Trees of Eternity – Hour of the Nightingale
Label: Svart Records release Nov 11, 2016
Just imagine those epic, heartbreakingly melancholic tunes written by Swallow The Sun mastermind Juha Raivio combined with the unearthly beautiful voice of Aleah Starbridge, who should be known for various guest contributions for the abovementioned band. Trees of Eternity began as a quiet acoustic collaboration of those partners in music and life, then sprouted into a full band, with the Norrman brothers (ex-Katatonia, October Tide) on stringed instruments and Kai Hahto (now Nightwish) on drums.
Three years of work on the group’s debut album, now available by Nov 11, were tragically cut short this spring when Aleah passed away. Which adds a truly tragic dimension to the opening title “My Requiem”, and I have to admit there is a certain tightness in my throat when listening to especially poignant parts of this album, e.g. the title track, Black Ocean or the duet with Antimatter’s Mick Moss (Condemned to Silence), or Gallow’s Bird with Paradise Lost’s Nick Holmes delivering a guest performance.
Definitely a fantastic legacy of a unique artist. Just check the sampler clip below.
This is a celebration of the music, lyrics and life of Aleah, who so tragically and suddenly crossed the bridge of stars and left this world so young and so early. There really are no words to describe the ultimate weight of the darkness, or the rays of the brightest of light that this album holds within its songs and lyrics. In so many ways this album turned out to be the most important album I’ve done in my life, and we both loved it from the first note to the last as we wrote it.
We were very proud to record “Hour of the Nightingale” together with our friends, band mates and amazing musicians, Kai Hahto, Mattias and Fredrik Norrman who all played their hearts out on this album. And working with another good friend Jens Bogren producing, recording, mixing and mastering the album we’re ready to take this music to the world and play it to you all. Sadly, that never happened… But this is the point where we can finally start this long journey and celebrate our Queen Aleah Starbridge whose words and music will live forever on.
(Juha Raivio)
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10/10