Published June 17th 2007 onwww.imperiumi.net
Nightwish - Dark Passion Play, pre-listening session at Finnvox studios
Finnsh text by Kari Helenius
translated by "Anssi" at www.nightwish.com/forum
We are on the way to Finnvox studios where NWs new albums listening session will start shortly. There are many thoughts in my head: is the album harder, darker than the previous ones? How big do the orchestras sound now? How will Anette succeed? I do know that the band has thought thoroughly about what kind of singer they want to have and Anette surely fulfils these requirements. Before listening I have heard the samples on the net, but I dont want to make any presumptions based on those short 128k Mp3 samples.
In my opinion, NWs every album has been better than the previous ones and soon I can hear how they have managed this time around. The versatility, technical realisation and the personal skills of the band members has gone forward all the time and they never have stuck in one place, let alone that they would have regressed. The band have grown out of their shells and is at the moment one of the brightest stars in the Finnish metal heaven.
There about 20 media people in the studio, plus record company staff. The whole band, save for Jukka, is present and as usual, Tuomas is nervous about the reception the album will get among the journalists. The album is called Dark Passion Play, it is 75 minutes long and has 13 songs in it.
Before I start to analyse the album in more detail, let it be mentioned that I have heard these songs only once, so there might be some errors in the text below.
The album starts with the mammoth-like The poet and the pendulum, 14 minutes long. The song starts with a soundtrack-like intro, soon accompanied by a boy soprano, after which the song explodes into full force as the band joins in. The it is fast and hard forward, a bit in the spirit of Pantera. Anette starts to sing. In the refrain there is a theme of escape; Get away, run away, fly away After the refrain the orchestra takes over and its back to the verse. After the 2nd chorus there is a more peaceful passage where the cello is prominent. The boy soprano goes on; Tuck me in beneath the blue Then, Anette sings in a duet with the boy. The boy is saying something beneath the orchestra which is hard to decipher. The orchestra gains more strength and the song gets more air beneath its wings. Emppu plays something which resembles a solo and Marco punishes that with his growling. The song comes to a halt, to continue still with one part. The war machine quiets down and tranquillity takes over. A calm flute, beautiful singing. It goes on with a piano accompaniment. Something here resembles Ghost Love Score. There is a confession of love. Who confesses? To whom? Is it a beginning or an end? There are so many parts to the song that it doesnt open with one listening. After another listen it might be possible to say more about the song.
Before I can collect my thoughts, the next song explodes forth and it resembles WIHAA very much. The song is sung by Marco and I can say that the title Bye Bye Beautiful is misleading - this is no beautiful ballad. The raw, massive guitar sound reminds one of Megadeth at times. Is it a goodbye or a "f**k-off"?
Amaranth starts with a piano trio after which the band and the orchestra join in with full force. When Anette sings the chorus the hair on my skin begins to stand for the first time during the album. There is a strong (hard) middle eight, after which the verse and the chorus again. For a while, there is a more peaceful piano part, after which the chorus follows with full force again. Thiw wingle will be published Aug 22.
Cadence of her Last Breath explodes fully in the beginning. The orchestra plays loud. Anette starts from a high pitch. A difficult song, after one listening one cannot remember much of it. The chorus sounds fast.
Master Passion Greed is extremely hard. It could be a song by tarot, judging from the intro. I cölaim that the trash-beginning of the song is the fastest NW ever. Marco sings like radiating with anger and in the chorus the tempo gets slower, the orchestra joins in and it outright jumps into your eyes. Towards the end Marco rages with pathos. The end part is very massive, aggressive. For whom might this be dedicated ?
Next is Eva, a beautiful, peaceful composition, whoch starts with a piano and an oboe. Anette sings with a clear voice, the songs proceeds slowly. In the second verse the drums join in cautiously. After the second chorus the first actual guitar solo of the album, and the orchestra remains quiet until it joins again in the last chorus.
In the next song, the keyboards begin and this time the orchestra joins in quickly. Then it goes on with a guitar melody played by Emppu. This time the composition is of a heavy tempo and Anette has the chance to use her voice with a lot of variation. This thousand-and-one-night story ahs the name Sahara and at the end we can enjoy Arabic song melodies. Would this be The Siren of this album?
The next song starts heavily. There is a real horror movie feel to it, as the title also suggests: Whoever Brings the Night. The singing has been processed through some filter, it sounds like it comes through a flanger. The song is dominated by a strange, slightly frightening sound. The song is however guite Nightwishy, fast as to its tempo. A guitar-lead composition. And no wonder, afterwards I hear it is all written by Emppu.
Oh Jesus. The 69 Eyes started to play? No, no, the beginning just took me by surprise. For The heart I Once Had has the most poppish vocal parts in the album, accompanied by the drums and the bass. Especially the meowing verse is interesting. In the chorus there is again more energy and the song starts to fly. After a short guitar lead by Emppu there is another verse. The chorus is HUGE. For a while after that we calm down, there is a piano, Anette and the orchestra. Is this song about Dead Boy. childhood? Once more, the chorus and the band and the orchestra play with all the force they can.
The next songs beginning reminds me easily of Greek Marys Blood. Acoustic guitar and some kind of low-register acoustic drum. Marco sings softly a mystical, even a bit folkish melody, Anette remains in the background. The song is like an irish folk song, also by its name: The islander. A violin joins in and the song becomes a duet: This is for long forgotten light at the end of the world An infinitely beautiful composition by Marco ends in ocean sounds. Straight from these sounds starts the mind-bafflingly beautiful next song and it takes a while for me to realise that it is an instrumental. A beautiful one at that. There is a Scottish atmosphere and a strong Celtic theme. Last of the Wilds grows towards its end and the composition is finished by a solemnly sounding genuine Finnish kantele.
The next songs begins heavily again, massively. Big choirs in the background. Emppu punishes the guitar seriously, and Anette sings on top. In the Chorus Marco steps in. Anette remains then in the background. Back to the verse, which has a bit of a waiting atmosphere. Another chorus, big, beautiful. Emppu starts a solo straight from the second chorus. Back to Anettes song, the song gets to breathe a little, with only the drums and the orchestra. The sound of the orchestra grows, with a Celtic violin and Anettes gorgeous singing. Marco also goes on. Howl! Seven days to the wolves! The chorus is just the best. The song is the best on the album so far!
The last song starts with a cello. Meadows of heaven. Soon joined by a piano and a violin. Anette starts to sing a peaceful, beautiful melody. The chorus has more power, after which there is a calmer verse again. A bagpipe or something like that continues with a flute. The drums join in and soon also the orchestra, Anette and a big choir. Emppu attacks in with a strong guitar solo. After the solo its time to calm down for a moment again when Anette sings accompanied only by a piano and a violin. The orchestra joins in we reach another chorus. Right at the end of the song there is a gospel choir and a female soul singer and every hair on my skin tries to find its way through my clothes. What a magnigicent song. Even physically a strong experience, my pulse is closer to 200 at the end of the song. A great ending to a great album!
"Summa summarum, after one listening it is impossible to say if this is the best NW album or no. My feeling is similar to what I felt after listening to Once for the first time; I have to collect myself a bit and would like to hear the album again right away, so that I could understand even something of what I just heard. Anette's performance is faultless and her way to use her gorgeous voice crowns this opus. There is a tremendous wealth of different emotions on this album, from very sensitive to exploding. The Celtic theme in the end part of the album was a surprise. It brought additional colour to the album and at least for me worked as an escalator of atmosphere, as I am a fan of everything Irish.
Still, to quote Henrik from Sonata Arctica, writing about music is like trying to read the news with a piano: it is absurd to characterise this kind of opus with text, and eveybody will hear things differently. It has been said that this is the most expensive Finnish album ever made. After listening, it is clear that the investment was worth it - the end result does approach perfect. There are already two videos made of songs from the album, by Antti Jokinen in LA."
