Translation: Album releases involve great deal of promotional work all over the world for a band with NW's magnitude. However,on Friday the 13th of Feb bassist Marco Hietala doesn't seem to be tired at all when he sits down to be interviewed in the hotel lobby in the city centre of Helsinki although the man has toured Europe with Floor and Tuomas for almost two weeks to discuss about the new album with journalists. He seems to be relaxed and while smoking his e-cigar he mentions at least 7 countries they visited when they were promoting their 8th studio album EFMB. It's quite easy to predict that the album, which will be released at the end of March, will top the album charts soon after its release at least in Finland. That has happened to every album of theirs since Wishmaster, released in 2000. The band will be 20 next year and their career has been pointing constantly upwards without major hiccups which is uncommon to a band this old. Marco thinks that it's not only about ability but partially about good luck too. - We are privileged that got into a relatively good position by doing music that we first and foremost like to do. And now we are in that position that we don't need to listen to the instructions from the label what we should do or trucle to any kind of mainstream rules, yet there is a firm fan base who digs the band just the way we are. After all, the music is always created that fact in mind what we would like to listen to ourselves too. There is certain assertiveness and honesty but after all that has come through our own work and because of that people can trust to receive stuff from us that might have a little more substance than the latest radio hits have. The main thing that has stayed in his mind during his 15 year career in NW are the events that led to the change of the singer in autumn 2012. - Those rather hellish depths without light that we entered during our latest North American tour are fresh in my mind. Then Floor stepped in and we were on a survival mode and took one night and one show at a time. Especially the speed of recovery and how every show was better than the previous one, the rise from the darkness in such a triumphant way. It's one of the most horrible but at the same time the most beautiful things that I've experienced in my life. I don't want that again but I think that that sort of spectrum of emotions in such a short period of time leaves its marks to a human being permanently. For the bassist who turns 50 next year, music is still one of the most important things in life. - Playing the music and listening to it are the essential parts of my mental backbone. Nevertheless I've tried to keep my eyes and ears open to the fact that if this begins to feel lame, I'll try to step aside as soon as possible. I've listened to and loved music from a very young age. If that for some reason or another turned paler, it would feel better to walk away alltogether than remain beside the corpse of your loved one, Marco says. Endless Forms Most Beautiful As traditional the whole band retrieved to a summer camp to finalize the new songs. However everything didn't go as planned since Jukka had to make an announcement in the middle of the rehearsals that he can't participate in upcoming tour or the recordings of the album. According to Marco Jukka's decision was not a total surprise. - Jukka has suffered more or less from insomnia for almost 10 years. Allready on the previous tour there were a few tricky situations like in Japan where Jukka didn't sleep at all for 4 days. The head begins to be really messed up and already then Jukka told if it continues to be like this, he can't go on. The drummer should be able to keep one and two apart from each other and Jukka told that he can't even think about that anymore. - When we were preparing for the rehearsals of the new album, and put up the gear and began to rehearse, Jukka was awake for a week and after that he felt like there was a wasp nest in fire in his head. Then it became clear. We did hope all the time that Jukka would regain control of the problem and we tried to talk about things and all that but you can't cure the illness by persuading. Then Jukka told that he had made a phone call to Kaitsu about the possibility of things turning sour and in that case Kaitsu replacing Jukka at least for the upcoming album and tour. There was nothing more to do than stop the unnecessary persuasion and accept what's happening, Marco remembers. There were no other canditates who were considered at least seriously to replace Jukka. - Well, we thought about what kind of potential possibilities there are. We have known Kailtsu already for a long time and we know he's a very capable and nice guy. When Kaitsu said he can do it, so ofc we took him in, Marco explains. In addition to a new drummer and a singer there is also Troy Donockley as a new member. He has toured with NW since 2007, but on EFMB he is for the first time as an official member in NW. According to Marco, Troy was allowed to bring his own arrangement ideas into the songs just like everyone else. - The arrangement of the songs has always been democratic and open procedure. Even now when we began to look over all the structures and other stuff, there were ideas also from Troy and Floor, like everybody else. Lots of littlenuances and some new angle came along and everyone had real motivation and eagerness. Exactly a week before the release of the new single í‰lan, things began to happen around the band: the song had leaked on the web. Leaking the music without band's permission get's no sympathy whatsoever from Marco's part. - Certain disappointment arouses from the leakage. Our objective is to release stuff we have written with a certain schedule and with the biggest possible impact. And when we see that the fans are waiting for it like Christmas and then there are people who seem to lack the general caring, empathy and respect towards that. They just want it immediately. It's sad. - Then there are people, who are whining on forums how "this is so common these days, what are they moaning about". goddammit, it's our music and we should have the right to decide what we do with it and when. The contribution of orchestra and the bombast in NW music grew album by album until the last one released. If the band's aim had been to take it even further, they would have moved well outside the boundaries of metal genre. The first taste from EFMB is however rather subtle in that regard. The choice of the song as the first taste was rather clear decision, according to Marco. - Well, there are quite long songs with a lot of stuff, so it's obvious that í‰lan is the most radio-friendly one. It also has a relatively simple structure and a slight, continuous crescendo towards the end. Those are the primary reasons. And we liked to play it a lot in the rehearsals and I sing long archs in the backround of the lead singer. When we began to the get right the elements and feeling to it, we thought this might be a good choice. But there are other potential singles on the album too. Even internationally speaking it was quite remarkable that they got evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins on the album. And it didn't require too much persuasion. - The negotiations didn't take a long time. Tuomas has read those books and those have had an influence on his worldview. Tuomas sent a hand-written letter to Dawkins who replied after a couple of weeks that this is interesting and asked a little about us. We had to enlighten a bit that we are a band, who has music. He might have even asked if he had to sing, Marco laughs. Dawkins didn't visit Finland, but Tuomas and Mikko Karmila travelled during the orchestral recordings to Oxford to meet Dawkins and to record his share in a local studio. NW informed about Dawkins's guest appearance last October and that resulted quite a hassle and some people even stated that they would stop listening to the band because of this. All this before nothing had been said about the character of the Dawkins's part on the album. - The amount of response did surprise us a bit. We knew that Dawkins is a rather contradictory person and publicly at the forefront of the atheistic movement. His role on the album stays within the evolutionary story and it's not about atheism. In the end we don't sign under anyone's beliefs, at least I personally don't, in one direction or another. At least for me it's totally appropriate that Dawkins is on the album, Marco tells. Tuomas has always been NW's main composer and lyricist, although both Marco and guitarist Emppu have brought some of their ideas to the albums. There are parts composed by Marco again on the upcoming album but it's exceptional that there are also lyrics written by somebody else than Tuomas for the first time during NW´s existence. - About a year ago I had been recording all kind of material in home studio and I thought that these certain things might be suitable for NW. I wrote some lyrics as working texts so I could represent my recordings to Tuomas. While writing these texts I noticed that it had become rather serious and that there were a lot of stuff I have to use somewhere. - When I showed my recordings to Tuomas, he checked those and lyrics and suddenly said that he has been looking for the way to tell these stories and you nailed it perfectly here and asked if we can use these. I told him that, this has been in principle his territory earlier but if it feels so that these fit in, so let's go, Marco remembers. Gybernetic future There are naturally many different themes on the album, but because of Dawkins's guest appearance, album's name and other references, the science related references are the most evident ones. Dealing with these kind of subjects from this angle of approach isn't very usual in metal music. The main themes of the album come naturally from Tuomas's visions but also Marco shares his interest in science and through that the wondering of life. Marco has been interested in these kind of subjects since his early childhood. - I have been an astronomy freak since I was a little kid. I don't remember whether it began when I learned to read at the age of four and saw a lot of scifi-stories and such. I checked up many astronomical books and my farther had books from Life magazine and one was Universe with brilliant pictures of galaxies and stardusts. I learned name of the asterisms by heart. This kind of approach suits me really well. But you can't assume this album to be some kind of preacher's book with "a truth" in it because that's what it's certainly not. They are stories looked at from a certain angle. Richard Dawkins has told that he has often been asked how he manages to get out of bed in the morning, since he doesn't believe life has some specific meaning because of his scientific approach to it. A book called "Unweaving the Rainbow" was written to those questioners and it has been some sort of inspiration for EFMB, for there are some spoken quotes by Dawkins directly from the book on the album. Marco agrees that the increasing amount of scientific information doesn't make this world a meaningless place. - Without science we couldn't deduce that it would be good thing to get rid of oil and coal so it affects us constantly. And scientific worldview doesn't make this world a meaningless place because there are lot of great things going on here. If a human being is built in a right way in the framework of this universe, you do take care of your nearest ones and that applies globally too. That's what the moral aims at. With pretty simple deeds you can prove that you have a place in this world and that you would like it to remain that way to those after you. It's rather simple. - In a way science is humble. It presents the matters how they probably are before stronger evidence. I think it's shameful that human egoism is so insanely big that it experiences itself as eternal and infinitely important to this universe, which is however so large that understanding it, is the same as bacteria trying to figure out whether it's on dog's or human being's skin. In other words, in front of such greatness it would be better to be more humble and grateful that we are here now, because it's such a privilege to exist. - The last song on EFMB, the 24-minute long The Greatest Show on Earth, refers to evolution. The name is directly from Dawkins's book about evidence of evolution and in that song Dawkins has his biggest role on the album. When mentioned about the theme, Marco begins to ponder on the future of the mankind. - Now we are on the area, which is quite exciting with the present view of the world. If we'll survive as a species, whether it's tens, hundreds or thousands of years, we're going to be totally different creatures, with the modern technology, with artificial joints, hearts and limbs and so on . So the next step in modern evolution could be a cyborg. Sweat and snot After the release of the album NW will be going to present their fresh music at gigs in different places around the world. The setlist is still under planning but it's obvious that the new album will be strongly presented. North American tour in smaller clubs starts in April and lasts a little over a month. After that there are a festival season and two big shows in Finland. For the end of the year there are shows abroad, the most prominent one apparently being at Wembley Arena. There is a big contrast between the places but it doesn't make a big difference for Marco. - I have to say I like to play anywhere but smaller places are my favourite ones. If we're talking about smaller clubs where beer is sold and people are relaxed and near each other, almost face to face, that's where the feeling is more intimate, "sweat and snot" so to speak. - Then the sound is much better in more compact space because the big halls are acoustically worse in a certain way. But on the other hand there is always a certain charm to play at a gig whether it's for 1000 or 80000 people like in Wacken. The last question that must have been asked hundreds of times since the release of "Once". Are we going to see a concert with orchestra during this tour? - Every time we have thought about it, it has seemed to be a good idea because we've got the music which is like a precision weapon for an occasion like that. On the other hand the whole idea about a rock band playing with orchestra has been diluted over the years because so many bands have done it. There would be a lot of people involved and to arrange everything with them (rehearsals and so on) would require a massive amount of work. And it would have to be a little different, so you had to invest in the visual side of the show. Ofc we'll think about that in future too but at this point we've run out of time. Album is coming out and rehearsals starts next month. So at this stage it's not possible, because when the touring starts it will be an unbelievable hassle anyway, Marco concludes.
On Thursday, february 12th 2015, Nightwish was visiting Amsterdam to promote their upcoming album ‘Endless Forms Most Beautiful’. Metal-exposure paid them a visit in the hotel they were staying to have a chat with Marco(see below) and of course to listen to Endless Forms Most Beautiful. First thing to notice when walking in, was Tuomas wearing a shirt with the head of Darwin on it. As most of you Nightwish fans probably have read somewhere by now, Darwin has been a big inspiration for Endless Forms Most Beautiful. All around me, people are sitting with headphones on their head, looking very concentrated and sometimes writing down notes. After a short wait for an available headphone, it was time for me to start doing the same thing. The album opens up with Shudder Before The Beautiful and starts with a quote from Richard Dawkins, also a big inspiration for this album. Already from the start of the album on, I get the feeling that I’m listening to Nightwish. The typical sound of the orchestra and choir combined with heavy guitars immediately brings me into the Nightwish flow. Already during the second song Weak Fantasy I totally find myself back in Nightwish their ‘Once’ years. Also this is the first song where we hear Marco sing. But then Floor starts singing. Floor is probably the best thing that could ever have happened to Nightwish, but for me, being a Dutch metal lover who took the opportunity to see way too many After Forever gigs in her live, it was a bit difficult to get this image out of my head. It was hard to switch the button in my head to ‘the new voice of Nightwish’, because it got stuck at ‘this sounds like a love child made by Nightwish and After Forever’. I have to confess that it took more than half of the album to make this switch. Meanwhile I was listening to í‰lan, which all of you heard one day later, because this is the first single from Endless Forms Most Beautifull that Nightwish is bringing out. All I can say that I understand pretty well why they made this their first single. The song is folky and catchy and will reach a lot of people.Yours Is An Empty Hope is a song that is going to be great when performed live. My notes say: ‘you can’t get it more Nightwish than this’, so I guess that says enough. The song gets pretty rough at the end; did I hear Floor scream there?! Of course the album can’t be without a ballad, and this is where Our Decades In The Sun comes in. The song starts very lovely and sweet, but after a while some guitar playing passes by. Just when you thought the song would end, it goes on for some minutes into an instrumental ending.My Warden is a very Celtic inspired song, with a very big and important role to play for Troy and his pipes. Now I am not surprised anymore that I already read a couple of times before that this could almost be a song written by a band like Eluveitie. When I suddenly get a feeling to start dancing, I have to remind myself that I’m sitting in a hotel lobby with headphones on, and not watching a live show. Listening to title track Endless Forms Most Beautiful and Edema Ruh I can’t get to another conclusion than the fact that Nightwish surely went on, there where they left off with Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerum. The cooperation between the orchestra, the choirs and the band sounds perfect together, and also the balance between the more calm parts and the heavy guitars is just like we know it. Floor her singing is more narrative and Nightwish seems to have let go of the Opera sound. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alpenglow is going to be the next single that Nightwish is going to bring out. It starts with this typical synthesizer intro, the song is catchy and a bit more up-tempo, and Floor is beautifully telling us a story here. And then we ‘already’ reach the epic end of this album. Endless Forms Most Beautiful is a 90 minute album, but so far, we’re only one hour further. The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula is an musical intro with only the choir humming, and building up towards the 24 minute finale: The Greatest Show On Earth. This song is of epic proportion, in multiple ways. Of course at first the length of the song. This is Nightwish their longest song so far. The first 6 minutes we calmy carry on where The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula has ended, and we hear the first, and only opera vocals by Floor. But then, with a ‘bang’ suddenly heavy guitars come in. Floor her, already impressive, vocal abilities are used to the max in this song, the orchestra goes wild, as goes the rest of the band. It is like listening to a summary of Dark Passion Play, Imaginaerum and Endless Forms Most Beautifull in just one song. At the end, we slow down again and we listen to words by Dawkins and the sound of a lot of animals. An epic end, of and epic song and album.P.S: Our camera decided to be a bitch and lose focus when we were recording. We hope that you enjoy the information nevertheless. Cheers!
1. There could be some fans out there who might not know who Pip Williams is and how he is related to Nightwish. Could you please tell us what your role has been within the band for the past years? I have been a successful record producer (Status Quo, The Moody Blues etc.) and arranger for many years. My role with Nightwish is that of orchestral arranger and coordinator. I transcribe Tuomas’s ideas for the orchestra and choir and organize the London sessions, carefully liaising with Tuomas, the orchestral contractor (Isobel Griffiths), the studio, the conductor (James Shearman) and the music copyist/librarian (Richard Ihnatowicz). While I transcribe Tuomas’s parts for the arrangements, I have freedom to adapt and add my own ideas to the scores. I can make suggestions regarding the line-up and suggest possible changes. 2. How did you get in touch with Tuomas/Nightwish? In the late 90’s, I had produced some tracks for Turkish rock band Mavi Sakal, which Mikko Karmilla had engineered. For this, I had done some large orchestra arrangements. Mikko remembered this and recommended me to Tuomas and the band. This was in 2003 (Once). 3. You’ve been working with the band for over a decade now. What has been the most challenging song for you to arrange so far? Well all of them have their own challenges! “Ghost Love Score†required a lot of work. It was also the very first Nightwish song that I put pencil to paper for (it was incidentally the last album that I ever did using the old-fashioned method of pencil and score paper. After this, I switched to using Sibelius Notation Software!) “Scaretale†was a challenge (the Ghost Dance sequence) as was my composition of the Imaginaerum orchestral closer. 4. Is there any arrangement you have done for Nightwish that you feel especially proud of? Many! Probably Ghost Love Score, Scaretale and a couple from the new album. 5. If you had the chance to write the orchestral arrangements for any Nightwish song (or album) previous to “Onceâ€, which one would it be? Probably Oceanborn, but I could have done a killer arrangement for Phantom of the Opera! 6. There is a lot of work involved in the recording process of a Nightwish album, which is always something huge. Would you please explain how the collaboration with Tuomas is carried out? They have all started with Tuomas writing the songs and preparing his own very good demo. This already contains most of his ideas for instrument parts. This demo is sent to me and gives me the chance to familiarize with the songs and sketch out ideas of my own, as well as flag up any problem areas and things that may not work. The band will then rehearse and possibly prepare a second demo version. This is where there might be alterations to the structure of the songs. For all the albums up until the latest one, I would write the orchestrations, usually using Tuomas’s original demos as a guide, we would record the orchestra, percussion and choirs, then the band would record their parts. If there was any recording of the final band parts prior to the orchestra going on, I would receive copies of these, in case I needed to change anything on the score to fit (e.g. different bass notes or chords). Tuomas has always played his final keyboard parts last. On the new album, however, the band recorded most of their stuff BEFORE we recorded the orchestra. This was a huge challenge, because I was writing arrangements while they were actually recording the tracks and often, some things were changed- sections added, new keys and riffs etc. Mostly though, they were faithful to Tuomas’s original structures. 7. You have sometimes referred to Holopainen as a ‘genius’ and a ‘unique’ songwriter. Why do you consider him as such? In your opinion, what makes him stand out from other contemporary metal/rock songwriters? I think the vast range of Tuomas’s influences and his love of so many musical genres has shaped his style of songwriting. Interesting has been how his use of folk and traditional styles has fitted into his Nightwish material and the genre of symphonic metal in general. He always comes up with original melodies and continues to explore new territories musically. He also draws on his favourite books for inspiration. All of this provides him with a vast palette of musical and lyrical opportunities. He is very prolific and can write at astonishing speeds sometimes, without compromising the quality of the songs. I can’t think of another metal/rock songwriter who manages to write such compelling melodies and storylines. These have shaped the very essence of Nightwish, despite personnel changes. 8. How do you manage to figure out the ideas of a mastermind like him? Well, I get to understand his mind more with every project. At its most basic level, right from the Once album, we had meticulous briefing sessions and spoke a lot about his influences and what he wanted to get from me. His demos are very well prepared and he presents me with solid ideas for his orchestral parts. I believe we now have a unique relationship, where I have freedom to make my own contribution to the scores, while preserving his more definitive ideas. 9. Has there been any situation in which Tuomas and you have different ideas/perspectives or do not agree with something in particular? (The usage of a certain instrument, the inclusion of a certain passage, etc.) Rarely, but sometimes I might write say a xylophone phrase and he might think it’s too hard or sound , or something like that. Or perhaps a certain woodwind or string line is maybe too light hearted, or a brass accent might get in the way of another idea that he has or is working on. However, when one considers the thousands of notes/parts/lines that have to be written, these are very isolated cases. I can’t recall one instance where we have been in total disagreement over something. This is because during my score writing process, I am in constant touch with him and often send him demo files of stuff I am working on. Obviously, by the law of averages, I might write a motif or something that Tuomas is unsure of, but by sending these work-in-progress mock-ups, using good samples, any necessary changes can be dealt with long before we get to the studio. 10. How would you describe this upcoming album, and how would you define the role of the orchestra and choir in it? The orchestra and choir are as mighty as always. However, the band is featured very strongly this time and you can expect there to be space for the band to be dominant, yet sections where the orchestra will be heavily featured also. It made a difference that the band recorded most of their parts before the orchestra, so I was able to fit around them more efficiently for this album. 11. The song that closes the new album is rumored to be nearly twenty-five minutes long. Was it complicated to arrange such a monumental piece in comparison to the other songs of the album? Not really, as “The Greatest Show On Earth†is divided into five movements, the last of which has no orchestra. Obviously, there had to be a connection between each of the movements and it had to be paced so that the whole thing built logically. Tuomas had composed the complete song and had very clear ideas as to the structure, which we discussed constantly, so for my part, it was actually no more complicated than arranging Ghost Love Score for example. The 4th movement gets massive and I had a fair amount of freedom with the arrangement, so that part took a fairly long time for me to be satisfied. The 3rd movement has a sinister introduction for which again, I was given a great deal of freedom. 12. Since we know you cannot say much about it, we will make a simple exercise. I will give you some words and you can choose the ones that suit the mood of that song the best: Fast, crazy, sad, joyful, aggressive, powerful, dramatic, sensitive, mysterious, progressive, majestic, ethnic. Ha-ha- all of these words can be applied at various times throughout the piece! 13. You have worked on the latest four Nightwish albums and you’ve known all three singers. The sound of a band sometimes changes in order to fit the singer’s voice. Do you think the sound of the band changed this time in order to fit Floor Jansen’s voice? Not specifically to fit Floor’s voice, but the sound of the band has naturally evolved. I can tell you that Floor has seamlessly fitted in to all of the various genres that the band incorporate into their music- metal, folk, classical. Fans will greet Floor warmly!! 14. Besides Nightwish, what other metal band(s) would you like to collaborate with? I often get asked this and have been approached by others from time to time. Quite simply, I would not like to work with another band who simply wanted me to do something similar, and my relationship with Nightwish and Tuomas fulfills me completely musically! As a musician/arranger/composer/orchestrator, I would have to be offered something totally different, but I would never rule out the possibility. 15. Symphonic Metal has become one of the most popular genres in metal music; there have been many cases where orchestras invite metal bands to perform with them live at some opera festivals and events alike. Do you think Symphonic Metal could be a new way to get more people interested in classical music? Definitely! People have turned on to classical music as a result of seeing films with great scores, so by the same token, I would love to see the audience for classical music grow as a result of bands like Nightwish! - Thank you very much for giving us a bit of your time. Finally, is there any message you would like to send to all Nightwish fans out there that will read this interview? Of course! I would just like to thank all of you Nightwish fans, old and new, for your continued support for this magnificent group of musicians and people!Nightwish are one of the few artists who never compromise on quality and it's been an honour for me to play such a large part in their musical adventures so far! Peace to you all!Source: http://on.fb.me/17JJ2xy
01. Shudder Before The Beautiful This new album starts strong: the huge orchestration that opens the first track is directly followed by very heavy guitars. Floor uses her rock voice for a "catchy" song, witch is potentially a second single. The choirs are immediately catchy. The progression is fairly linear and classically structured (verse / chorus / bridge with choir). 02. Weak Fantasy A fairly heavy track that belies the "weak" term of the title! The big opening riffs are offset by very folky guitars on the break. Floor is already beginning to reveal the full extent of her range with still a rock voice, but significantly different from the previous track. Marco also made his first appearance with a slightly hoarse voice. 03. í‰lan The first single from the album opens with an intro by the flute and the piano. Troy Donockley and his celtic instruments are very present, resulting in a clear folk atmosphere. Floor voice is softer. Here we have a classic structure song, selected to be a single (the album version gains just a small intro and outro with an acoustic guitar). A track that will disapoint the fans and lovers of big sound, but should appeal to a wider audience beyond the metal scene. 04. Yours Is An Empty Hope Nightwish has an excellent guitarist among its bandmembers since its inception in 1996, and it shows wonderfully on this album. This does not preclude the orchestra. The guitar on this very punchy track is somewhat reminiscent of "Scaretale" of the previous album. Floor's voice nicely complements Marco : for once, it's the female singer, not the male singer that does the screams. This woman definitely can do everything and this confirms that Nightwish has gain a real asset with her vocal abilities. 05. Our Decades In the Sun This song opens with inventive choir vocals. This is a very sweet song despite very strong guitars. Again, Emppu and his guitar seems to have imposed his mark on this album. 06. My Walden The song begins with Troy singing, in an unknown language (Old English? Gaelic?). The atmosphere is very, very Celtic, a pure joy for those who love both metal and Celtic music. The harpist who wrote those words belongs to this category. 07. Endless Forms Most Beautiful What happens wih the guitars on this album ? The chorus is particularly catchy. Floor's vocal lines are inventive, but the wide intervals will not be easy to reproduce on stage ( don't know what she means )that being said, I'm not worried, given the vocal mastery of the lady. This is a perfect marriage between guitar / orchestra / chorus. 08. Edema Ruh Troy is here on vocals and instruments. The structure is classic and Floor voice is softer. This is perhaps the least memorable song from the album for now - at first listen anyway. Obviously, this title was chosen by Tuomas to serve as the first single, but in the end "Elan" was preferred by the other bandmembers. Given the reception of "Elan" and accusations of being "pop" that flourish on the Web, the worst-case scenario has been avoided ... 09. Alpenglow Not only the keyboard intro is very catchy and reminds the heyday of "Nemo," but the chorus melody will definitely be a killer in concert. Troy adds some color and Floor offers us a lot of versatility in the same song: mostly sweet, her voice is finally very "rocky" on the chorus. 10. The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula This song opens with inventive percussions. Anyone who had once attended a ceremony at a Buddhist temple will immediately feel the same atmosphere. Troy and the choir of children vocalize without words. An instrumental track where Floor does not appear at all, very relaxing and unusual even for Nightwish. 11. The Greatest Show On Earth a. This monumental track seems to be the Great Work of Tuomas, begins with a beautiful introduction piano / cello, and follows a very beefy orchestra. Floor and choir voices are warming up with vocalising and scientist Richard Dawkins made his first narrative appearance. The title of the song is also borrowed from one of his books on evolutionary biology, while the album name itself is taken from "The Origin Of The Species", work of the famous English naturalist Charles Darwin. Thoses References indicate a documented concept. b. This repeats the theme of the previous part, but in a very punchy version this time. Floor delivers some spoken words before singing. c. Another change of mood, with the return of percussions and choirs. Animal noises appear in the song; Nightwish can still surprise us ! Lots of guitars. Finally there is Marco, and Floor offers us her strongest rock voice. A few notes of "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" by Bach are emerging - a recurring theme in the works depicting life in general, after the French animated series "Once Upon A Time ... Mankind" or Terrence Malick film "The Tree Of Life" - and is there a techno beat in the background? d. Another change of atmosphere, this time with the piano and the sound of waves. A very quiet moment again, with an inspiring text about Life read by Richard Dawkins. We end up on waves, a theme dear to Tuomas, with a gentle whale chant to make sure everyone is relaxed. Twenty-five minutes for the latter track. There is four obvious parts , but it should be possible to found 6 by careful listening. Conclusion : Keyboards and guitars are ​​very, very forward in the mix compared to Imaginaerum, where the piano literally disappeared behind the orchestra, confirming the direction envisioned by Tuomas already a year and half ago. An album "more band oriented " than its two predecessors with Anette. The drums, however, are a little behind; Is it related to the change of drummer ? Marco is not prominent as a singer (especially with respect to its significant presence in Imaginaerum), but not necessarily in favor of the new male vocalist, Troy Donockley. That being said, the new frontwoman has versatility for two - "She's as versatile as it gets, I absolutely did not feel limited myself" Tuomas noticed - even if there is no lyrical voice. In our upcoming interview, Tuomas explains the lyrical side has been tested and discarded during rehearsals: "the fact that she uses very little lyrical voice may come as a surprise, but you must serve the songs and not just use it because you can. » The songs are very diverse with respect to each other, but form a coherent whole. The final track is very impressive in its complexity and structure. As for track 10, "The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula," it is very unusual, in a good way, among the discography of Nightwish. Endless Forms Most Beautiful contains all the expected features of Nightwish, refocusing on the band. According to Tuomas in our interview, there is a "change in continuity" in the logical progression of a group that has the means to its ambitions and welcomed an additional musician and a singer whose talent is unmatched on the female metal scene.
Nightwish has always stood for virtuoso perfection. They are able to evoke fantastic dream worlds, fade out time and space, and touch you deep inside with their majestic symphonic compositions. Vision and temptation, love and passion, devotion and blood - this Finnish band also has the courage to aspire to new creative and innovative ventures. Since their formation in August 1996, they have risen long ago to become the biggest Symphonic Metal band. It is no secret that main composer and keyboard player Tuomas Holopainen is a versatile songwriter, who lives for his music, dedicates himself to his art and this seeps through in every single note of his work. Four years have passed since the gigantic Imaginaerum album - a lot has happened and still even more will happen, because the time is right for a new chapter in the history of the Suomi-Symphonics. A chapter, which will set new standards and will start a magic trip into a spectacular parallel universe; so overwhelming, so epic, so beguiling. Nightwish connect past, present and future to a flawless whole. It is a time for a new era. It is a time for Endless Forms Most Beautiful.Endless Forms Most Beautiful is the first Nightwish studio album to feature Dutch singer Floor Jansen (Revamp, ex-After Forever) - the splendid chanteuse has been a full-time member since Oct 2012. On the imposing 2013 live release Showtime, Storytime the amazing power woman improved the sound with her beautiful voice while lending the songs, once more, a special grace. It was clear that the Dutchwoman would catapult the songs vocally on a new, even more powerful, level. "The recordings of the more soft, very deep and less operatic song parts were a great challenge for Floor, because she had never sung before on an album in that way", remembers Tuomas Holopainen. "Nevertheless, her enthusiasm brought out the maximum in her versatile voice." On the drums there is also a new face: On account of health problems, long-time drummer Jukka Nevalainen has had to take a break and is replaced by his good friend Kai Hahto (Wintersun) for touring duties. Finally the quintet was extended by the entrance of multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley. His new colleagues fill Holopainen with pride: "The new members were completely motivated and contributed large parts to the arrangements. They worked as a unit - much more than on all the albums before!"The musical excursion begins with the rapid 'Shudder Before The Beautiful', which symbolizes the sublimity and grandeur of the world. The famous evolutionary biologist and author Richard Dawkins appears at the beginning in a narrative role. "He did not know Nightwish before", Tuomas admits, "but after listening to some songs, he really liked our music and accepted our invitation with pleasure." 'Weak Fantasy' follows, which seems to be the hardest song of the album according to Holopainen beside 'Yours Is An Empty Hope'. Bassist Marco Hietala also contributed many ideas to this number. The wonderful and touching 'í‰lan' is the first single. "The underlying subject of the song is nothing less than the meaning of life, which is different for all of us. It is important to surrender yourself to the occasional free fall and not to fear the path less traveled by", the songwriter philosophizes. 'Our Decades In The Sun' carries the listener softly into quieter fields, followed by the folky-medieval 'My Walden'. That number stands for the open-endedness of every person and should inspire one to have a look to the individual world in front of you. The origin of all life, inspires the outstanding title track 'Endless Forms Most Beautiful'. "Here the evolution of life on earth is reflected", Tuomas says. The next song is called 'Edema Ruh' and Tuomas was heavily inspired by the fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss in whose imaginary world, musician and actors travel from village to village, make music and play theatre. 'Alpenglow' is a kind of love song, where different variations of being after death are described and illustrated. Before the spectacular finale, an instrumental piece, impresses: In 'The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula' orchestra and choir shine in perfect symbiosis, generating a cinematic soundtrack mood and bewitching with a mystical-melancholic atmosphere. The crowning end is shown by the monumental 24 minutes monster 'The Greatest Show On Earth', which is divided into five chapters and enclose the complete evolution - from the formation of Planet Earth until the distant unknown future. "This is for me the best Nightwish song of all time", Tuomas says.And the Finns are right, because in this Richard Dawkins takes part again and completes that overwhelming, breathtaking and mysterious piece of art in a perfect way. Nightwish presents themselves stronger and more self-confidently than ever. By now it is chiseled in stone: Endless Forms Most Beautiful is a virtuoso legacy for eternity. Nightwish were never better.Nightwish's North American Tour Dates:4/9 - Hammerstein Ballroom - New York City, NY4/10 - Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA4/11 - Palladium - Worcester, MA4/13 - Le Capitole - Quíébec City, QC4/14 - Phoenix Concert Theater - Toronto, ON4/16 - Town Ballroom - Buffalo, NY4/17 - Agora Theatre - Cleveland, OH4/18 - Concorde Music Hall - Chicago, IL4/19 - 7 Flags Events Center - Clive, IA4/21 - Ogden Theatre - Denver, CO4/22 - In The Venue - Salt Lake City, UT4/24 - Knitting Factory - Spokane, WA4/25 - Orpheum Theatre - Vancouver, BC4/26 - Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR4/28 - Warfield Theatre - San Francisco, CA4/30 - House Of Blues - Las Vegas, NV5/1 - The Greek Theater - Los Angeles, CA5/2 - Marquee Theatre - Phoenix, AZ5/3 - Tricky Falls - El Paso, TX5/5 - Bomb Factory - Dallas, TX5/6 - Warehouse Live - Houston, TX5/8 - House of Blues - Orlando, FL5/9 - Revolution - Fort Lauderdale, FL5/11 - Marathon Music Work - Nashville, TN5/12 - Expo Five - Louisville, KY5/13 - Filmore - Charlotte, NC5/14 - Filmore - Silver Springs, MD
Pip Williams's thoughts about EFMB:"At last, I can listen to the new Nightwish extravaganza objectively. As a piece of art- not just something I worked on!And it is a piece of art. The best NW album yet in my humble opinion! Every contribution deserves credit, but Floor is simply magnificent!"
Almost every rock journalist had on his ‘what are you looking forward to in 2015’ list prominent: the new Nightwish album with Floor Jansen as a vocalist. To me, Nightwish is like an ex-girlfriend. I loved the band but lost the feeling and broke up. With Floor on the live DVD they got me again, and love was reborn. Would the new album kick ass? Would it sound like a new After Forever album? Would it be ‘pedal-to-the-metal’? Almost bursting and with a load of questions I took off on the twelfth of February to Amsterdam. I was given the opportunity to not only listen to the new and more than amazing album but also to sit down with Tuomas and Floor. Nightwish is reborn and (again) worth listening to and to be a fan of! After one and a half week of doing interviews all over Europe and with almost ninety(!!) interviews each I met Tuomas and Floor who appear in an excellent mood and with the enthusiasm off a band that is experiencing their breakthrough they are eager and go in-depth in a talk that lasted one and a half hour…By: William Pezy | Archive under gothic metalWhat was the worst question you had last days?Floor: …… just one: ‘Well about the album, can you tell us something about it?’ It is not even a bad question, just not specific. The level of questions have been high so most interviews were a lot of fun. Tuomas: I had eighty-nine interviews the last one and a half week and to be honest all of them were ok, I do not mind talking about music or a new album. And I cannot recall a bad question only a question were I thought: ‘why ask me what the history and discography of the band is?’ You can find it on the website. But if it is just the question to get us started, then that is ok. The last days have been interview after interview and lots of traveling and waiting. How do you cope such days?Floor: It was not hard at all, I like to talk about music and maybe it is due to my ego I like to talk about myself (she starts to laugh out loud, WP). No honestly, of course it costs energy because you want to be focused: every journalist should have the appropriate attention. But I loved doing it, I am so proud of what we did on this album and it is new to me talking about the first album where I am the singer of Nightwish. Because people have had the chance to listen to the album before an interview they have come to an opinion and it gives the chance to talk in depth of things. Besides the interviews, it is also nice to see all these cities we go to, the different people and cultures we experience. I had a blast!Tuomas: I have a bunch of books in my backpack, I make crossword puzzles go have a long walk or do some tourism. So I have my tools to keep my mind busy. And surprisingly, also on tour we have a great deal of free time so you have to fill it up with something constructive. Can you tell me how you experienced the period between the end of the Imaginaerum tour and the moment you become a full member of Nightwish? You came out of a turbulent phase of your life had to learn the lyrics in 48 hours, got on a rollercoaster and then suddenly…the tour was over and there your were, sitting at home.Floor: Actually, two days after the last Nightwish show the second ReVamp album was released so I started to promote the album and did the ReVamp shows. From one circus to the other. Nevertheless, I already knew Troy and I had become member of Nightwish. Before I was asked to become their future singer I had decided to just enjoy this tour as much as possible and to see it as a great experience. And of course there really tough moments when you realise that it was going amazing and we had great times and that the end of the tour was ahead. But then we did our first festival in Finland in Tempere and after the show we had a drink at the hotel amongst a lot others. The band asked if Troy and I could spare a minute and there it was out of nothing: ‘We would like to have you guys as a full member of the band.’ It was very emotional and there I was in plain sight and had not to tell anyone. I was so, so happy. I felt like on top of the world….and yes the official statement came some months later.What has changed with a person like Floor in the band?Tuomas: Things are at the moment as good as they were when we had the best times with the previous singers. It is wonderful to see a vocalist who is so motivated, so devoted about the band that she actually moved to Finland and is learning the language. She is really passionate about the music, about her performance, about the upcoming tour. It is really a lovely and heart-warming feeling to see that sincerity and passion for music in a person when it comes to music. So it is really good, but we do not want to take anything for granted. So we have to work really hard to keep this vibe as good as it is. Also Troy has brought a lot to the band. Troy has great charisma, when he walks into a room he fills it with light and good times. He is a great musician and singer and brings a lot into the band artistically. So I do not have anything to complain at the moment. What has changed in the song writing process?Tuomas: hardly anything to be honest. I have never felt limited in what I am doing. I just write the music and do not think whether someone is able to perform it. I know I have the right people in the band who are able to play anything we write. That makes me a lucky and fortunate song-writer. Take Floor for example. She is a versatile singer and can do about anything. But that does not mean we need to make her do anything she can. While rehearsing we found that the operatic singing did not add to the music, it felt out of place. It was better to do the opposite and make her sing softer. It worked out and felt better to all of us. And this will be the biggest shock to hear. People are expecting this high, loud and powerful singing, and you will hardly find it. It was off course a risk with all this talented people to really show of what everyone is able to. That is be the deepest pit we can fall into. We have to stay focused and humble to the songs and do our best to bring these songs to life in the most convincing way possible. If a song requires a solo than it does. But not each song needs a solo not even if you are the best guitar player. It is the song that counts. Floor: Tuomas writes most music. All members have to possibility to share their ideas, possible riffs or parts of a song. Then the band comes together or for example Marco sits down with Tuomas to talk about and listen to his ideas. Good ideas make it to the album. Tuomas is an amazing songwriter and writes great lyrics so it makes sense he takes the lead in creating a new album. I never felt the need to bring in my own lyrics. I love the lyrics Tuomas writes. It feels very positive that he gives all members the freedom to work with their parts. So I was able to try out various ways in singing a song. We discussed it to the point of how to sing a syllable, it is very fulfilling to work through a creative process in this way. We already did so on tour. I was given room to change the singing lines to my voice, and I needed that. The former singers were great, but I am not a karaoke singer. The fact we had a long period in the rehearsal room made that we all put in our share. Tuomas: In Nightwish the songs are mainly written by Marco and me and Floor was completely happy with that from the beginning. She never had the urge, need or ego to change that and bring forth her ideas or lyrics. However she had a really big part in the arrangements and especially the interpretation. She did an amazing job. Honestly the thing is that I never consider if someone is able to play the pieces when I am writing the music. I want to write the best possible song and a song is born by being inspired about just something. Might be a book, falling in love with something or anything. I just need to find the story I want to tell and find the perfect way to make that story come to life. The song gets its shape and is finalised in my head. Then we start rehearsing them and make them work. Then we record and mix them and we listen to the soul of the song. I did not think with Floor and Troy in the band: ‘let us make a heavier album’. It is all about the songs, being humble about them. Just a month ago I listened to the final mix of the album and had just the same emotion with them. This is definitely more a band album than the previous one. In a way it is more, but still has the Nightwish trade mark and has a more organic vibe going through the album. It is a very natural sequel to the albums of the past. You use a quote of Carl Sagan on the album, why?Tuomas: I am a huge fan. His series ‘Cosmos’ from the early eighties are fantastic stuff, the recent updated version is also great. His books, like the books of Richard Dawkins, Charles Darwin and Brian Cox are a big inspiration for the album. I was surprised about the reactions on the internet after the news that Richard Dawkins would be a contributor on the album. Especially the hate-messages. I believe that the people who posted these messages have no idea about what is going on. I do not think for example that they have read Dawkins’ books or know anything about these people. There seems to a deliberate willingness to misunderstand because he is such a public figure and a controversial one. This brings us to the theme of the album, evolution for example…Tuomas: Yes, a few songs are about especially the last one ‘The Greatest Show On Earth. The idea of that song is to go through the history of planet earth. From its formation four point six billion years ago until recent future. It starts off with this long piano theme which represents the lifeless planet, its formation and then the first bacteria is formed. From there we start the evolution, then comes apes, then comes the man and finally the recent future we definitely cannot understand. All is told in twenty four minutes. As a child I wanted to become a biologist, and off course the Indiana Jones type of biologist that travels all around the world and has all kinds of adventures and finds the treasures. There has always been a little scientist and adventure living person inside of me. I have been a member of the birdwatching club and astronomy club and all sort of nature clubs in school and high school, that fire never left. And all members off the band share this history and interests that is why it felt like a perfect match to do an album like this because we all strongly relate to it. What do you think of the subjects of this album?Floor: It is almost the opposite of the previous album which was more about a dreamworld. This album is much more the scientific approach. It is about evolution and to stand still what the earth and what humanity is about. We are living in such a fast and impatient world. Tuomas reads a lot of books and he loves the books from Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan and others. His is convinced that if you want to escape from this world on times it is so good to look at it. It helped me recovering from my burn-out: dare to take a look at the incredible way a hive works, or an ant nest or nature in general. It is amazing and brings calmness. Take nothing for granted and take time to live. Do you remember the time when we were younger and were waiting and saving money for a release of our favourite artist? Nowadays it flashes by on Spotify. They brought great things, but it is not all great. I embrace the countermovement of the increase of more sales of vinyl. We try to move you in taking the time to enjoy life. Did the presence of two non-Finnish members have anything to do with the changed sound and difference in songs comparing to the previous albums?Floor: I do not believe that is has anything to do with culture. We are all individuals. I think that Imaginaerum was dominated by the orchestral sound. This new album has more a ‘band’ sound caused by the long time we spent in the rehearsal room making every detail work out as we want it to work out. And besides that, Nightwish has never made a song lasting twenty-four minutes! Being member of a new band, might bring new goals, new wishes, new dreamsFloor: To be honest, I do not look at it this way. It is difficult enough to keep up with everything that has changed in my life. Luckily I still have the same parents, the same sister. However she was married and I am an aunt now, great! I still have the same friends in The Netherlands. That gives me the feeling I have a good and solid base. On the opposite, take the last two and a half years of my life: from just being recovered from a burn-out and trying to take control again and figuring out what to do with my life, I was asked to fill in a spot in Nightwish. I performed all over the world, at great festivals, moved to Finland, released the second ReVamp album, recorded the new Nightwish album and so on. I just want to enjoy what I am doing and do not take anything for granted. Having Floor on vocals brings a new dimension to the songs, personally I would love to hear her sing Dead Boy’s Poem. Is there a change that there will be a ‘Best off…’ album where she gives her interpretation?Tuomas: Well…unfortunately that will never happen. I think they should be left in peace because they were made at that time in the best way we thought they should be done. The still have that special aura to them, off course if we would record them again it would be in a different way. But then we would also lose some of the magic, some of the innocence that was put in the songs when we did them. It just feels profoundly wrong to me. Tarja and Annette did a wonderful job in all of the songs, it is not right. Let us leave them as they are and interpret them in a different way in live situations. Floor, you left The Netherlands and moved to Finland. What is the difference between the cultures?Floor: The difference can be found in details. If it starts freezing or snow starts falling we will have code red in The Netherlands. The average Fin is not impressed if the trains cannot move because of too much snow. They are familiar with it and do not get annoyed by it. They eating is different, they prefer healthy meals and what I love most is their sauna culture. They are not always as open as the Dutch however they are as direct and have also a very dark sarcastic humour. And when they get drunk, they are really drunk (laughs out loud, WP). But overall, I feel very at home in Finland. How have the masterclasses been so far?Floor: They were nice! I still love being a vocal coach and teacher. I have not got the time to be a regular teacher anymore so the masterclasses are a great opportunity. The masterclasses are divided in two: the people who have just begun singing and the well-experienced singers. I want them to make sure for themselves in what group they belong. That mostly works. From that point there is just one goal for me: after the masterclass you must have the feeling that you have learned something that will inspire you to make progress for quite some time. That is where I started. I have done them in Holland, also in Finland and have a few planned. Also one in London. So far all masterclasses were sold out in two days. Besides fun it is hard work, because I do it all myself. I arrange the facilities, make sure of the financial part, make sure every participant sends in a song. So it might be wise to find someone who relieves me of most of the organisational part. When the album ‘Once’ was released we spoke and you thought hell was already happening and it was to be found here on earth. Taking the theme of the album in consideration, how do you look at mankind at the moment?Tuomas: I have high hopes, I am optimistic. Not many of my peers are but I am. Key to saving this world comes from education, from knowledge. Spreading the knowledge and understand science. I am much more optimistic because I have educated myself and broadened my view. Especially the books of Carl Sagan and Richard Dawkins have made me realise that there is a lot of hope. It is just in human nature that we want think pessimistic very often. Never as in history of mankind have there been this little wars as there is at this moment. That is a fact we often forget. Yes we have a lot trouble to solve like the population growth or climate change. But still I am optimistic that at some point we will understand and wake up. Take the situation with IS and other misuse of religion. Science will give us the answers. I really think it is all about education, bringing the people the possibility to find it out for themselves instead and not having to follow any form of authorities blindly. They do not know any better because no one told them about any option. So that is the key to everything. Maybe an album like this will raise thoughts in some people. So art is a great way of spreading the ideas as well. I am not a scientist or a politician. I do not have all the answers but this album is our little effort in trying to raise consciousness to these matters. - See more at: http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/en/interviews/view/id/5362#sthash.Tj5uRCZ9.dpuf
Finland’s symphonic scene leaders evolve once moreJust when you think you know Nightwish, they go and do something that leaves you with a lingering “Huh?†By their very nature, their music has always been designed to challenge the metal status quo, whether it be through the progressive nuances of their Celtic influences or by injecting startling measures of bombast that reached fever pitch on the release of their last album, And as life imitates their art, their hirings and firings have been equally dramatic, first with an open-letter dismissal of Tarja Turunen and then, and perhaps more surprisingly considering the success and plaudits afforded to their magnificent last offering, an unceremonious split from Anette Olzon.In 2015 things are no different. While the fact that ReVamp and former After Forever singer Floor Jansen has replaced Anette might require us to readjust, news of their new recruit is somewhat eclipsed by their choice to eschew fantastic tales in favour of natural biology, with the inclusion of spoken-word sections by geneticist and staunch atheist Professor Richard Dawkins.Led by the band’s brainchild Tuomas Holopainen, the choice to base the concept around the evolutionary history of the world makes perfect sense from a sonic viewpoint. After all, if you’re going to have a band interpret such mind-expanding ideas as the history of life, it might as well be one who has a better grasp on embodying a sense of epic than anyone else.Beginning with Shudder Before The Beautiful, we are met by a moment of unadulterated metallic rhetoric. ‘The unknown, the grand show, the choir of the stars,’ chimes Floor on a chorus that rides above the crashing waves of symphonic bravado and that is matched in weight by the massive shredding section providing its climax.The sonic upheaval continues through Weak Fantasy, with its death metal-esque intro, bursting like a nuclear explosion in a wash of operatic theatrics and a mass of strings and brass and woodwind and charging triumphant through melodies that, interestingly, hint at Queensrí¿che’s metallic assault.Yet for all for all its initial bombast, the rest of Endless Forms Most Beautiful is less immediate. After the bluster settles, their eighth studio album takes on a more placid, progressive form accentuated by the Celtic flourishes from Troy Donockley, now a full-time member. In these humble moments Floor’s voice is exposed and she delivers her words with lush, confident phrasing and a sensitive treatment of the story of evolution.The album’s closer, a 24-minute opus named The Greatest Show On Earth, is the defining moment, and the point at which Richard Dawkins makes his appearance by way of several arresting monologues.“We are going to die and that makes us the lucky ones,†he utters as the exhilarating histrionics fade out to the sound of whale song, and the album concludes its exhaustive tale of origin that upholds Nightwish’s legacy of being the masters of bombast on this, their newest and most challenging chapter.FINAL VERDICT: 7/10
NIGHTWISH „ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL – EUROPE 2015“ Plus Special Guests: ARCH ENEMY & AMORPHIS 16.11.15 DK-Kopenhagen Falconer18.11.15 Hamburg O2 World19.11.15 NL-Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall21.11.15 Oberhausen Kí¶nig-Pilsener-Arena23.11.15 F-Lyon Hall Tony Garnier25.11.15 F-Paris POPB-Bercy26.11.15 F-Toulouse Le Zíénith28.11.15 CH-Basel St. Jakobshalle29.11.15 I-Bologna Unipol Arena01.12.15 Mí¼nchen Zenith03.12.15 Stuttgart Schleyerhalle04.12.15 Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle05.12.15 Ní¼rnberg Arena07.12.15 CZ-Prag Tip Sport Arena Prague10.12.15 RO-Bucharest Romexpo14.12.15 Leipzig Arena15.12.15 Berlin Max-Schmeling-Halle16.12.15 L-Luxenburg Rockhal17.12.15 B-Antwerpen Lotto Arena19.12.15 UK-London Wembley SSE Arena Source: http://www.emp.de/ev...twish/eve_502_/
How are you doing, busy times already with these promo tours?Good! Yes, these are always the busiest moments.‘Endless Forms Most Beautiful’ is what the new album is called. The thematic is about evolution, the universe and its life. Where did this title come from?It comes from Charles Darwin, it’s the last paragraph of his book ‘The origin of species’. From so simple in the beginning, endless forms most beautiful are being evolved. That’s the first indication of diversity of life on this planet.The role of Darwin on this album, where does it actually fit? Was it a starting point or did it come while creating the music?I’ve always been very fascinated about science, especially biology, I even studied that for 6 months at university. The interest has always been there. Then a few years ago, I really got heavily immersed in that stuff again, by Charles Darwin, Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox, … It just inspired me a lot. I figured that Nightwish has always been about fantasy and escapism, really personal stuff, so maybe we should explore the other end of the spectrum for once and do an album about the magic of reality and science. That’s the underlying theme of the whole album.And what about the coverart? It was created again by the same artist as Imaginaerum, did she come up with the idea or did you have a say in that?Well, I like to collaborate as much as I can with the cover artwork, it’s important to me. So I gave an idea that I had about a floating Noah’s Arc in space and put the DNA double helix in the center and as many life forms as we can possibly put around it. This is what she came up with and when I saw it for the first time, my jaw dropped, wow!How would you compare ‘Endless Forms Most Beautiful’ with previous albums, both recent and old ones?I can just speak on a personal level but I think it’s not that different from the stuff we’ve done in the past. From the first moment on, we immediately recognized the band in it. It has all the trademark elements in it of Nightwish. But if you want to search for some differences compared to the previous one, Imaginaerum, this is much more a band album. The guitar is pretty strong, the keyboard much more upfront this time. There is this organic band-wide coverage that wasn’t really present on the previous album. So it’s a bit of a time travel to the Oceanborn – Once era in my opinion. I don’t know how other people think about it.í‰lan will be the first single coming out tomorrow. Why did you pick this song as first single?Well, you always have to pick one and it’s always a very ungrateful job to pick just one, because it never represents the album. I mean, we just wanted to pick out a song that could be played on radios, that’s simple enough, that’s easy enough so that radios would actually play it. For a long time, my personal choice would have been Edemah Ruh but then after about 2 weeks of rehearsals, it was Troy and Marco who came to me and said to me “are you sure about that, we think í‰lan is a much better song for thatâ€. And I said “ok, I don’t really mind, whatever you wantâ€. So then we changed that.If I’m correct there will also be a videoclip launched, can you tell something about it?Yes. We wanted to go a bit old school with the music video and actually put a lot of effort into it and do a lot of location filming instead of doing it in the studio. So we have been scripting and doing it for almost a year. It was filmed in 8 different locations around Finland. The original idea for the video came from a website which had these abandoned places all around the world, like abandoned theme parks, lighthouses, theaters, all really cool stuff, really inspiring beautiful things! You get this feeling that they have amazing stories to tell, what’s been going on in these places the past decades. Then I got the idea that we somehow had to transfer this idea into the video. So what the í‰lan video is about, every band member was visiting an abandoned place and bringing it alive for a few seconds. Originally we wanted to film all around the world. I wanted to go to Siberia to film this really eerie, spooky lighthouse, there was an abandoned railway station in Massachusetts that we wanted to go to, but we just didn’t have the money to do all that, so everything was done in Finland. We found some awesome locations there as well.Things that you did not know about yet?That’s right, there was an abandoned swimming hall, probably abandoned since mid ’70, a really eerie place. Places like that.Do you have any insight on next singles?Yeah, the second single has been decided, but I’ve had to swear not to talk about it. But there will be at least one more, yes.So on í‰lan we have the extra track Sagan. Will we have on the next single also an extra bonus track?Well, I guess we will have to come up with something. Bonus tracks are always a bit tricky since we never do that many extra songs, Sagan was the only one we had. But maybe we can do an alternative mix or whatever.Now let’s talk about something different. What are you expecting of your very first cruise of 2 days? Why 2 days?I guess there was demand for another day, that’s why they booked another one. It seems like a fun thing to do. Like you say, we’ve never done that before and it’s always a lot of fun to do things for the first time. It seems to be really nice for the fans as well. I could imagine my favorite band doing such a cruise, I would be happy to go see them.Do you think you will be able to walk around on the ship with all those fans all around?I could, but it might be a bit tricky (laughs). Let’s see what happens.You already announced one European show, at the Wembley Arena in the UK, a very big venue. Was it simply the next step for Nightwish to play there?I just heard about that less than a week ago myself and I was totally baffled. Really, Wembley Arena, unbelievable. The whole word Wembley has such a mystical aura surrounding it. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard about it. It’s really cool and I guess they want to upgrade the status a little bit as well. It’s a really cool thing, let’s see how it sells.So really only one UK show?Yeah, all the eggs in the same basket.What about the rest of Europe, when can we expect a full European tour?They are planning it as we speak. I would imagine it wouldn’t take too long to announce the rest of the dates, but there will be an extensive European leg coming before Christmas. [Tourdates are published in the meantime here]So probably the UK show will be the last show in the tour schedule?I think so, yes. [Confirmed]For that show, support acts are both Arch Enemy and Amorphis. Any idea if that will be for that show only or for the rest or part of the tour?Well, we know the support acts for every show this year already, but again I was told not to talk about it, so unfortunately I can’t say. (smirks) [Arch Enemy and Amorphis both confirmed for the European concerts]Soon you are going to the USA, what are your expectation of that?When we start it’s going to be more than a year that we have played together, maybe a year and a half, so the start is going to be a bit tricky as it always is. But you learn ding shows by doing shows, not by rehearsing in a studio. Since it’s been so long, everybody is super anxious to get on the road again.You mention it, one year and a half, that actually isn’t so much time since the previous album. The new album was made rather quick.Yeah it was. It surprised me as well how fast it was made. But the positive energy and the conviction for the songs really worked like never before. Everybody was super happy with the whole process. The only downside was what happened to Jukka the drummer. It’s a terrible thing but besides that everything went smoother than ever.So, the USA and a show in Canada is already booked, then some festivals and a European tour and Canada again, any further plans already?The idea is to tour until the end of 2016, so there will be a lot of stuff happening. I’m sure South America, Japan, Australia maybe another US leg will be there somewhere, but nothing is fixed yet.This time the recording process was again a bit different, with new people also. How did Floor and Troy fit into the recording process this time?Floor and Troy are fantastic. The motivational level of Floor for example is something else. She knew already all the songs and the lyrics before she even came to the rehearsal room, so she had done her homework. As a vocalist she’s as versatile as it gets, so we had never any fear that there would be something that she could not do, same goes with the other guys in the band. Troy brings beautiful chemistry to the band, he’s such a wonderful guy, a funny guy. He can play almost anything, not only the Celtic stuff but he’s a really good singer, plays the acoustic guitar that you can hear in the album as well… It’s lovely.Something I noticed when just listening to the album, on the 6th track, My Walden, was it Troy who started the intro?Yes. It’s old Welsh that he’s singing.For the rest, the last track The Greatest Show on Earth, was it a conscious choice to make it so large?Well the theme of the song is so vast, because the idea was to do a song that would cover the entire evolution of life on planet Earth. This song actually covers more than 5 billion years of time, so you need some time to tell that story. Originally it was even longer, I think it was about 35 minutes, but then we condensed a little bit to make it more approachable and listenable. But that’s what it takes to tell the story. It’s not long because of the shot effect or long to bore people, it’s long because that’s what it takes to tell the story.In that track we hear Dawkins. How was it to work with him and how did you approach him?I wrote him a letter about a year ago, telling him who we are and that we were going to record a song which was influenced by one of his books, called ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’. Then about 3 weeks later, I received an e-mail from him saying “thank you for the letter, I’ve never heard of Nightwish before but now I have, I enjoyed what I heard and I’m looking forward to the collaboration so please book the studio and see you in October!†The recording process took about one hour, he did his stuff beautifully, he’s a really nice guy. Two days ago I met him again in London and played him the song. He seemed to like it, so a very lovely collaboration. It really brings an extra edge to the song to have him actually be there and recite those beautiful words.The previous album also had some storytelling from multiple people. Is this a new trend maybe for Nightwish? Will the new album also perhaps have a narrator?If the song requires it. That is the most important thing. Listen to the song, what do you need to become alive, what are the tools that we need to use for you to wake up. Do you need an operatic vocal? No. Do you need a softer singing? Ok we’ll go with that. Do you need a solo this time? Yes let’s put in a solo. Do you need Dawkins? Yes that would be nice, let’s use Dawkins. So just be humble for the song and don’t do things just because you can or to show off, that’s mainly the thing.Very unfortunate is like you mentioned that Jukka had to take a step aside. Did you yourself already know Kai Hahto?We’ve known each other for years. But especially Jukka, they go back a long time. It were really sad times when this happened. Because we already rehearsed this album about a month with Jukka before he stepped down, saying “I can’t do this anymore, I feel like a zombie, I haven’t slept in 2 weeks, I need to go to a doctorâ€. The only one we could think of who could do a replacement on such short notice was Kai because his drum skills are ‘out of this planet’. Luckily for us, he had the time and the motivation to come and save this album basically.Is it clear yet who will join on tour?Kai will do the whole tour, yes. But Jukka is still a member of the band, the drummer of the band so in 2 years we will know more.Will Jukka come along on the tour?I sure hope so! It would be lovely to see Jukka here and there, maybe play a little now and then. Maybe, even likely!Maybe another unfortunate thing. There was the unfortunate event of the leaking of í‰lan. Something like that is indeed terrible as multiple people have already expressed. We are however in a time where the internet has become unimaginable in our world, new services like Spotify and Youtube are big business… What do you think about all that?I think internet is lovely. I’m all pro technology and progress. And yes it is a fact that leaks happen all the time, not only for us but basically for every single band. But I also think strongly that we should raise this issue into the daylight and try to do something to prevent it from happening in the future. Because it’s a really big thing not only for the band, but also for the music business. Not financially, but it really kills the mystery of the whole thing. When you anxiously await for a new album or song and then somebody leaks it with real bad quality… I don’t care about the money personally but for me it kills the mystery, that’s what really upsets me big time. We got a lot of criticism about mentioning this. People were saying “you are so immature, stop complaining, it’s the 21th century, this happens, get over itâ€. But if you think the same thing about many things that are wrong, like terrorism, it’s the 21th century and it’s happening, get over it…Nobody is justifying that.Indeed, nobody is justifying that. Another important thing is that there are many kids, especially younger kids, that don’t realize that they are doing something wrong. It’s not because they are behaving badly or out of mischief, it’s just that they don’t know any better. Some education is also needed on that.That’s why many of you brought out a statement for that?Absolutely, yeah.A question for the ladies perhaps. Your image and appearance, for example promo pictures with the high hat, is it something that you use to differentiate yourself from other artists?The hat is there just because (starts laughing) it became kind of a thing, he’s the guy always with the hat, take the hat off already (laughs). I would say ok, if that’s your reaction, oh well. I love hats, I love my top hat, it means a lot to me and in some promo pictures I use it and in some I don’t. It’s not really a big deal.We’re 2015 now, that’s a long history of Nightwish already. How do you look back on the growth of Nightwish?Well, it fits to the theme of this album perfectly. There’s a very clear evolution to be seen of the band throughout the 18,5 years that we’ve been together. It starting off as something really innocent and acoustic, even gothic. Then came the power metal era, then we found film music, started adding orchestra, … It’s been a growing, evolving thing all the time. I’m happy to say that we’ve always been able to find new angles for all the albums so that they don’t sound alike, any of them. But still, on every album you hear from the first song that it is Nightwish. And that’s a really lovely balance that we’ve been able to keep.
