NIGHTWISH-Endless Forms Most Beautiful

Nuclear Blast Records

Finnish symphonic power metallers Nightwish never took the easy road. They became successful with singer Tarja but replaced her in 2007 with Swedish singer Annette Olzen whom they fired in the middle of an American tour in 2012. In came Dutch vocalist Floor Jansen, a decision that led to the best and most ambitious cd they made so far. The incredible vocal range of new singer Floor Jansen is a great addition to the overall sound of the band and lifts it to a higher level. `Endless Forms Most Beautiful’, inspired by the work of Charles Darwin, is about the beauty of life and nature and takes the listener on an eighty minutes voyage. All the ingredients that Nightwish is famous for are there: bombastic orchestral cinematic sound, catchy melodies, beautiful arrangements and great song writing. If you like it heavy there’s ,,Weak Fantasy’’ and ,,Yours Is The Empty Hope’’, you will find the Celtic touch in ,,My Walden’’ and the most intimate song must be the ballad ,,Our Decades In The Sun’’. Other highlights are the instrumental, atmospheric ,,The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula’’ (about the famous picture of Afghan refugee girl Sharbat Gula) and ,,The Greatest Show On Earth’’, which is twenty-four minutes long and a listening adventure by itself. This album needs time to sink in but once it does you’ll have to recognize the genius of main composer Tuomas Holopainen and the fact that Nightwish is still able to surprise the listener.