Lista de Bandas Symphonic Heavy Todesbonden Sleep Now, Quiet Forest

A new American - hard to categorize - band just released their debut album, that might find acclaim here among us, progfolk, since their offerings contain musical elements that show progrock influences on one hand, while on the other hand contribute to the genre itself.

I’m speaking of Todesbonden and their album “Sleep Now, Quiet Forest”. The band was baptized with this peculiar name by classically trained vocalist Laurie Ann Haus, inspired by the title of an old German piece of music called “Jesus lag in Todesbonden” (“Jesus was bound in death”, referring to His agony in the Olive Garden).

Todesbonden was founded by Laurie Ann Haus after the demise of Autumn Tears. Jason Wood (guitars, ex-Ephemeral Sun, Ex-Rain Fell Within) and Patrick Giddes (violin, ex-The Groaning) joined.
In 2004 they released an EP called “Stormbringer”, which offered a fortaste of the eclectic music that is so abundantly present on the debut album and caught my interest at the time.

In 2005, Jason Ian-Vaughn Eckert (bass) and James Lamb (keyboards) joined and recently new Timothy Miller took the drummer’s stool. With this final lineup, Todesbonden created their “Sleep Now, Quiet Forest” album, with contributions by Elizabeth Schafer (flutes) and A. Tolonen (kantele, bass and synths). All tracks were produced, mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren, who worked with the likes of Opeth, Pain of Salvation, Katatonia, a.o.

At first hearing the music of Todesbonden might appear as classical oriented, bringing back memories from the symphonic rock of the seventies (however without the bombast, pomp and glory of those days). The second thought might be an intuitive comparison with female vocalist fronted bands like Nightwish, After Forever and Within Temptation. But it soon becomes evident that Todesbonden has far more to offer.

A sound reason for that might be that Laurie Ann Haus has been gifted with a beautiful, angelic voice that has the portée of a professionally classical trained vocalist – what she actually is. It wouldn’t be fair to compare her voice to the vocal achievements of Tarja (Nighwish’s reknown first vocalist) or those of Sharon den Andel of Within Temptation, for they should be judged and appreciated in their own right. Laurie Ann’s voice however displays a warmth and delicacy that isn’t often heard in rock music. As far I know, only Lisa Gerrard is of the same class and quality.

Secondly, Laurie Ann and her companions have a rucksack full of musical styles, influences and elements at their disposal, from which they chose whatever suits them to express their moods in the songs they compose. The style of the band combines elements from classical, folk, medieval and renaissance music, and the songs are underpinned by a sturdy rock foundation with a metal feel. Celtic and Middle Eastern sounds can be recognized as well as influences from doom metal, gothic and madrigal music. It must have been quite an endeavor to apply all these influences without crossing the border of bombast and overkill. A fine choice of instruments for each song, combined with the sound of a beautiful voice and somewhat mystic and romantic lyrics offer an adventurous journey of longing for times gone long by – or yet to come.

Like Opeth and Jethro Tull, Todesbonden manages to apply the dichotomy of soft and delicate acoustic parts on one hand, and hard / heavy parts on the other hand in each song. This makes listening to the album a wonderful and captivating experience. The album features all original compositions, except for the reinterpretations of traditional Renaissance songs (such as "Flow My Tears" and "Sorrow Stay", by Dowland).

The album package contains a booklet with fine art work, the lyrics to all songs and credits.

At the end of this review, three questions remain :
- How will Todesbonden evolve ?
- Will they get stuck in a rut by reproducing a new album in the exact same style ?
- Or will the band show the creativity needed to expand their musical horizon ?

R :A second album will answer for that.

Secondly :
- What is Todesbonden worth on stage ?
R: As of yet no touring has been announced (not in the USA, letalone in Europe).

- Are we dealing with a brilliant studio project ?
- Or is Todesbonden a band that are able to convince on stage by performing this collection of gems?
R: Time will tell, I guess.

In the meantime I cherish and enjoy this wonderful attribution to my music collection. Thank you, Todesbonden.

JV