{"id":19607,"date":"2012-04-08T05:11:45","date_gmt":"2012-04-08T10:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=19607"},"modified":"2013-01-29T10:15:55","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T15:15:55","slug":"nightwish-imaginaerum-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/nightwish-imaginaerum-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Nightwish | Imaginaerum<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Imaginaerum<\/em> marks the return of Finnish symphonic metal pioneers Nightwish to active duty \u2013 their seventh studio release overall. Although they\u2019ve been in existence since 1996, realistically this is the second album of the revamped post-Tarja Nightwish, so perhaps it should almost be considered a sophomore release.<\/p>\n

Imaginaerum<\/em> was conceived and written for the most part by founding member and keyboard player Tuomas Holopainen. It was conceived as a \u201cconcept album\u201d and a film, and with that come all the pluses and minuses of both. The story is a simple one, the reminiscences of youth by old composer on his deathbed. In the works for a number of years, Imaginaerum<\/em> is an ambitious work, with a mix of styles, tempos and tones. Of course there is a massive amount of orchestra and choral work \u2013 the Nightwish traditional approach \u2013 but there are a few tracks with no orchestration at all. Musically the album jumps from symphonic metal to folk to classical and back again at dizzying rates, and is not a stylistically as cohesive as older Nightwish releases \u2013 perhaps as an offshoot of the concept film.<\/p>\n

As one would expect from Nightwish, the album is beautifully recorded and warmly mixed. The musical performances are flawless, and the lyrics image laden and thought-provoking. The orchestra and choral vocals are well done and are an integral part of the release. There are intense metal riffs, soft atmospheric passages and a bit of Gothic feel to the album, but the constant changes make it difficult to appreciate the album as a whole. It does sound like a movie soundtrack album, with many of the tunes wildly different and little connection between them other than the overriding theme of the album.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaikatalvi,\u201d (meaning means \u201cmagic winter\u201d) sung fully in Finnish by Marco Hietala with nice choral and orchestral support, opens the album as an almost lullaby and blends nicely into the second track. \u201cStorytime\u201d is a much more intense track with a catchy chorus, heavy riffs, booming drums, and fine vocal performances, and is almost a summary of the album’s story. \u201cGhost River\u201d follows with a very intense guitar opening and quickly becomes a very odd and Tim Burton-esque theatrical \u2013 a strange song well suited for a fantasy film soundtrack. \u201cSlow, Love, Slow\u201d is a beautiful piano and bass driven track with a bluesy and smoky atmosphere. It features a stunning vocal performance by Anette Olzon and a fine guitar solo. The transition to the hard rocking \u201cI Want My Tears Back\u201d is rather jarring and abrupt, but this track is one of the strongest on the album and probably the most comfortable listen for long-time Nightwish fans. Troy Donockley’s pipe work is amazing and makes for a great counterpoint to the guitars. \u201cScaretale\u201d is a very creepy song about nightmares, but fun a fun listen thanks to a very solid arrangement and excellent orchestration \u2013 very theatrical.<\/p>\n

The driving rhythms of the instrumental \u201cArabesque\u201d transition from nightmare to ballad, leading into the soft and gentle folk tune \u201cTurn Loose The Mermaids\u201d – a vocal masterpiece. It builds in intensity and then drops into the heavy and booming \u201cRest Calm\u201d – an everything but the kitchen sink almost doom\/goth metal song with great vocals and a slick guitar line. This track just keeps building in power thanks to complex vocal and orchestral layering. Another jarring transition hits the listener with the pop\/folk\/ballad \u201cThe Crow, The Owl And The Dove\u201d – a great sing-along soft rock track with nicely done acoustic passages. The listener is once again jarred into the very intense and rollicking \u201cThe Last Ride of the Day\u201d – a roller coaster track if there ever was one.<\/p>\n

The epic 13-minute plus \u201cSong Of Myself\u201d showcases Nightwish at its best. Good lyrics, good performances, a variety of styles\/tempos and tons of energy. Unfortunately the song ends with a long winded spoken section which totally breaks the flow, mood and momentum of the song \u2013 perhaps needed for the film but out of place here. It fades into the nicely done orchestral outro and title track \u201cImaginaerum\u201d. This well done track is a traditional reprise of elements from all of the preceding tracks \u2013 a great Broadway-style closer.<\/p>\n

This album will definitely appeal to hardcore Nightwish fans, but it may be too esoteric (and perhaps even \u201chighbrow\u201d) for the casual metal fan. While musically excellent and classically influenced, Imaginaerum jumps from style to style so often that it is difficult to properly classify. Nightwish is truly an excellent band, but perhaps with this release they are pushing themselves a bit too far from their comfort zone. Over-the-top symphonic metal \u2013 Epica does it better. Folk metal \u2013 Leaves\u2019 Eyes does it better. Folk rock \u2013 Blackmore\u2019s Night does it better. Movie soundtracks \u2013Disney does it better. However, you will not find any act that can span all of these genres as well as Nightwish. Perhaps the album fully works as a counterpart to the film, but if considered on its own it falls victim to its own diversity.<\/p>\n

Recommended for Nightwish fans without a doubt, Imaginaerum<\/em> is an interesting and diverse sonic journey and covers a vast amount of musical territory. A bit more broad and less focused, yet heavier than previous releases, Imaginaerum<\/em> will provide a little something for everyone to like even though the album as a whole might not be as appealing to fans of a single genre.<\/p>\n

Genre: Symphonic Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nAnette Olzon (vocals)
\nTuomas Holopainen (keyboards)
\nEmppu Vuorinen (guitars)
\nJukka Nevalainen (drums)
\nMarco Hietala (bass, vocals)<\/p>\n

Guest musicians: Troy Donockley (uilleann pipes, tin whistle, vocals, bodhran, bouzouki), Dermot Crehan (hardanger fiddle), Dirk Campbell (sorna), Guy Barker (trumpet), Paul Clarvis (ethnic percussion), Stephen Henderson (ethnic percussion), Pekka Kuusisto (violin), The London Philharmonic Orchestra – orchestration by Pip Williams.<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tTaikatalvi
\n2.\tStorytime
\n3.\tGhost River
\n4.\tSlow, Love, Slow
\n5.\tI Want My Tears Back
\n6.\tScaretale
\n7.\tArabesque
\n8.\tTurn Loose The Mermaids
\n9.\tRest Calm
\n10.\tThe Crow, The Owl And The Dove
\n11.\tLast Ride Of The Day
\n12.\tSong Of Myself
\n13.\tImaginaerum<\/p>\n

Label: Nuclear Blast<\/p>\n

Web: http:\/\/nightwish.com\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis Staff Writer — Imaginaerum marks the return of Finnish symphonic metal pioneers Nightwish to active duty \u2013 their seventh studio release overall. Although they\u2019ve been in existence since 1996, realistically this is […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[4258,4084,339,1100],"class_list":{"0":"post-19607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-imaginaerum","8":"tag-nightwish","9":"tag-nuclear-blast","10":"tag-symphonic-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}