Nightwish - Endless forms most Beautiful

(CD Album Review)

*****

Nightwish are back on form with singer number three!!!

So here it is three years after their last album 'Imaginaerum', and with a change of vocalist from Annette Olzon to Floor Jansen previously of After Forever and ReVamp. The questions are does Floor fit the band well and have they made an album worth the wait?. The album kicks into high gear with 'Shudder before the Beautiful' which starts with a spoken word piece to help set the mood for the song and indeed the album before mid paced riffs and superb orchestral pieces combine together while Floor's incredible vocals add perfectly to the song.

The combining of heavy riffs along with keyboards and orchestral pieces is somewhat of a Nightwish tradition but on this album with songs such as 'Yours is an empty Hope, Endless forms most Beautiful' and the epic closing track 'The Greatest show on Earth' they come together with less of an obvious separation point. Talking of 'The Greatest show on Earth', this epic closing track may be the longest song Nightwish has ever released clocking in at a mammoth twenty three minutes fifty eight seconds and although I was concerned it may lead to me being bored of the song five minutes in that was not the case.

This track has been perfectly crafted and may well be one of the best pieces of music the band has ever put their name too. Also throughout the album I noticed a strong Pink Floyd influence on some of the sounds of the guitar and the general feel off some songs while the album I general seems to go back to a slightly more mature version of the sound they had back on their 'Century Child' album.

So to conclude, have they made an album worth the three year wait? Most definitely and I feel with more listens this may reveal itself over time to be the best album they have made. Is floor a fitting vocalist for the band? Absolutely... she sings in exactly the right way for every song and has the talent to combine the more operatic styles of Tarja with the more melodic style of Annette, while still keeping the sound very much her own voice.

Review by Ronnie Jenkinson