MUSIC REVIEW: Nightwish - “Yesterwynde”
If there’s one album that everyone is totally amped about these days, it’s Nightwish’s tenth studio album, “Yesterwynde.” The band has had this album in the works for 4 years or so, having resigned with Nuclear Blast Records, and the final product will finally be revealed unto fans on September 20th, 2024. There’s little that I can say to introduce the band that everyone doesn’t already know, so let’s just dive straight into it already, shall we?
Check out my interview with keyboardist/songwriter Tuomas Holopainen here!
In case you’re new here, I often like to use this first paragraph to give a general personal history on the artist, so if you’d like to compare your favorites to mine to see how comparable our tastes are, this next paragraph is for you! After all, music is subjective! So, with that in mind, feel free to skip down to the next paragraph if you’re not interested in my personal history with Nightwish.
I was about 15 years old when I first learned of Nightwish, thanks to an old boyfriend who lived in a small town, asking if I could get my hands on “Wishmaster” for him; when I did, he encouraged me to listen to it. I was immediately blown away by the idea of combining opera vocals with melodic symphonic metal. I really adore all of their albums—of course, some songs and releases hit harder than others, but I don’t feel as though there’s ever been an outright dud in their discography. Even better, my favorite songs always change, so I can’t even say what my favorites are, though I suppose my top albums are “Century Child,” “Once,” “Imaginaerum,” and “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”; admittedly it’s extremely hard to pick and I’m not a fan of picking favorites in general, since music always hits differently in different moments. Still, from old classics like “Beauty of the Beast” to modern masterpieces like “Alpenglow,” Nightwish has been a long and trusted companion for me and while there have been ups and downs in individual songs, this band has perhaps stood the test of time for me better than any of my other original metal favorites, like Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, or Helloween. Something about Tuomas Holopainen’s musical journey has always resonated with me.
On my first listen to “Yesterwynde,” the immediate impression was that it’s quite a bit more metal than its predecessor, which will surely please the fans who felt as though “Human. :||: Nature.” was a bit too mild. It’s also worth mentioning that I felt like “Human. :||: Nature.” took me a pretty long time to digest, while there are more tracks on “Yesterwynde” that immediately stuck out as bangers. This release feels like it has a bit more personality, perhaps? Furthermore, if I try to do anything while listening to music these days, it’s extremely rare for the music to draw me back to it (for reasons of oversaturation). However, “Yesterwynde” was pulling me back to it regularly after only one good close listening.
The album’s title track, “Yesterwynde,” (that’s wind like “wind-up-toy” by the way, not wind like the element) is an intro track, which is the first since “Imaginaerum.” It begins with the sound of a film reel turning before the choir sets in for a while, then Troy Donockley’s folky instruments kick in and vocals follow shortly, creating a soft and warm welcome to the album.
“An Ocean of Strange Islands,” the latest single, is a great kick-off track, immediately showing off the heaviness that I mentioned, feeling like it could fit in well on “Once” or “Dark Passion Play.” In its 9+ minute runtime, it crosses a lot of borders, even touching on some of the chaos that we all remember from “Imaginaerum.” This song is really a work of art because there’s a hint of every Nightwish era in there, with Emppu Vuorinen getting some heavy guitar parts, some really solid drumming from Kai Hahto with only a hint of the tribal drums, and bits of that neoclassical keyboard sound from way back in “Angels Fall First.” Floor Jansen is undoubtedly pushed to her limit and pulls it off regally, while Troy gets his time with the pipes (he plays some of the melodies from “Spider Silk” at the end, interestingly), and Jukkis Koskinen keeps the rhythm section awake and alive. This would be an absolutely killer live track, without a doubt, and if you were so inclined as to introduce someone to Nightwish, this would probably be a great song to do it with! It’s also interesting that the long banger is first up on the album—usually the epics are saved for nearer to the end, so this is a pleasant change-up of overall album rhythm as well.
“The Antikythera Mechanism” has a similar vocal vibe to parts of “Sahara” in the beginning with musical parts that are stylistically similar to “Planet Hell,” with Floor trading off heavier parts in the chorus with Troy’s softer moments in verses. There’s great soloing, as the metal bits balance with the orchestra, flowing so smoothly back and forth. Some dark, haunting parts show off Floor’s deeper voice in a more spoken tone as the music is almost demonic around here. I feel like Nightwish have been lacking in guitar solos in recent years, so this album pleasantly fixes that. Even more, they toe the line of some industrial effects before the instrumental part, really going quite grungy.
Floor acts as the doomsayer, at odds with the children in “The Day Of…,” which has a bit of a poppier rhythm and an almost Queen-like confidence. There’s a moment that throws back a bit to “Beauty and the Beast” before things kick up the heaviness once again. I notoriously hate children’s choirs but I think this is actually rather brilliantly used in the trade-off, especially when they join forces with Floor towards the end.
The hefty drums and anticipatory symphonics build up nicely in “Perfume of the Timeless.” We really get to explore Floor’s deeper voice in a very majestic and intimidating sort of way, while the rhythm section is very powerful in the background. I do understand why some people feel like Floor’s voice should have been a bit more prominent in the chorus mix, if only to be able to hear the lyrics a bit more clearly. This song further has a very powerful message about appreciating not just a person’s personal history, but the deep, deep history of mankind and how many of our ancestors it took to make us who we are today.
“Sway” has gotten a bit of a curious reputation online due to an interview for a Dutch magazine. This is, of course, the song where Floor’s very higher notes are paired with Troy’s soft folky sound. The song does have completely layered vocals and they do sound absolutely brilliant together, especially considering they didn’t record their vocals together. This song has a softer, folkier feeling, which picks up in oomph after about 3 minutes, with the pipes really shining when mixed with the strings as the dynamics pick up, making for a powerful conclusion.
The Tongan choir and sounds of waves start off “Children of ‘Ata,” which has one of the most distinct feels, as there’s a very clear synth sound and disco rhythm to the beat in the verses after Floor gets things started, very unlike anything we’ve heard before from Nightwish, surely making this one of the most divisive songs for listeners. The bridge and chorus certainly don’t shy away from the heaviness, as the guitars and distortion kick in—the disco beat is solely in the verses. The song opens up towards the end in an almost theatrical finale sort of way, but without the intensity or huge choir, making for a very tasteful conclusion.
There’s something in the beginning ambience (and a few other moments) of “Something Whispered Follow Me” that brings me to moments from Nobuo Uematsu’s score from Final Fantasy IX, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite soundtracks. There’s an almost ‘80s/’90s rock ballad sound to the chorus, while Emppu is still getting to add a lot of heavy guitar sound to the musical moments. It’s a gentle song but not soft, per se—though there’s a hint of ‘90s keys in some verses, the instrumental segment is long and mystical. The layering of sounds is also quite powerful in this track, even if it is a more peaceful song overall. “Something Whispered Follow Me” doesn’t stand out as much as many of the others on first listen due to its overall gentler and less busy sound, but it’s the type of song that creeps up on you, especially when you take the lyrics into consideration. The song itself is sort of like The inspiration it sings of: you hear it, and then it lingers, until eventually you want to listen to it again. Oh, this also boasts some truly incredible soloing from Floor as she does some very impressive vocal slides towards the end.
“Spider Silk” has a very tranquil, ambient instrumental intro, reminiscent of some parts of “The Greatest Show on Earth,” mixed with a wee hint of spaghetti western guitar. Floor starts with very tender, high vocals, before a bit of oomph steps in and picks up the pacing. This song has an absolutely bangin’ chorus and was the first song to stand out to me on my casual preliminary listenings. I particularly love the way the use of strings creates the feel of quick, spritely spider movements in the song. This is also followed by some keyboard parts that really draw me back to the first three releases, particularly “Angels Fall First,” before Troy joins in on vocals. This is admittedly a song that I think would have benefited from Marko Hietala’s touch, as both the bass and male vocals could benefit from being a little bit dirtier. As the song progresses, it dances back around the “Imaginaerum” sound as well, with some haunted carnival mixed with a bit of sweet jazz as it fades out. Floor has a lot of ambient vocal parts in this song as well, which is always a good thing.
If you’ve never heard the term “Hiraeth” before, it’s an old Welsh word that represents a deep yearning for a time or person who has been long lost. Hiraeth is a key element to one of my fantasy series, hence my familiarity with the term, and it’s not a commonly known term so you can imagine my utter delight upon finding a Nightwish song about it. Starting softly and with Troy’s vocals fore-fronted, with oohing from Floor overtop of gentle acoustic lines, the song slowly picks up pace and energy as it progresses, with pipes getting some strong melodies in the spritely instrumental part. The trade-off between the vocalists is very tasteful and sweet, beautifully used. It was surprising to hear a bit of the disco sound creep in towards the end, but it smooths out so quickly that you might not even notice.
There’s a whispered word and a tinkling, alluring intro to “The Weave,” which has some of the most prominent bass on the release, even though it might still benefit from being a bit dirtier, as well as some really tight drumming. The heavy parts are really juicy though, having more of that desired grit. This is a very robust track, with a lot of rather epic bombast that builds without completely exploding, with a very intense feel. At the end, Floor gets to unleash a truly epic wail that’s backed by equally epic music. Again, we must once more lament that we won’t be hearing these songs live anytime soon, because how awesome would this be?
The album finally fades into a true slow song with closer “Lanternlight,” which starts extremely gently and is moved forward by the piano. However, the song still manages to be pretty generally epic in its own way, with the dynamics moving and shifting, as Floor continues with light, tender high notes, gently supported by Troy, pianos, and very soft instrumentals. The orchestra builds up, making the sound feel quite grand—I need to get a better sound system, as I can only imagine how it would feel to be totally engulfed by this song. Troy joins in, with Floor both backing his vocals and singing her own in trade as the song calms down again. “Lanternlight” is really a dynamic masterpiece and a fantastic way to wrap up this otherwise incredible album. Everything then ends with the sound of a film reel winding down, bringing the release full circle.
Overall, I feel hugely satisfied by this release. While I do find that songs like “The Antikythera Mechanism” and “Spider Silk” (among others) would have really benefited from Marko’s voice, on the whole, I did miss him far less than I expected to, if I’m honest. And can we take a moment to be impressed by that? As Nightwish grew, Marko’s wild, harsh voice was a huge part of what anchored them securely into the metal genre. With Troy being a vocalist of his own, incomparable to Marko, it really does speak worlds that Floor is essentially carrying the weight of two voices all on her own, and is doing an absolutely stellar job of it. I almost get the vibe that Tuomas created a smooth introduction to the band for Floor with “Endless Forms Most Beautiful,” then experimented a lot with how far he could push her in “Human. :||: Nature.,” and now has enough experience with her voice that he can just go wild, and go wild he did, in an awesome sort of way.
Furthermore, “Yesterwynde” has a lot to offer that reflects on a lot of Nightwish’s history, with more heaviness, more solos, and more bombast than its predecessor. Though lyrically and vibe-wise it indeed fits nicely with the other albums featuring Floor on vocals, overall it feels more like Tuomas wrote an album for Floor in the musical era when Anette Olzon had been their vocalist. The more I listen to it, the more I find and come to love about it. In my own opinion, this is possibly the best album in its trilogy and perhaps even one of Nightwish’s best releases to date. It just goes to show how, when artists are true to themselves and their vision, the music will always find its mark. Bravo!
Tracklist
Yesterwynde
An Ocean of Strange Islands
The Antikythera Mechanism
The Day Of…
Perfume of the Timeless
Sway
The Children of ‘Ata
Something Whispered Follow Me
Spider Silk
Hiraeth
The Weave
Lanternlight
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