As I hardly buy any new metal albums anymore, there isn´t much to choose from. So it´s got to be the new Nightwish album "Once". I got it just about a week ago and it´s really NEW!
Even though I can already say that "Oceanborn" will continue to be my favourite Nightwish album (especially, but not only because of "The Pharaoh Sails To Orion" and "Walking In The Air"), I can also say that I already like "Once" definitely better than its predecessor, and after a few more spins I might also prefer it to "Wishmaster" and "Angels Fall First".
The fact that "Once" entered the German charts at no. 1 and immediately went gold (for the first time in Germany) might (mis-)lead one into thinking they´ve turned completely mainstream now, but IMO this is not the case. Well, their first single "Nemo" is probably a rather commercial song, but "Once" also features the heaviest guitar sound on any Nightwish album so far (listen to "Dark Chest Of Wonders", "Wish I Had An Angel", "Planet Hell", "Romanticide") and "Creek Mary´s Blood" - yes, it´s the song featuring native American John Two-Hawks - is probably their least commercial/most unexpected song (and my favourite one on "Once" so far). While I do like the first eight songs on "Once" very much (well, maybe except for "Nemo"), I´m not really impressed by the last three songs. The 10-minute-piece "Ghost Love Score" has some nice parts, but it´s nothing extraordinary and so far it hasn´t really clicked - it even ends with a fader!
The ballad "Kuolema Tekee Taitelijan" is absolutely no match for "Walking In The Air"
and "Sleeping Sun"
, and the final song "Higher Than Hope" just bores me. To avoid any wrong impression: In spite of the - IMO - somewhat disappointing ending, I do not regret having bought this album
and I don´t expect there will be many more new metal releases this year which I will like as much or even more!
Which totally annoys me in Arch Enemy (well I didn't like Jon Liiva much, but he was better 
