Review by Saxy S for Trees of Eternity - Hour of the Nightingale (2016) Review by Saxy S for Trees of Eternity - Hour of the Nightingale (2016)

Saxy S Saxy S / January 14, 2020 / 1

Doom Metal with a Side of Misty Eyes

Cancer sucks. Trust me, I've been there. I have seen this diseases effects on people and how it affects their everyday activities in life. For me, hearing this album and knowing the fate of Aleah Starbridge is devastating.

Hour of the Nightingale is a posthumous release by the band Trees of Eternity, which does give it some unique qualities over the other big musician to pass away from cancer in 2016: David Bowie's Blackstar. In both cases, these albums seem like they are foreshadowing there undeniable end. However, Blackstar was released before David Bowie's untimely passing. 

But both albums are very similar to one another from a compositional standpoint. This album starts off quite well with "My Requiem" and "Eye of Night" and as the album progresses, you can almost see Aleah's life flashing before her eyes as the album slows down almost painfully, to depict how one must feel while in a state of fear. And then, for the album to end with a simple acoustic guitar and voice passage is haunting. The guitar work found within this album is magnificent. It employs many of the greatest elements of albums by a band such as Swallow the Sun. Its melodies are soaring and beautiful, but complimented by some palm muted chugging riffs, mostly during the albums strong introduction, as if to invoke a sense of anger about what is going on around the group.

And the poetry found within this project is superb. I have always felt that doom metal as a collective genre felt more like a gimmick rather than a lifestyle. I mean, I guess that I could, perhaps, say the same thing about death metal also, but doom metal has always felt dreadful and agonizing, but without any of the stakes. This album is about as high of stakes that I could possibly envision in one single album! These lyrics, which are delivered with haunting, whispered vocals from Aleah. These vocals compliment the dreadfully slow tempos that are commonplace in doom metal, as if they are tired and fearful of whats to come. It's something that I wished I heard more out of in doom metal.

I think that my initial opinions on this record were skewed by relatable lyricism and hitting a little too close to home. So going back to this record a few years later, my opinion has soured slightly. But this is still a monumental achievement in metal in the 2010s. This album has an emotional grip that will not let go throughout its duration. And its effects are still being felt throughout the doom metal world even today. That is a testament to its cultural impact. Is it better than Blackstar? It's hard to say, given David Bowie's further reaching namesake than Aleah Starbridge. But don't let that sway you in the wrong direction. It may not be pretty, but this is a glorious final hour.

Comments (1)

Ben Ben / January 15, 2020

A really interesting approach to take for this review saxystephens. Very enjoyable!

I'd not listened to this album until a couple of weeks ago. I was intrigued after including it in one of the doom metal challenges, so checked it out. A day hasn't gone by since then that I haven't listened to this album. It's utterly, stupendously beautiful, and I literally had tears in my eyes when I went to check out what the band were doing next, only to find that Aleah had died. Totally devastated, but it only acts to make this album even more special than it otherwise would be.