Metal Reviews

You're welcome to comment on:


Click here to see the review.

Sahara must be under the "killing songs" list!!
Other than that, I'm a bit disappointed. I preferred Once over this one (not to mention the old albums), and not only because of the singer.

Getting it tomorrow.

Edit: Ok for some reason I accidentally clicked vote now. So yeah ignore the rating for now.

Let the hat3rs cometh

well I am not really enthusiastic about this one... maybe I should listen to it again and again, but I don't think it will grow on me

5/10

Unfortunately it's a weak album. Not because of the obvious singer change. I think that the band got lost in what they actually want to play, and we received a mediocre Nightwish album.

The only reasonable song is IMHO Amaranth. Nice pop song ;)

I so agree, if only the song wouldn't lose it's energy in the verses, this could easily be one of my favorite tracks ever. And I'm not kidding!

The album itself suffers of only one thing: the fact that many of the songs totally lose their energy when Anette starts singing as Tuomas seemed to put less effort on the instruments and more on the vocals. Mainly because of this I consider Bye Bye Beautiful to be my favorite track, it just stays consistent to the end. Other great songs are The Poet and the Pendulum, Sahara, and 7 Days to the Wolves.

I also have to mention the HUGE production and quality. Seriously, (The Poet and the Pendulum from 1:15 --> ) + (good speakers with bass) = just freaking awesome. I was totally stunned the first time I listened to the song.

90/100 for me

Great album! There is nothing wrong with the music. People want to act like they're not hating on the new singer so they place blame elsewhere.

The singer is OK
She has nice AOR feel in her voice

I'm suprised people are saying it's better than Once that album hits you from the start . Vocals aside I don't think it's as good as previous efforts. I would give Epica's latest 92/100 not this it just doesn't make me feel like their other albums did.

I am not a huge Nightwish fan , but all things considered equal I will say that , I had a listen at work the other day and on face value its a very good album. If some one had handed this to me and I had not heard of this band then you may well be very impressed with this offering...

I just played ( the_poet_and_the_pendulum)...at the the 5:01 mark of this track the vocals are very light on .. had me wondering how this new singer will go doing live gigs...

My lasting memories of Nightwish are in 2005, they played at a small gig say 700 people at the corner hotel in (Richmond,melbourne Australia). I was right up front and honestly thought the roof was going to come down that night, Tarja tore the place up then 2 days later I saw Angra..fuck what a week

One of those bands that for me I just wont listen to the whole album until I have it in my hands. Though from the songs I've heard I know Im gonna love this album.

I'm so relieved after this long wait, not knowing what to expect from my favorite band, whether they would impress me once more or utterly fail me. Initially I was disappointed by their choice of singer but I think thats mostly due to the fact that Im not a huge fan of the song Eva.. The second I heard Amaranth and then Bye Bye Beautiful though I was happy. Oceanborn seems like it will always be my number one, but if they still sounded like that 9 years later they would really be a boring band, I like and respect the fact that Nightwish always sounds so different yet always has the defining sound that makes them Nightwish. Not many bands I've heard can achieve this, its a difficult thing.

Anyhow, great review

...and that would be Marco, not Marcus.

I didn't get to hear this new Nightwish release yet, but the new Epica deserves in no way a grade above 85. Personally I find it good but oblivion was simply better and more fresh. Personally I'd give it an 80/100 tops. A good album but nothing exceptional or new for that matter.

Wow, such praise makes me curious. SInce one of the main reasons I disliked previous Nightwish was Tarja's voice, I will definately get this one.

I posted this elsewhere, so I'll share:

Man, this album is a beast! I've heard it a few times, but with downloads I don't listen much anyway, even less so when there are voiceovers. And when there are voiceovers I never really crank it. Well, I knew this was a good album, but holy crap, it's really frickin' good! Epic is an understatement! Haha. Initially I thought this was much like Once, and it is for the most part, but with a real orchestra on this album you simply hear and feel the difference. Tuomas' love for epic soundtrack work shines, and for that I can understand why some fans may not dig it.

Like Helloween on their last album, Nightwish start this one with a near 14-minute masterpiece! I mean, I had this song blazin' on the way to work and it's just one of those tunes that is so badass you get goose bumps and your eyes tear up! It's so killer! And Annette has really impressed me here. I knew she had a good voice, but when you give the album a proper listen you realize that she's really an outstanding vocalist. Definitely not original, but extremely good, and she does Nightwish justice.

There are some lighter moments that sound more poppy with Annette singing than they would have with Tarja singing ("For The Heart I Once Had," for example), but overall it's not an issue. Marco sounds awesome, as usual. And on "The Poet And The Pendulum" he sings heavier than I've ever heard him sing before. I was pretty surprised he got that heavy.

There are even two songs solely written by Emmpu and Marco, "Whoever Brings The Night" and "The Islander," respectively. Usually it's all Tuomas. The songs fit, too. I'm interested in seeing how this pans out on future albums.

Anyway, those are my initial thoughts after two true listens. I predict this one to be very high on my Best of 2007 list!

I should also mention the greatness of "Meadows Of Heaven." It's a slow song, but wait until you hear the end where the other singers come in. They're no one famous, just members of the choirs that worked on the album doing solo parts, but when it all comes together...wow!

A lot of people are going to not like the direction of this album, but the more I think about it, the more I listen, and as much as I love their previous work, this may very well be Nightwish's finest hour.

Didn't I already say that in my review?? I'll fix the Marcus --->Marco tonight....my bad......

Pretty much. I must have missed the ™.

Honestly Epica's latest didn't grab me the first couple of times as much as their others but it just grew on me the more I heard it now I really like.