by Justin Gaines
– Senior Columnist/News Editor —
Finnish symphonic metal legends Nightwish are back with a new studio album titled Endless Forms Most Beautiful, and it’s kind of a big deal. Sure, every new album is a big deal when you’re one of the most prominent metal bands on the planet, but this isn’t exactly “just another Nightwish album.” Following a very public split with vocalist Annette Olzon, the band enlisted former After Forever vocalist Floor Jansen, who quickly energized Nightwish fans. To say that her first album with the band comes highly anticipated is an understatement. Beyond the vocalist change, this is the first Nightwish album not to feature drummer Jukka Nevalainen, who is replaced (temporarily) by Wintersun’s Kai Hahto.
It will no doubt come as a disappointment to some fans that Nightwish didn’t pivot back to their earlier Gothic/Operatic Metal sound with this album, especially now that they have a singer who can pull that kind of sound off. Instead Endless Forms Most Beautiful continues on the bombastic Symphonic path they took with Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerum. Nightwish is again joined by a full orchestra for this album.
Setting aside expectations, Endless Forms Most Beautiful is an undeniably grand and epic production. Aside from perhaps Therion, nobody does symphonic metal like Nightwish, and this album is very much up to the band’s high standards. Keyboardist/songwriter Tuomas Holopainen has come up with some of his most elaborate orchestrations to date, and they complement the melodies beautifully. Lyrically, Endless Forms Most Beautiful is inspired by Charles Darwin’s work and is conceptually about life and science.
So how does Floor sound in Nightwish? That’s the big question, right? The answer is that she sounds pretty terrific, just as expected. Given her power, range and presence, she really is the ideal vocalist for this band. It’s a shame they didn’t grab her a decade ago when they split with original singer Tarja Turunen. They don’t quite take advantage of her full range here though, which is disappointing, but given the nature of the songs there’s absolutely nothing to complain about with her performance.
“Elan” is the first single from Endless Forms Most Beautiful, and oddly enough it ends up being one of the album’s least interesting songs. The bombastic album opener “Shudder Before the Beautiful” or the tranquil yet memorable “Edema Ruh” might have been better choices. “My Walden” is another memorable moment, with its folk melodies and instrumentation. The album’s title track is the one that’s most likely to get stuck in your head hours after the album is done spinning. It has very powerful melodies and an epic chorus full of choirs backing Jansen. The 24-minute epic “The Greatest Show on Earth” could have been the greatest Nightwish song ever (and for certain a lot of fans were expecting “Ghost Love Score” times infinity), but it ends up being one of the hardest songs to get into. Perhaps it’s the various interludes and slow points, but it feels like a missed opportunity somehow.
It’s also worth mentioning that the mixing and mastering of this album seems … off. It’s not just that Floor seems low in the mix; it’s that the album seems too quiet. You’ll have to bump up your volume to hear it at the same level as any other recent release. Given the kind of perfectionist that Holopainen is, this is no doubt intentional. What that intention is remains a mystery.
If you can set aside expectations going into this, and if you can overlook the sound issue, and especially if you’re willing to give this album a few spins to really sink in, it will absolutely pay off. This may not be the kind of album that blows you away from the very start, but Endless Forms Most Beautiful is one of the best Metal albums 2015 has to offer. There’s power, beauty, grandeur and majesty in abundance, and with luck this is only the beginning of a long-lasting pairing of Nightwish and Floor Jansen.
Edition Notes: There are several different versions of Endless Forms Most Beautiful available, depending on your choice of media and price range. The bonus material – instrumental versions of the album’s songs – is the same no matter which version (beyond the basic edition) you choose.
Genre: Symphonic Metal
Band:
Floor Jansen (v)
Marco Hietala (b) (v) (g)
Tuomas Holopainen (k)
Emppu Vuorinen (g)
Troy Donockley (p) (w) (v)
Track Listing:
1. Shudder Before the Beautiful
2. Weak Fantasy
3. Elan
4. Yours Is an Empty Hope
5. Our Decades in the Sun
6. My Walden
7. Endless Forms Most Beautiful
8. Edema Ruh
9. Alpenglow
10. The Eyes of Sharbat Gula
11. The Greatest Show on Earth
Label: Nuclear Blast
Website: www.nightwish.com
Hardrock Haven Rating: 8.5/10
