Nightwish is a symphonic power metal band from Kitee, Finland, and was one of the first melodic female-fronted metal bands. Originally fronted by classical-opera-trained Tarja Turunen, a split forced them to find a new singer, the more mainstream-sounding Anette Olzon.
I had the pleasure of seeing them live this past summer, and they were amazing. I’m often disappointed in live performances, but Nightwish was more or less dead-on with the album sound, which gives credit to their talent as musicians. If they ever come to your area, it’s definitely worth your time and money to check them out.
Last month, while searching YouTube for clips of the Broadway performance of ‘Phantom’, I came across the video of Nightwish’s version of the song from the musical. I had never heard of them, and was instantly entranced. I fell in love with Marco’s playing, his voice and the talent of the entire band. I like Anette as well, and also liked Tarja. Each of the musicians; Tuomas Holopainen, Empuu Voirinen, Jukka Nevalainen and Marco Hietala, are very talented, accomplished musicians. Their background in classical training is evident. Marco plays so many bass riffs that are different than others I have heard, and Empuu is a fantastic guitarist. I love watching Jukka’s drumming; he’s amazing. Tuomas, of course, the mastermind, is such a great writer and composer, as well as keyboardist. Marco is the imp on stage, I’ve watched every video of them live I can find. They really do put on a great live show. I’d love to see them and and looking forward to their next tour. They appeared in a city very close to me in 2008; wish I’d known about them then.
I’m very particular about music and like and own just about every genre, but I was exposed to something different when I found Nightwish and their Finnish counterparts.
And that Marco! Talk about a busy guy! Tarot, Sappativuosi, guest appearances with Delain, and other bands. I don’t know how he does it.
I’m not a huge metal fan, but symphonic metal is different. Through finding Nightwish, I’ve explored the world of Finnish metal more deeply. I was aware of Tarot, Sonatarctica and other bands. I purchased ‘Dark Passion Play’ and ‘End of an Era’, and thoroughly enjoy every cut on all three CDs.