Tuomas Holopainen

Nightwish are a symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and then bassist Sami Vänskä after the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997). In 2001, Vänskä was replaced by Marco Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen or guest singers…

When then tiny independent record label Spinefarm decided to take a chance on a brand new group called Nightwish by releasing a modest 500-unit pressing of their first album, Angels Fall First (originally recorded as a simple demo), little did they know this would quickly evolve into their biggest future cash cow, and one of Finland's most successful bands ever! Believe it: such were the humble origins and expectations for both band and album; despite the already quite advanced songwriting abilities of chief architect, keyboardist, and vocalist Tuomas Holopainen, which adorned melodic power metal with gothic, folk, and classical music elements, then topped them with the budding vocal power of a still baby-faced opera student named Tarja Turunen…

Nightwish are a symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and then bassist Sami Vänskä after the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997). In 2001, Vänskä was replaced by Marco Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen or guest singers…

Finnish prog-folk trio Auri is the side project of Nightwish members Tuomas Holopainen and Troy Donockley, together with the former's wife, singer and violinist Johanna Kurkela. The trio had planned to record an album together as early as 2011, but had been unable to do so owing to their commitments to their other musical projects. In 2014, they worked together on Holopainen's solo debut, The Life and Times of Scrooge, but that album did not stray too far from the bombast of his day job. Finally, in 2017, during downtime from Nightwish, they managed to pursue their alternative sound. Naming their project Auri after a character from Patrick Rothfuss' popular fantasy novel series The Kingkiller Chronicle (which also inspired some of the lyrics), they set about recording their self-titled debut album at Peter Gabriel's Real World studios in Wiltshire, England.

Austrian coed-metal act Visions of Atlantis has been through a lot. With six studio albums since 2002, several lineup changes (including the sad death of vocalist Nicole Bogner to illness in 2012), to the point of the drummer being the sole original member… the band has been rigorously tested in a crucible in under two decades. Thankfully, with the arrival of new album Wanderers on 31 August, the lineup remains mostly intact since the previous album…

“The time is drawing near. The newborn BEAST is back with a vengeance, rising from the abyss with fortitude to spew its unrivaled heavy metal fury all over the world!” »Berserker« kicks off with the rapid opener 'Beast In Black'. “As well as the band name, this track was inspired by a character from the »Berserk« manga. And though the lyrics are directly connected to that character they are also speaking in metaphors about something personal. It’s one of the most powerful songs on the album and Kasperi’s guitar solo in this one is probably the best one on the whole album!” With 'Blind And Frozen', a super catchy and massive song follows. “Yannis' interpretation and performance here is nothing short of pure perfection,” the guitar wizard fancies.

Never one to do things by halves, Finnish symphonic rock purveyors Nightwish team up with a 53-piece orchestra for their seventh studio album, Imaginaerum, a concept album based on a dying man's recollection of his youth which also doubles as the soundtrack to their forthcoming Stobe Harju-directed film of the same name…

Any Nightwish fan who looks at the track list for this album will instantly notice that a lot of Nightwish’s well-known and classic songs are on this album. For example Dark Chest of Wonders, Wish I Had an Angel, Nemo, Planet Hell and of course Ghost Love Score are all on Once…