Nightwish - Dark Passion Play

June 28, 2008

Reviewer: Jesse

So here it is - the highly anticipated new album ushering in the next era of Nightwish minus what some would consider their golden goose, the exquisitely talented operatic singer Tarja Turunen.  Ever since that bomb was dropped on the public, the resounding speculation was that Nightwish, or Tuomas to be specific, had just committed career suicide and the second after the new album is released, they would be done as the boos and hisses were to be an absolute certainty.  I mean, no way in hell Nightwish could be half the band or avoid falling into the obscurity of generic, female-fronted symphonic power metal without Tarja, right?  Wrong.

There’s no mistaking that Anette is not replacing Tarja because that would be impossible.  Anette is clearly her own person and is not trying to ape Tarja’s sound and I’m positive that she was not asked to either.  Naturally, with the absence of such an integral element of the band that had become their staple sound for so many years, Nightwish sounds like a much different band on Dark Passion Play.  It’s far too much to ignore and will take several listens to get used to Anette.  But once that initial shock is over, the genius that is Tuomas Holopainen’s songwriting takes over and you’re able to hear what a fantastic and gigantic album this really is.  Also, Anette is no slouch vocally.  She has a very strong voice with lots of range.  The songs were written with her voice in mind and not Tarja’s as Anette seems very comfortable.

While we’re on vocals, once again, Marco has been given ample singing responsibilities throughout the album which I was glad to hear.  In fact, “Master Passion Greed” has him singing exclusively.  A lot of people were kind of put off by the amount of face time he received on Once, but I’ve always liked his singing.  He has just enough gruff in his voice to keep him from sounding too generic and has plenty of range to make him really stand out to my ears.

As I alluded to earlier, Dark Passion Play is quite the marathon of an album clocking in at an hour and fifteen minutes which is very bold for the album that was supposed to signal their demise.  In fact, the opening track, “The Poet and Pendulum” isnearly fourteen minutes on its own and could be said is their most ambitious song they’ve ever written.  Clearly they were trying to make a statement with this album.  The orchestration is way over the top on that track which kind of had me worried at first.  Even though Nightwish has never been shy about the amount of symphonics they employ, rarely have they gone with the full orchestra, if ever.  On the surface, the song is very unlike anything they’ve ever done, yet still very Nightwish in its delivery.

If there’s one thing Tuomas is a master of, it’s writing incredibly catchy songs that can stay with you all day and Dark Passion Play is chock full of them.  The second and third songs follow the blueprint from Once to a degree.  “Bye Bye Beautiful” is a very up-tempo song with Marco adding plenty of secondary vocals.  It’s similar to “Wish I had an Angel” in that sense.  “Amaranth” is pretty much the single for the album not too much unlike how “Nemo” was for Once.  Both songs have a heavy piano melody and a wildly catchy chorus that’s guaranteed to bounce around in your head for days.

“Cadence of Her Last Breath” is where Anette truly shines in my opinion and is my favorite song on the album by far.  This song was made for her and yet again, another maddeningly catchy chorus.

Later on in the album comes the very awesome folky instrumental, “Last of the Winds” which is heavy on flutes and violins and is just beautiful.  It really goes to show how talented these guys are.  I have no doubt that a lot of purely folk metal bands would be impressed with this song.

What impresses me the most about this album is how easily it seemed for them to transition to a life without Tarja.  After spending seven or eight years with her behind the mic and writing music that suited her the most, it would’ve been understandable to make an album with many awkward moments where that old style of writing would clash with Anette’s singing.  The opposite is in full form on Dark Passion Play and it’s as if Anette has been with them this entire time.  I cannot wait to hear what’s next for them.

Released: September 26th, 2007
Label: Nuclear Blast

TRACK LISTING

1.  The Poet and the Pendulum
2.  Bye Bye Beautiful
3.  Amaranth
4.  Cadence of Her Last Breath
5.  Master Passion Greed
6.  Eva
7.  Sahara
8.  Whoever Brings the Night
9.  For the Heart I Once Had
10.  The Islander
11.  Last of the Wilds
       (Instrumental)
12.  7 Days to the Wolves
13.  Meadows of Heaven

TO THE TOP

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