By Jonny Bakes
When Nightwish headlined Bloodstock in 2018, my mate took great pleasure in telling anyone that would listen that “Nightwish have done more for music than The Beatles”, which naturally invoked quite a reaction. But there’s some logic behind that argument… Nightwish have certainly made great use of folk instruments and taken the bombastic elements of classical music weave into their music, whereas the Beatles pretty much just used guitars and drums. Also the members of Nightwish are spread across three countries; Finland, The Netherlands and the ÜK (Cumbria, no less!) yet The Beatles were just four lads from Liverpool. Anyway, I digress… why this is important is because it’s finally time for a follow up album to 2020’s ‘Human. .II. Nature.’ and the third instalment of the Floor Jansen era. That’s right, Nightwish are back with another symphonic masterpiece, ‘Yesterwynde’.
Nightwish is a band that needs no real introduction, but in case you’ve somehow not come across them, they are Finland’s number one musical export. With more than 10 million record sales under their belt, it is undeniable that Nightwish have conquered the globe and it is their mastery of the symphonic metal genre that has led them to this position. Tuomas Holopainen is the ringmaster that writes the epic symphonies and carefully crafts classical music with a modern metal twist, conducting proceedings from behind his keyboards. But most people are probably drawn to the beautiful vocals of Floor Jansen, who is arguably the greatest vocalist for Nightwish and has helped the band reach new heights since joining permanently in 2013. ‘Yesterwynde’ marks the first album to be recorded without much loved bassist Marko Hietla after his shock departure from the band in 2021 which also results in the loss of his distinctive and powerful vocals to contrast those of Floor.
‘Yesterwynde’ is a musical masterpiece that acts as one continuous symphony, and perhaps even so far as to be a seamless continuation of ‘Human. .II. Nature.’ It is an album that remains quintessentially Nightwish with such a rich musical tapestry that is uplifting, passionate and mesmerising. You’ll find yourself floating between gentle instrumentals that belong in a classical music collection through to blistering crescendos where epic metal meets orchestral strings and that’s just in the first five minutes!
Floor Jansen’s vocals absolutely hit the spot and toe the knife edge between operatic and the metal world showing that she is very much the voice of Nightwish. Some of the longer tracks on the album even flow through clear musical movements that take you on a journey as the song progresses, portraying a whole series of emotions and even leaving you in contemplation by the end of the song. There’s also a few surprises thrown into the mix too as Nightwish push the boundaries of what you know and take inspiration from their surroundings to explore further…
‘The Day Of…’ is one such surprise which has a futuristic vibe with a chilling chorus of children which also gives it an unusual edge. It feels like a song about the ongoing onslaught of disasters and shocking events in the world, which are becoming so numerous that it just becomes another “day of…” as it is normalized for children. But, hey, that’s just my interpretation after the first listen. The beauty of ‘Yesterwynde’ is that the more times you listen to it, the more you start to uncover the depth behind the music. The juxtaposition of the slow chorus with Floor’s singing through the verses which is at quite some pace – it’s almost like the classic ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ in the way she rattles through these themes. It’s definitely a thinker this one, but one that I highly recommend looking around a few times!
I could write some details about every song on this album as each one is as strong as the last, but you’d get bored reading it. So instead, I’d like to offer my thoughts on ‘Perfume Of The Timeless’ which is a song that fans will bond with pretty quickly. The introduction can only be described as epic and makes me think of Howard Shore’s scores for LotR, but this subsides into something more foreboding before eventually becoming something recognisable as a Nightwish song. The chorus is incredibly catchy and rides the peak of a cacophony of sounds – there’s strings, choral sounds, guitars, drums. Simply put, it’s fantastic and quite difficult to boil down the eight minutes of musical mastery into one paragraph so you’ll just have to listen and find out for yourself. Oh, and the album keeps on getting better as it continues as well, so you might as well keep on listening until the end!
All in all, I think it’s fair to say that ‘Yesterwynde’ is a piece of art, and probably something that will be studied in music GCSEs of the future (or whatever we have by then) as a piece of modern symphony. At times, the music can be so hauntingly beautiful that it nearly moves you to tears, especially during some of the pipe pieces that make you feel like you’re standing upon a remote mountainside. It’s a solid 10/10 album for me and a clear contender for album of the year 2024.
Now, if you’re banking on an international tour in support of this album, you may find yourself disappointed as Nightwish are breaking from the norm and have elected not to launch into a ‘Yesterwynde’ tour. What this means is that you’ll definitely have to go out and buy this album and who knows, there may be other ways to celebrate the album release… watch this space!
- ‘Yesterwynde’ is released today (Friday 20 September).
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