song of the album, extremely melancholic and sorrowful. As four of the tracks are re-recorded from a demo released back in 2013, one can’t say whether or not the lyrics and vocals were affected by knowledge of the cancer she passed away from, but whether born out of presentiment or not the tragic circumstances makes the chorus to opener My Requiem more poignant and heartbreaking:

Too late you’re calling out my name
To raise me up out of my grave
Alive in memory I’ll stay
If you shun these waters where I lay

The lyrics on each of the songs are equally melancholic, and when matched with the pure emotion in a voice that sounds simultaneously soft and powerful her voice and lyrics constantly leave the listener awestruck despite the tone and dynamics of the album changing very little throughout it’s length of over an hour.

The music on the album never takes centre stage, instead creating a backdrop for Aleah’s voice to shine, but it does this masterfully as well. A lot of the album is more alternative rock than metal, as minor acoustic guitar arpeggios and soft drums lead seamlessly into the metal with gloomy distorted riffs and back again throughout much of the album, paced fantastically as to always help transmit the emotions delivered by Aleah. Subtle synths give the music a gothic feel, evoking a little the sound of Theatre of Tragedy’s Velvet Darkness They Fear album, but utilising it to create an atmosphere that’s melancholic rather than melodramatic. Lead guitar in places such as on A Million Tears soar during the chorus matching a more powerful tone to her singing, then recedes back to acoustic when her voice softens for the outro. It seems obvious for the instruments to match the dynamics of her voice, but they do it so perfectly throughout the album that one must give credit to them doing what’s so simple but effective.

Most of the tracks on the album are similar in tone and length, and while the opener My Requiem is so immensely heartbreaking it’s the album’s best, each track here is fantastic in it’s own right. An exception to sound of the rest of the album is Sinking Ships, the shortest track on the album, where Aleah sings against a backdrop of acoustic guitar and synths with no metal elements. It still flows seamlessly as a lot of the other songs are made up of quieter sections. Antimatter’s Mick Moss makes a guest appearance on Condemned To Silence, his clean vocals also bearing a lot of emotion and melancholy in his own works which comes across here, sounding great as a duet with Aleah. Some of the heaviest parts on the album are to be found on the closing track Gallows Bird, Aleah’s voice against an ominous deep synth drone giving way to a huge funeral doom-esque riff that could’ve come from Songs from the North and pounding drums, her soft voice sounding it’s most ethereal when contrasted with this heavy sound. The second guest appearance is to be found in Paradise Lost/Bloodbath’s Nick Holmes, using deep clean vocals rather than death-growls, which sound ominous and matching the gloomy doom riffs on the album – a better performance than on a lot of his works with Paradise Lost in the two short verses he contributes here.

Trees of Eternity’s Hour of the Nightingale is an instant classic that sits firmly in the top tier of the genre for female-fronted doom metal acts, as incredible as The Third and the Mortal’s Tears Laid in Earth and The Gathering’s Mandylion. It’s tragic that Aleah wasn’t around to see the album’s release, but she’ll be remembered as a part of one of finest albums in the genre’s history. Dark, gloomy, melancholic, heartbreaking, essential.

Originally written for swirlsofnoise.com

My Most Anticipated Album Ever, a Masterpiece - 100%

stallan, November 26th, 2016

"Too late you’re calling out my name. To raise me up out of my grave. Alive in memory I’ll stay."- My Requiem

A passage from the first song from Trees of Eternity's debut, and sadly only record Hour of the Nightingale. It speaks to the overwhelming sense of sadness and grief that surrounds this album, knowing that singer Aleah Stanbridge passed away before this album was released to her and the band's dedicated fanbase. Many of whom (including me) waited many years for this masterpiece to be released. But it also speaks to the love of her that we the fans have and will continue to have for many, many years to come. The dedication we have to spread her music. The passion for the music she and Swallow the Sun's Juha Raivio wrote together. And that music will live on.

Trees of Eternity started from a collaboration between Aleah and Swallow the Sun that grew when Aleah and Juha formed a musical and personal bond. They released a 4 track demo that grew a massive cult following of passionate fans. Slowly but surely the duo announced that the Norrman brothers and Kai Hahto would round out the line up and the album was recorded. Everyone waited. News slowed. And then tragedy struck. Aleah had passed away. Devastated by the loss of his love but determined to bring her music to the world, Juha promised that the album would come out. And it now has.

Personally, this had been the most anticipated album of my life. I have been a fan for about 5 or 6 years so my excitement about this record and my heartbreak at Aleah's passing were both immense. But does the music stand up on its own merits tragedy aside? Absolutely it does, without a doubt. It is more amazing than I could have hoped for. It is the saddest, but the most beautiful album I have ever heard. The songs, the performances and the production all come together perfectly.

Musically it is a blend of acoustic/clean guitar passages with a gloomier, more stripped down version of Swallow the Sun, with strong emphasis on vocal atmosphere. But do not mistake the comparison between bands as a negative. Aside from a couple similar sounding riffs, this band still stands apart but if you are a fan of Swallow the Sun then I am sure you will know what I am talking about. Personally I think it is great, as Swallow the Sun is my favourite band and this style of music sounds fantastic underneath Aleah's voice. Which is absolutely the star of the show. She has a voice that is unique, beautiful, sad, emotional and ghostly. Her lyrics are lovely and her melodies are catchy. Every line, every note and every whisper and breath are expressive and demands the listener's attention. Juha and Fredrik provide heavy rhythms, smooth leads and beautiful cleans/acoustics. Mattias provides stand out basslines with a presence that can consistently be heard. And Kai delivers a drum performance as outstanding as ever. It was a great surprise to see that he joined the band as he is my favourite drummer. And since he is currently on hiatus from Swallow the Sun it is nice to hear him play on another doom metal album. Guest performances from Mick Moss and Nick Holmes provide some warm and emotional male vocals that go very nicely with the music and Aleah's voice.

Every song on here is fantastic and it is easy to see that Juha and Aleah spent a long time perfecting each track. There is not one weak or filler song and they will all stay with you after you have listened to them. A Million Tears, Black Ocean, Sinking Ships and Gallow's Bird are my favourite songs, but again they are all mesmerizing and I could listen to any of them non-stop.

I strongly urge anyone reading this to check out this album and purchase it from Svart Records, who have done a great job preserving Aleah's legacy by releasing this album after so many delays and being dropped by another record label. This album sadly is a truly unique one in that this band will never be able to release another full length disc (there might be an EP in the future based upon demos that were written after this album). And very importantly, Aleah's life and music should be celebrated and shared with others!

"Life begins where a journey ends."- Gallow's Bird

A quality doom metal album and a fitting eulogy - 81%

stefan86, November 22nd, 2016

Trees of Eternity is a project by Swallow the Sun guitarist Juha Raivio and female vocalist Aleah. They are joined by a couple of familiar doom metal names: the Norrman brothers from October Tide and Swallow the Sun's Kai Hahto. Aleah tragically passed away, which makes this their debut as well as their swansong.

Unsurprisingly, the music sounds a lot like Swallow the Sun. It's a lighter take on their signature melodic doom sound with a strong focus on clean guitar parts. The production values are light and airy, which makes the album feel even less heavy in comparison. Even the few parts with rhythm guitar chugging wind up sounding more atmospheric than heavy. Many of the clean and acoustic guitar parts are immensely beautiful, and I find myself liking the music more the mellower it gets.

It definitely feels like the instruments are holding it back and playing it simple to make room for Aleah's voice, which is a wise choice. She really has an angelic and unique voice that sets the project apart. Most female vocalists in this type of music tend to sing in an overblown gothic fashion. Aleah uses more of a soft alternative rock approach. Her voice is calm and ethereal, gently playing off the music's melancholy rather than aiming for maximum force. The closest comparison I can think of are the soft clean vocals in French doom metal band Lethian Dreams. The album also features guest appearances by two great vocalists: Mick Moss and Nick Holmes. Both of them fit right in. Mick Moss follows his Antimatter style, while Nick Holmes goes way more gothic than usual.

While the music is similar to clean vocal Swallow the Sun, this is just simply better. First off, Aleah is a more immersive and unique vocalist than Mikko Kotamäki. He never really struck me as a great clean vocalist, and hearing Aleah navigate similar musical landscapes like this proves it to me even more. It's also a matter of the melodies feeling more down to earth and engaging. Where Swallow the Sun tends to have a bit too much pretentious, calculated melodrama for my taste, Trees of Eternity strikes me as more genuine. This just has a subtlety that gives it much more grace. Less is simply more.

The songwriting is quite streamlined, and most songs feature memorable chorus lines. There are no obvious hits; "Hour of the Nightingale" feels more like something you listen to as a full unit. It never feels like an album that clocks in at over an hour. The melodies are so strong that it doesn't matter that all of the songs are in similar tempos. It feels like one big, glorious dirge. It's really one of a kind too, as this lighter type of doom metal often features a lot of overdone gothic drama. All this adds up to an album that certainly needed to be released, no matter the tragedy surrounding it.