They are among the few metal bands of the last generation that have achieved a high level of charisma and credibility, on a par with the holy monsters of the genre. Even after the departure of historic singer Tarja, the new single Amaranth (accompanied by a splendid video) showed that the texture of their sound has not changed at all and that, indeed, the new vocalist Anette has the skills to lead the NIGHTWISH towards an ever more exciting future.
'Dark Passion Play', the seventh album of their career, is released on 28 September, while the band announces its next European tour, which will touch down in Italy for a single date at Milan's Palalido, on 2 March 2008.
They have been missing in our country since 2005 and the anticipation of the many Italian fans is very high. The change of line-up behind the microphone makes the curiosity to see this line-up on stage even greater: together with newcomer Anettewe find the three founding members Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards and main composer from the beginning to the present), Emppu Vuorinen (guitar), ZJukka Nevalainen (drums) and Marco Hietala (bass and vocals), who joined the band in 2001, shortly before the band achieved great European success.
The breakthrough album for Nightwish was 'Century Child' of 2001, a work that marked their transition from underground band to European phenomenon, going platinum in Finland in just two weeks and achieving a rather curious record, that of scoring the largest gap between first and second place in the charts. Their power metal became more and more symphonic as the years went by, becoming a benchmark for the European hard metal scene. 'Once' of 2004 is an even bigger success, propelling the band to the top of the German, Greek and Norwegian charts and recording excellent results in Italy as well, where fans begin to flock to their concerts.
The best-selling DVD 'End of an Era', with its explicit title, is the last testimony of the line-up with Tarja on vocals and immortalises the magic of the tour following the release of 'Once', a journey that lasted a year and a half, marked by an evocative production that consecrates the band as one of the best live acts around.
After rumours of disbandment, denial and the announcement of a comeback with Anette on vocals, the metal scene is once again ready to welcome the NIGHTWISHwhose absence from the scene would have represented an unbridgeable gap.
NIGHTWISH:
SUNDAY 2 MARCH 2008 - MILAN - PALALIDO
Start at 21.00 - Admission €30 + prev.
Tickets on sale from Friday 28 September
