NIGHTWISH – Century Child

Wow! The new Nightwish is out only in Finland so far, but thank God (Thank you, God!) a few copies have leaked out to the press and industry people elsewhere. I only have a CDR, and I very rarely base my reviews upon CDRs, but this CD is so good I’ll make an exception. No, I never really gave out a cigar to Nightwish before. I always thought they were okay and did their stuff good, but I didn’t really understand the hysteria the band caused. This time, I give them all the cigars in Havana, and I hope Century Child will make hysteria not only back home in Finland, where the CD sold 30.000 units in a few days, but worldwide.

Somehow, Century Child is a little bit of Oceanborn and Wishmaster (the two previous records), but building on the best parts of these, I wouldn’t say that Tarja and the boys repeat themselves. The bass playing sounds better than ever, and the production is superb. The male voice is dramatic, and fits the music very well. And Tarja’s voice is more diverse this time around. Just like the songs, starting off with “Bless The Child”, which has a haunting melody spinning in my head hours after listening to the CD. “End Of All Hope” is typical Nightwish, very symphonic and dramatic, and has a great melody. The third song, “Dead To The World”, has breathtaking vocal passages, and is maybe my favorite.

The next one, “Ever Dream”, which I believe is the first single (I am without Internet connection back home as I type this, so life sucks!), is a beautiful song with a strong melody. Not really a ballad, but it has a commercial aspect, and that’s “commercial” not at all in a negative way. I could go on and on, “Slaying The Dreamer” has really cool black metal parts in it, “Ocean Soul” makes me want to drown myself in the ocean with Tarja, that’s how beautiful it is, and the version of “Phantom Of The Opera” is simply stunning (no, not the Iron Maiden song…). The album closer, “Beauty Of The Beast”, is simply a masterpiece. Nightwish have outdone themselves, and this could might as well be the record of the year.

A final note: There’s talk of the band taking a break, and that would be the most stupid thing to do. If they do, they will be remembered as nothing but a cult band when they return. Now is the time to conquer the world, and Nightwish is capable of world domination.