Sonata Arctica - Silence (2001)

For too long this blog has suffered in silence - and why? Because I discovered QI, the BBC show that is Quite Interesting. Thus the last two months have been spent either watching episodes of that and making art, or writing my stories.

But now I have watched almost all of it, and must savour the last few episodes, and it is back into the music blog.

This time we have the splendiforously titled "Sonata Arctica" from Finland. Formed in 1995 and still active today, this album is their second full length affair.

The cover is quite beautiful, a split shot of day and night, with a similar scene mirrored in each. A dark shadow of a figure, in one bearing a spear, the other a lantern, stands beside a lake, with pine trees about him and grassy foothills becoming snowladen mountains.

We being with the hauntingly, poetical "Silence":

 "It truly makes the most beautiful music, everything it has to give..."

Piano, an archaic, slightly decrepit voice speaking in sightly menacing, slow tones.

Then its time to take off as the disc spins into a fury and blasts into "Weballergy". Triumphant rhythms swell with glory and victory. Tony Kakko's vocals are high and almost obnoxiously cheerful and the drums move along at a trebly tempo. Plenty of keyboards layered upon drums and rhythm guitars soaring like rainbow unicorns with fairy wings.

Light and lilting, ethereal harpischord like a ladybird's wings, before we surge into the glorious, the over hyper-cheerful of "False News Travel Far". There's a nicely fluttery bit in the middle, before the heavier bass reminds me of a bygone era and is swallowed by the dragon of fast guitars and trebly-laden keyboards.

Telephones? Not vey medieaval. Suspicious caller... "you almost got away from me, didn't you...." Now we are in to one of my favoured pieces, the slow "End of the Chapter" in which we aspire to power ballad, with more modern setting, lovelorn messages and aggressive chorus. Alas, Kakko still sounds happy.
Even with lyrics like : "I have never wished you dead ... yet..."
Oooh, almost synth-pop, so many keyboards, I feel like I've been transported back to the 80s.
They should totally cover Ultravox.
He's stalking her too, sneaking into her house at night, stealing her jewellery.
Sounds less happy now, bit dangerous.

Faster, furious - "Black Sheep" is another fast and cheerful piece. I wonder if they're trying to be Stratovarius, but are a little too high on the treble side - like Skylark.
What's with all these bands starting with "S"?
Chorus is wonderfully catchy, followed by a waterfall of keyboards.

Another haunting opening, and then into the faster and more menacing "Land of the Free". Aggressive, frantic.

Then we fade back into something slower and actually romantic. "Last Drop Falls" is a song of love and longing, but mainly realising that the one he loved was rather less than ideal.

Back to the fountaining keyboards. A glorious firework display of sound. This is "Sans Sebastian". Rther lovely keyboard solo, with the guitars charging in to stage a full frontal attack.

"Sing in Silence" is another slower piece, with dewdrop sprinkling like shattered crystals, or maybe delicate keys.

"Fragile as a rose in the snow..."

It has a fragile, delicate beauty.

A snowstorm of crystal rose petals, sharp and deadly is "Revontulet".

More keyboard/piano leads us into yet another power ballad - this one is to "Tallulah". There's a hint of melancholy in Kakko's chipper tones, slower and slightly haunted. Another song of losing love.

Back into the aggressive and full frontal guitar assault (no keyboards, no wait, there they are). "Wolf and Raven" captures the racing wolf as it rampages through the snow, the raven soaring above it.

Slow again for "The Power of One" which starts with rain and music as grey and forlorn as the implied weather. This is the epic track of the album, and starts with some nicely slow and dream-like, longing vocals.

Overall, this album is something of a chore to listen to from beginning to end. It does have a nice blend of the heavier intermingled with the light, but the cheerful vocals start to grate on the eardrums after a while. There is no question that they are skilful musicians, displaying a distinct flare for the dramatic, but I think they need a little more vocal variation.

I rate this 6.5/10

Nightwish - Wishmaster (2000)

I own a lot of Nightwish, and I love their music - the exquisitely fragile beauty of Tarja's voice, the depth of complexity and power in the instrumentations and the epic force of their melodies. These is their third album, and they have yet to employ an official male vocalist - instead with have a list of men providing their voices - ranging from bass to tenor. And choirs, which should make for an epic production. Oooh, and flutes - can't forget the flutes!

To be honest, I've been putting off reviewing Nightwish becuse my brother does it so much better, so more poetically. You can read his blogpost about the band here. He knows technical terms and so forth - me, I resort to adjectives and repetition of the word "ethereal". Let's see if I can do an entire Nightwish album dissection without using that E word again.

Okay, here goes:

The cover depicts a child, kneeling before a lake, a scroll before him. He raises his hands, summoning the swans to take flight. Above, the sunset paints the sky in orange lava, whilst the dark reflections of trees line the horizon. Dreamy, strings of mist cloak the horizon and set a deep and melancholic mood. The entire palatte is shades of orange and brown. Inside, the booklet contains several fold out pages and the band all look suitably angelic.

Dramatic rhythms lead us into the stirring "She is My Sin" which builds in epic scale and might, broken by Tarja's hauntingly sweet, soaring soprano. It glides like a silver-feathered swift. Now the music has subsided down as a backing, complementing her voice but occasionally taking the opportunity to fly between verses.

"The Kinslayer" pays tribute to those slain in the Columbine massacre, in 1999. It starts with a dramatic cascade of keyboards and drums, before surging into the urgent rhythm and Tarja's exquisite voice soaring above like a lost soul or an avenging angel. It intermingles with the deeper bass (or baritone?) lending an ominous edge to what was a truly tragic event.

"For whom the gun tolls, for whom the prey weeps. Bow before a war, call it religion."

Softer, gentler, flutes and gentle keyboards usher us into the folk-orientated "Come Cover Me". Gliding gently, Tarja's voice soars with the gentle rhythms, like floating through clouds on a sunlit day in early spring. There's an earthy, pagan feel.

"Wanderlust" continues with this pagan, traveler vibe. The chorus is gloriously smooth, the keyboards dancing playfully between the voices, like leaves borne on a summer breeze. It all feels wild and free, unihibited by the restraints of the modern world.

"It's not the end, not the kingdom come - it is the journey that matters, the distant wanderer."

Beautiful fade out, as Tarja's exquisite vocals fade into silence.

Haunting, slow and slumbering, "Two for Tragedy" is a lullaby, a lament. Beautifully melancholy and utterly heart-wrenching.

"Wishmaster" starts with a dramatic flourish. Undeniably fantastical, with shades of epic power metal in the lyrics. Stirring, symphonic.

Keyboards and we're into "Bare Grace Misery" another piece driven by the vocals. Honey-tongued, golden and darkly romantic.

With a flourish and a flare, we rage into "Crownless". Fast in pace and with a fairy-tale theme. Keyboardist Tuomas is given full reign here, and the keyboards surge and swell in drama and pace, whilst the drums race the vocals.

"One fragrant rose worth ten times what I am..."

 Now it is time to be enshrouded in the gloaming shadows, as we find ourselves engulfed by "Deep Silent Complete". Black velvet, sirens calling - darkly romantic, infused with bittersweet melancholic grace.

Poetic and dark, "Dead Boy's Poem" is a last cry for help, a swansong. Vocally sublime, the music plays a soft accompaniment. Haunting.

"FantasMic" offers up a change of pace, starting with a waterfall of keyboards, a beautiful kalediscope of symphonic glory. Here the keyboards are given full, dramatic reign and the lyrics return to the fantastical - and also demonstrate Tuomas' love of Disney*. Part 2 is deliciously slow and heavy with loss and longing. Melodious melancholy. As we roll into Part 3, the flute adds its lilting, playful voice (like a dancing bluebird) to the rhythm and Tuomas returns with a flourish. Tarja's voice becomes a force of nature, fast and energetic. This section seems dedicated to the villains, and as such is heavier, more aggressive.

As an unannounced surprise we have "Sleepwalker", a track not listed on my "not to be sold outside of Russia" cd. This has a more modern sound to it, the keyboards taking on a space-edgy sound. It reads on my WMP as "Passion and the Opera", for some reason.

Overall, another beautiful album from a band of great power and majesty. Epic, symphonic, glorious - do I really need to say anything more?

Rating = 10/10

* I may not have noticed this if my brother hadn't pointed it out in his review, which made me read the lyrics in greater depth: the line "A cub of the king betrayed by usurper" is a dead giveaway - that and I see mentions of Black Cauldron, Fantasia...

Stratovarius - The Chosen Ones (1999)

Thanks to penfriend Jeffrey, who travelled all the way to New Zealand with a number of cds, I first heard Finnish power metal band Stratovarius and decided that I should own an album by them. But which to buy? Well, this one seemed the best choice because not only is it sixteen of their chosen "best" tracks, but it also had a free cd of various other bands included with it. Alas, the flip-tray mechanism sucks, and I accidentally damaged it flipping it over, so now I am scared it is going to snap out altogether. Ick.

The cover is rather entertaining, depicting a band of mooses. Meese? Modelled after the musicians, I imagine. Very toony, very funny. Inside, a little letter from Timo Tolkki himself (the guitarist) explaining how the band formed in 1984 and that this is the end of one era for them - and the start of another. It marked their switch from Noise to Roadrunner. Also included are the lyrics - something of a luxury in "Best of" albums, which tend to avoid including them for some reason.

There is a possibility of two different vocalists on this album - Timo Tolkki was vocalist from 1985-94, with Timo Koltipelto from 94 onwards. He is the longest currently remaining member of the band. Tolkki left in 2008.

The album opens with the cascading keyboards of "Black Diamond". Keyboards soon symphonise with guitars creating a feeling of power and rising force, bringing with it goodwill. It is a triumphant and powerful piece, with the keyboards a constant and prevalent present. Timo #2's voice is strong and high, a fine tenor.

This is followed up by "Twilight Time" in which Timo #1 is the vocalist. His voice is very similar, with a slightly sharper edge, tinted just slightly with the hint of a whine or a scream. This piece is heavier, and slightly more dramatic, with more of a build up to the chorus through which Timo's voice swoops and soars.

A tick-tock-tick from speaker to speaker marks the start of "Father Time". Does this band have a time fascination? Faster paced, with rapid drumming and a soaring and inspirational bridge.

"The Hands of Time" is next on the agenda. This is one of their earlier songs - taken from 1992's "Twilight Time" album (along with the title track above). It has a rawer, energising feel to it. Good vocal melodies, pounding drums.

Following up is the power ballad, "Dream with Me" in which Timo #2's voice is gentle but strong and reassuringly haunting. Accompanied by piano-esque keyboards and light guitars, as we rise into the chorus. Filled with power, passion and emotion. Bonus track from "Destiny" (1998).

There's almost an 80s vibe going for "Paradise" - which is funny because it's from 1997. It's a great song - with strong melodies and thought-provoking lyrics:

"Many rare species will perish soon.
And we'll be short on food"

(I don't think he's condoning the eating of rare species, btw).

Jubuliant keyboards lead us "Out of the Shadows" as it erupts into power metal glory, with a taste of speed.

Violin and haunting, melancholy brings "Forever", one of the most beautiful and mournful but romantic songs I know of. Timo #2's voice bleeds emotion. There's flute too. I wrote a song fanfic based on this track (don't judge my writing too much, this is really old).  It is one of those songs about how death is not the end of love, and how:

"I'm still there, everywhere, I'm the dust in the wind. I'm the star in the northern sky. I never stayed* anywhere, I'm the wind in the trees. I will wait for you - forever..."

The electric-acoustic opening of "Full Moon" brings with it a whole different mood. Fleeting, mysterious, a little eerie but not too scary. It has a tribal and ghostly feel to it. This was a bonus track from 1994 with Timo #1 is on vocals.

A rather more rock and not overly complicated piece, "The Kiss of Judas" touches down with a solid bass line and strong vocals. The bridge soars and the guitars give their flourish, before the chorus takes over in full melodic glory. There's a nice keyboard solo in here too.

In "S.O.S", Stratovarius have reached their full complex progressive-heading-towards-symphonic structures. Powerful with a rich cornucopia of instruments (keyboard, guitars, drums) into a glorious, triumphant melody.

"Dreamscape" is haunting, a little intense, the poignant edge to Timo #1's vocals given it a melodically melancholic edge and the music twisting and turning down strange and eerie passages. There's a touch of insanity here - taunting, taking over, enveloping the narrator and dragging him away into another world.

"Am I safe in here? Nothing left to fear. I will close my eyes, and float away with stream."

Pounding guitars, punctuated with falsetto screams turn to darker, lost lyrics.

We rip-roar into the speed metal inspired "Against the Wind", a track from 1995 (and Timo #2's first album). Fast of pace, frantic rhythms, desperation in the vocals. Building, building, to climax into a grand and triumphant anthemic chorus. Listen to those guitars go - you can just visualise the hair wind-milling, the vocalist rushing about the stage. This would be a great way to open a concert (it's the first track on the album "Fourth Dimension" not surprisingly).

"Speed of Light" follows with similar speed metal and anthemic qualities. The drummer is going wild. Meanwhile the guitarists are thrashing their instruments towards broken strings - this song is rushing towards the speed of light. Even the keyboardist joins the race. Frantic, restless energy - very invigorating. You should never try to dance to this song, you'd hurt yourself!

"Every day, my life goes by...  at the Speed. Of Light."

A final flourish, and then collapse.

Of a less manic pace and a rather more progressive feel, "4000 Rainy Nights" brings with it a deeper mood of loss and melancholy. The vocals bleed with raw, wounded emotion.

"Will the Sun Rise?" brings us powerful and dramatic closure. The keyboards steal the show here, weaving and blending with one another into a rousing symphony. This track is also from "Episode".

The one Stratovarius song I feel this album is missing is "Anthem of the World". Otherwise, it is a fine blend of the old and the new and, when listened to carefully, it is easy to hear the transition from the more progressive and somewhat experimental days of Timo Tolkki on vocals, to the anthemic glory of Timo Koltipelto's later days. It is a generous album displaying a rich blend of the powerful and stirring, intermingled with the darker and more melancholic - and even slightly creepy. As a cross-section of their career, it is a worthy one and deserves an 8/10.

I am now going to go on and discuss each of the tracks in the sampler included with this cd, but I'm going to do that in the next entry.


* This would sound better had he said "strayed" but still...

Olympos Mons - Conquistador (2004)

A sticker on the cover describes Olympos Mons as:

Poetic Power Metal
A mixture of hard and aggressive guitar riffs and musical-like passages with strings, bagpipes and harps are the basis for powerful, bombastic epic metal songs full of mystical atmosphere.

 How could I resist picking them up? How could I resist listening to them? Well, I couldn't - and hence why this album is in my collection today.

It was that bagpipes that sold me on it.

It certainly isn't the cover, which is rather sexist - a woman draped in some sort of skimpy cobweb outfit half lies, in what must be a, if not physically impossible, at least physically very uncomfortable pose, a knife clutched in her right hand. The way she's drawn, I can tell she's supposed to be lying seductively, but her weight seems to be mostly supported by her left arm, making her look rather like she's been interupted in the middle of doing a one-armed, knife-wielding push-up but a rather more heavily armoured warrior. He has a cloak that looks like bat wings. Behind them rises rocky stalacmites, all slightly distorted as though caught in a desert heat-haze. I believe it is meant to be Hell, or possibly Mars. In the background there seems to be some sort of UFO.

Olympos Mons were a relatively young band - jumping aboard the Power Metal bandwagon and hailing from Finland. They first came together in 2002 and secured their recording contract in 2004. For all the promise that the album booklet raves about, they only released one other album and then parted ways in 2010. Their official website no longer exists. They were merely just a spark in the Power Metal wildfire.

"Seven Seas" surges into action, with powerful vocals and the haunting, melancholic dirge of bagpipes. The chorus is great - catchy and soaring, echoed by the sound of pipes. It is, pretty much, classic power metal - all complicated instrumental arrangements, powerful vocals and a fairly consistent drumbeat. Not nearly as fast as, say, Dragonforce. Quite appealing.

Delicate chimes lead us into the surging keyboards of "Stars". Again, soaring arrangements, strong vocals and very catchy melodies. Let's see how poetic they really are:

"We will fly to the stars on the wings of the night. Sparks will surround us and light up our flight. We'll fly to the stars, leaving rainbows behind. For the magical wonders that we might find."

Not bad. Quite evocative lyrics. Listen to that drummer go, I bet he's shaking his hair about as he bang-bang-bangs. In the early nineties this would have been amazing and original and new - but now Power Metal bands are a dime a dozen. Oooh, some interesting noises on the keyboards there. The organ effect?

Bit of dejavu here - the track opens a little bit reminscent of Nightwish. Then the drums and guitars come pounding in as we stand beneath "The Last Light of the Moon". Somewhat lower pitch to the vocals. Ian Highhill has a good set of lungs on him. Who let that horse in there? Oh dear, it's Lucifer, come from the Skylark album!*

"Wanted Man" is nicely dramatic, with lower vocals.We've got more poetry here:

"Walking through sunshine, seeing only rain. The story begins all over again."

 Dirge like-keyboards lead us into the crushing bass of "Black". Romantic lyrics, and a steady pace, with vocals varying between the low(ish) and smooth and that of a higher register. Highhill does have a very strong voice, and its pleasant to - it doesn't grate on you the way some vocalists do after a while.

To lead us "Through the Ice and Snow" we have the crystalline chords of an electric harpsichord. Until we hit the rampaging wall of ice and are struck by the avalanche that is Highhill's voice. Almighty and bombastic.

More power and might in "Black Desiree"  which is another one with romantic lyrics:

Whispers in moonlight, light promises.
Shimmering lights dancing in raven black hair.

Not bad poetically, but the editor in me will point out he uses "light" three times in twelve words.

"Cleopatra" gets off to a haunting start with eerie flutes and a vaguely oriental/african feel, before the other instruments charge in enforce.Has a nicely melodic passage towards the end, shortly before the guitars go to war.

There is a suitably Arabian feel to  "The Princess of Saba". This band clearly like singing odes to women! The vocals are sweet and delicate for at least a verse, before surging on into the power and the glory. Good ryhthms, nice and catchy, with an impressive keyboard solo.

Triumphant and valiant, the beginning to "Lady in White" has some very nice flute followed by a cascade of keyboards ang guitars. The harmonious chorus harks back to the 80s. This is a very powerful and quite refreshing track - the intense keyboard solo, in which the keyboardist goes into a frenzy and is then taken over by the drummer, then the guitarist playing all sorts of quirky little ditties in short bursts before the drums and the galloping guitars kick in and rip-roar towards the final chorus.

Harpsichord and waves open the final track, "Conquistador" bringing with them an ethereal, spectral edge before the keyboards take over. A slower, more intense piece which builds to intensity, soaring and surging with a hint of anger.

There's no arguing that Olympos Mons were a damned fine band - they have sophisticated arrangements, powerful control over their melodies, interesting lyrics and emotive instrumentation. The vocals are powerful and both soar and growl at just the right moments. They are polished and the recording is a brilliant wall of sturdy sound. They have power and passion and enthusiasm. However, they feel somewhat contrived to me. I feel bad saying it, because I am a big fan of the Power Metal genre and there is no denying that they are good at what they do, but they don't stand out in any dramatic manner. Except the bagpipes. It was the bagpipes that sold this album to me - otherwise I might just have dismissed it as "do I really need another power metal album that I'll probably never really listen to". I think, in a way, they are trying TOO hard - along with the likes of Dragonforce, Powerquest, Rhapsody, Skylark, Fairyland, Heavenly and about half a billion other European bands. All very good, very sophisticated, but somehow just slightly lacking the true spark.

I'm going to give them 8/10.


* Do keyboards come with a "demonic voice" programmed into them or something? Or maybe their keyboards are possessed.

Promethean - Gazing the Invisible (1997)

Poor Promethean don't seem to have made much of a mark on the Music Market - they don't even have a Wikipedia page. They do, however, have three core members (guitar, vocals, mandolin, keyboard) and an eclectic blend of "friends in need are friends indeed*" with instruments - guitar, drums, flute, violin, cello and even recorder. Taking many aspects of folk music, they have blended it with a fairly light metal sound and applied vocals that are not disimilar to those of My Dying Bride (the singing, not the growling) and Anathema.

The album cover is kinda dreary really - sepia tones, a strange image that seems to consist of a kneeling naked person with their lower body turned to stone and their hair merging into smeared, surreal braids. The band name, in a font only slightly darker than the general green-browns of the cover is quite difficult to read and the lyrics are so tiny and white on sepia that one almost needs a magnifying glass to read them, like the songs, they merge into one and are divided by paragraph breaks but not headed by titles making you wonder if you are intended to just listen to the entire album from beginning to end.

The spine reads:

"When everything is nothing and all new is but the same cover the earth with your sins and never feel any shame"

 It is all rather avantgarde (like their label) but does not make for very impressive or eye-catching packaging - which kind of makes me wonder why I picked them up. I am glad they did, however, because although their packaging may be drab and kinda cheap, I do like their music.

This music has great atmosphere - I believe it is the folk elements. It is very much "Mood" music, the sort that you could play cheerfully in the background for ages, and never grow tired of. It is pretty soothing though - no roaring guitars or raging drums - making you quite realise how extremely eclectic the "metal" genre is.

I have decided to listen to this album from beginning to end to get the feel for it, then listen to it again and begin my track dissection. Thus I shall save it for now and begin the "breakdown" of songs later today.

Let's see if a dissection can improve my understanding of this album:

The CD begins with some discordant notes before breaking in to soothing folk music of "Eternal Fall". This theme continues through much of the album. The vocalist's voice is rich, deep and mellow with good harmonics.

More mellow folk sounds lead us in to "Polygon" along with a few of the more discordant screeching beats, and a steady thrum building hte the background. Vocals are whispered, quoting lyrics that are at once poetic and also somewhat nonsensical - the ones printed on the spine, in fact. We are then treated for some very mood-infused folk music, mellow, laid back, like an evening spent lounging in the sun, perhaps strumming your mandolins or guitars as you put your feet up, lean back and close your eyes, sinking in to the music.

Birdsong and flute marks the beginning of "Gazing", a sound invoking thoughts of two lovers, gazing into each other's eyes as they lie in a field of golden corn, the wind twisting and whipping it around them.

"The" is a lovely intrumental piece.

The pace picks up a little, but only a smidgeon, for "Invisible". It has some nice trilly bits, introducing butterflies to our cornfield, but ultimately the sun is still shimmering down and the sending striations of light upon the ground, between the stalks. It is also devoid of vocals.

The vocals return in "Don't Mind the Dancer" as a child skips and spins through the cornfield, turning circles whilst butterflies flutter around their outstretched arms and the wind shimmers and shines around them. The serenity and innocence is shattered as we enter into the second half of this track, "The Dance with the Diseased" with discordant twanging music and a barely audible ranting voice.

"All Blue is Beautiful" and so is this song, with its frolicking flute and some other sort of buzzy-sounding instrument (I really wish I knew what these things were called).It inexplicably ends with the beeping of a disconnected telephone.

Haunting chords usher us in to "The Kiss of All that Remains". The vocals begin again, with almost half the lyrics on the sleeve remaining for this song and the next.

And then my Windows Media Player spontaneously forgot that I have a CD drive.

Luckily I had already stored this album on my harddrive, and thus can listen to the last track.

Not surprisingly, "Flowing Downwards" is something of a slow and romantic tune - at least for the first minute or so, then abruptly it ups the beat and breaks into something a tad more aggressive (but only a tad, this is the soothing and laidback Promethean, after all). This song is like the river, at times relaxed and slow, sluggish between the banks, other times narrow, deep and dangerous. There is a hint of the ominous on the horizon - a waterfall, perhaps?

"...I'm a god now and the slaves shall serve..."

As far as this album is concerned, the songs do sort of merge together, and although I would compare it with Amorphis's "Elegy" I think it would benefit from having a couple faster-paced numbers. As it stands, it is sort of like a gentle flow of sound, all beautifully structured and very musical but no real stand out pieces.  For the most part, pleasant and soothing.

This earns it a rating, from me, of  7/10.


* Which I presume means friends WE need as opposed to friends that need us.

For some reason, possibly due to Orphaned Land, I have remembered this band, and now just want to listen to this song several times, very loudly:

Babylon Whores - In Arcadia's Ego 

If anyone can get me the CD this is off, "Cold Heaven" I will.. do something nice for you.   I had a copy of the video, taped from MTV, but alaso, time is not kind to Video Cassettes and it was devoured by mould...

Nightwish - Century Child (2002)

Nightwish are a magnificent band - formed in 1996, by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and vocalist Tarja Turunen. By the time this album was released, Marco Hietala had joined the band and took over the male vocals. Tarja's voice is elegant and other-worldly, a beautiful counterpoint to the heavy music and Marco's occasional growls.

This packaging is beautiful - a woman crouches before a waterfall, cradling a black rose. The colours - black and purple, seem to evoke the general feel of the music, which is rich and multi-layered. However, the font is pretty difficult to read with the white seeming to be shadowed against the purple. This may just be my version - which I obtained from Russia via Ebay.

 It opens with a short spoken piece and then breaks into the epic "Bless the Child". This contains the line:

"Think of me long enough to make a memory."

A line which I have always found somewhat heart-breaking.

"End of all Hope" is epic and powerful.

"Dead to the World" is an interesting one, with the male vocals seeming to dominate at least in the start - but Marco isn't growling here, he's actually singing - and not half bad at it either. Tarja's voice soars against his raw notes, in the Beauty and the Beast styling that I described earlier.

With its beautiful opening piano, "Ever Dream" is an ethereal lullaby - breaking into true Nightwish symphonic style, before the sweet-natured, silver-throated vocals return.

"Slaying the Dreamer" is a little more hardcore, at least musically, the vocals still sweet but with a harsh edge of threat. Marco's vocals are very aggressive. This is a song of betrayal and anger.

As though to alleviate the negative emotion of the preceding song, "Forever Yours" is very sweet and gentle, a whispered caress of gentle percussion and wind instruments.

Similarly gentle is "Ocean Soul". It also includes one of the most memorable choruses.

This is followed by the beautiful and romantic "Feel for You". Or to be precise, it sounds romantic - until Marco comes in and it takes a startlingly dark turn:

"...Barely cold in her grave, barely warm in my bed..."

 I hope it's more about someone else usurping another's widowed husband rather than necrophilia!

"Phantom of the Opera" is an EPIC rendition of this classic tune. Tarja's voice handles it so well and the music just sends energy and power surging through me. No matter the version, the opening chords of this song always stir something deep in my viscera.

"Beauty and the Beast" brings this CD to a powerful conclusion. Despite the epic nature of the song, it does not quite haunt me the way some of the earlier pieces do, but it is still a masterfully written and performed piece.

Overall, an amazing album from an amazing band. There's not much more to say about Nightwish - except that they certainly deserve the rep they have earned and are also awesome live - even without the magnificent vocals of Tarja.

9/10