Note: For those unfamiliar with Metal Month, any albums released in the current year will be preceded by the below logo. Why? Well, it makes it easier for those who wish to find new albums to do so, it's cool and besides, it's my journal. So now that we have that out of the way...
From what I know (and admittedly that's very little) of Doom Metal it's not exactly overrun with female vocalists. I guess the dark, throaty growl or the muttered grunt that much of this subgenre seems to involve is not really suited to most women's voices, but I have heard the likes of Witch Mountain and I know that females can certainly do Doom. But there are not enough of them, which is why it's particularly sad when a promising new talent is taken from us at an early age.
The debut album from Trees of Eternity is being seen by many as one of the best Doom albums released this year. Whether that's an over-sympathetic reaction to the death of vocalist Aleah Stanbridge, who passed away from cancer at the tender age of 39, or not, I can't say, though you have to imagine such a tragedy would inevitably have an impact on the listener, even at the subconscious level. Still, it is getting high praise just about everywhere I look, so is it that good? Let's see.
Hour of the Nightingale – Trees of Eternity – 2016 (Svart Records)
Three years in the making, the album rather unfortunately (or perhaps purposely, as a tribute to Aleah) opens with “My requiem”, a shimmering, lithe guitar soon joined by a harder, punchier one as the song gets going, slow but not that often unbearable pace that some of the Doom records I've heard have sustained. The vocal of Aleah when it comes in is breathy and haunting, the moreso when you remember she is no longer with us. It's not what I would call a strong voice – she's nothing like Uta Plotkin from Witch Mountain, for instance – and yet she has no trouble being heard over the generally loud growl and wail of the guitars and the heavy percussion. She has, I believe, or had I suppose I must say, a voice more suited to progressive rock or even folk rock: it just doesn't sound Doom to me, but that's not to say she can't hold her own here, and she certainly does. In fact, the first track does not say Doom to me, but rather a kind of heavy Gothic/Symphonic or even Progressive Metal, but then this is only the first track, so we'll see. It's certainly a breath of fresh air in what can often be a stodgy, sullen subgenre, and I don't only mean the vocal.
The lyrics are unintentionally heartbreaking as what was written as, I must assume, metaphor is now seen as a darkly fulfilled prophecy:
”Alive in memory I will stay” and
”Night, curtains coming down/ Into the shade I'll stray/ Losing all I found/ To my dismay/ My season has come to an end.” I don't know whether she knew she was not long for this world, but if so, she wrote (and she writes most if not all of the lyrics here) a starkly beautiful epitaph for herself.
There aren't any Doom epics here, either, with the longest track being the closer at just over nine and a half minutes, and the next one is a mere six and change, as “Eye of night” has again that very progressive sound, or at least a sound I associate with prog rock and metal, another soft, yearning vocal from Aleah then some harder riffs from either Juha Raivio or Frederik Norman, both of whom take axe duties, while sticksman Kai Hahto and bassist and brother to Frederik, Mattias Norrman keep the rhythm section tight. It is though the almost ethereal vocals of the late Ms. Stanbridge that hold your attention most, and given the quality of the music here that's saying something. Again, worrying hints in the lyric that she may have known her time was short:
”Behind closed eyes see the signs.” Really nice almost acoustic passage here at the end before it punches back up for the last thirty seconds or so. The second song on which her solo voice is the last thing you hear; I wonder if that was intentional?
“Condemned to silence” starts up much more gentle than either of the first two tracks, but then kicks in with male vocal joining hers, but thankfully it's not a growl or a hiss, as I believe such affectation would have ruined the fragile atmosphere and aura that Aleah's voice has created, and his vocal complements but never overpowers hers. There's quite a hook in the chorus, not often I think something you can say about Doom albums, and even the guitar solos when they come are generally restrained, almost, you could believe, as if every band member knew they were crafting here not only something special, but unique; as if they knew that they would never again have the opportunity to work with this talented singer, and wanted to ensure they gave everything they had to create what would end up being a fitting tribute to her.
Three tracks in and there is nothing negative you can say about this album. It's about as close to perfection as I've heard since the Pallbearers album. “A million tears” has a harder edge to it, with doleful, mournful guitar and what sounds like piano, though I see none credited, so maybe not. Aleah's vocal takes total control here, the music almost falling away behind her to create a backdrop for her voice, she all but sighing the lyric, percussion keeping a steady slow beat behind her. When she sings
”Please stay here with me” you can hear the pain and sorrow in her voice, and to be honest it's hard not to have to stifle a tear. Very emotional. It seems, indeed, to be a song of suicide, as she asks
”Just hold me while I bleed myself dry.” I guess you could say that figuratively and emotionally she has done just that with her singing, wringing every last drop of emotion out of her voice.
And again, it's her voice that we hear as the song ends, the last sound as we move into the emotional title track. It's the closest thing I've heard on a Doom album to a pastoral, ambient song, with what surely must be cello coming in to the melody and adding to the overall melancholy driving it. At this point it's probably pointless continuing to describe Aleah's vocal performance, as it's nothing less than perfect on each song so far, and I expect this ultra-high quality to continue, but the images she evokes with her lyrics are worth looking into, to show she was not just a wonderful singer but a superbly talented songwriter. Here, she describes
”An ocean of despair/ Where the road must end/ All souls must pass there/ For what is broken to mend” and then goes on to say
”It pierces like an arrow though a storm.” And it does.
However, entrancing as her vocals and lyrics are, the rest of the band should not be overlooked, as they lay down the dark but beautiful soundscape against which this tortured soul cries out her agonies. The twin guitars work, not as in power metal bands where they chug-chug-chug together creating a wall of sound, or call one to the other, but almost as friends supporting one another. That has to be piano that opens “The Passage”, and the guitarists know just how to handle the tune without overpowering it, blasting forward when needed and falling back to mere shadows when required. The name of the band is used in the lyric here as Aleah sings
”Into the void I breathe/ Life as it swallows me/ Sinking into the hollow Tree of Eternity.”
“Broken mirror” allows her a chance to exercise her voice a little more, whereas up to now it's been mostly quiet, restrained, held back, this time it bursts forth in a wave of passion while cellos again paint a backdrop to her despair, and she's back to the fragile, soft vocal for “Black ocean", the music for a time matching her mood and then exploding in a flurry of guitar riffs before settling down again. When she sings the fateful lyric
”No tomorrow” you're made of stone if there's no lump in your throat, or if a chill doesn't slide down your spine. That leaves us with “Sinking ships”, the shortest track at less than four minutes, quite a simple and bleak little tune with again a flawless delivery from Aleah and lovely laidback guitar with again violin or cello, taking us into the closer.
“Gallows bird” looks already like it might be the highlight of an album which has turned out to be almost full of them. With its almost
acapella vocal against dark rumbling synth (is it? Must be) it slowly comes to life as guitar crashes in like a hammer shattering a stained-glass window and takes the tune by the throat. Even against this impressive riff assault Aleah's vocals rise strong and pure, and then a superb but tasteful solo adds to the song with quite the hook in it. In the middle it almost stops, then comes in on a single guitar while male vocals chant, dark and ancient-sounding, leading to a chilling ending:
”As the last light of hope is lost/ Fight and resistance/ Nothing remains to hold me/ To this existence.” Fittingly, the last words on the album belong to the singer who has brought this unbelievable baby to term, and died in the process.
TRACK LISTING AND RATINGS
1. My requiem
2. Eye of night
3. Condemned to silence
4. A million tears
5. Hour of the nightingale
6. The passage
7. Broken mirror
8. Black ocean
9. Sinking ships
10. Gallows bird
It's seldom you come across this kind of life-mirrors-art tragedy, and of course everyone wishes it were not the case. This is a stunning debut from a band who should, and hopefully will, go on to be a major force in Doom Metal, but they have lost their leading light, and while they will likely source a new singer, to quote Star Trek VI, she could only ever succeed her, never replace her. We have lost a singular talent with the passing of Aleah Stanbridge, and doubly tragically, when she was quite possibly on the cusp of achieving greatness. The removal of her voice from the world of Metal, and the world in general, is a hard thing to bear, but I hope the band find the strength to continue on without her.
Behind her she leaves the short but incredible legacy of her talent, a woman in a very much male-dominated arena who actually stood out and made the music hers. She wrote it, she shaped it and she sung it, and in the end, we are richer for her brief presence in our lives. This is an album that has already garnered almost universal praise, and it's not hard to see why. Listen to it in the dark so that nobody can see your tears.
Hour of the Nightingale is literally that: one hour of superb Doom Metal and the introduction to, and sad untimely loss of, a voice that could have made serious waves in the world of heavy metal. She may have only sung for a short time, but it was bitterly, heartbreakingly sweet.