So is "perfume of the timeless" an ocean soul / dead poet boy expression for "old people smell"?

More seriously, it appears to be based on the photography of artist Francis Meadow Sutcliffe who recorded life in the seaside town of Whitby in the early 20th century: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Meadow_Sutcliffe

The Floor cover appears to be a weird photoshop of this picture

I honestly don't get why they didn't just use an unaltered version of the picture, or maybe take a similar one with Floor instead of just shoving her in there with obvious Photoshop, lol. But hey, whatever I guess. The original picture is pretty cool.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=34396 ... g1AOMIW0lx

Also, a little video update from Tuomas.
Now I know I've been saying the title of the album wrong. Also, I'm assuming the music in the background is from the upcoming single - there isn't enough of it in there for me to form a solid opinion but I do like those drums.

They 100% should have used the original picture. The photoshop is very obvious, but also the frame is useless.

Yeah IDK why they photoshopped it.

They spelt Tuomas' name wrong on the Twitter version of that video. I honestly think their PR/media/marketing team have just given up for whatever reason.

Listening to it via VPN because... well, y'know, why not? A few notes:

- This does sound heavier than most of HN.
- It also sounds a lot bigger than most of what was on that album, big in a DPP/"Imaginaerum" kind of way, though EFMB vibes are still present.
- There are times where Floor's voice is overwhelmed by the orchestra (such as during the chorus). Who mixed this? I would like a word.
- Not sure about the outro with Troy singing and I kind of wish Marko was still in the band. Don't think it sounds bad but I like the rest of the song better.
- I do like it though, issues with the mixing aside. Don't expect it to be riff-heavy... much like with anything after "Century Child", most of the complexities have been

If you're expecting a return to guitar-dominated power metal, you will be disappointed. Like most of post-"Century Child" NW, the complexities of the instrumentation are largely found in the symphonics. I don't mind that but I know some folks here definitely do. However, I will say that I don't think they were lying when they said this new album would be heavier than the last one, if this single's anything to go by.

Edit:
I listened to it again and must reiterate that the mix is bad. You're really gonna drown out one of the most talented frontwomen in metal?

I liked it and it's growing on me but I genuinely don't like the long intro and Troy's singing at the end, it feels so out of place. The chorus, it's great despite the mix.

majestic chorus, bizarre/unexpected proggy bit after the 5 min mark, they tagged a folky cover of the chorus at the end...

I liked it. Nice melody, song doesn't drag, cool proggy/heavy part. I was surprised that Floor feels a bit low in the mix with the chorus.

Music video has dropped: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHCaZmIzr0o

Yawn, Once 6.0, I can't believe this will be the 6th fucking album of non stop chugging "riffs" and overblown orchestra

Was hoping for maybe a little return of power metal but it's never happening

Since we're talking Nightwish in here, I just started listening to Nightwish, specifically Wishmaster after not bothering with them for all these years and Tarja Turunen's voice over the music on that album has completely absorbed me.

Felt dragged out way too much and the mix is just shoddy, the bit around 6 minutes before the final chorus is cool but that just felt like a forgettable 5 minute song turned into a forgettable 8 minute song.

Check out "Oceanborn". It's pretty much their magnum opus... one of the greatest power metal albums of all time, in my opinion (and one of my top 10 favorite metal albums ever in any subgenre).

Track lengths are up on Spotify



Hiraeth is the only one that doesn't have an Orchestral version on the second disc, which is curious.

Nightwish has been tedious bloat incarnate since Tarja left. Feels like they're wasting Floor great voice.

A bit odd that they released one of the album's longest tracks as the first single, but I enjoyed the song for the most part. Considerably better than most of the tracks on Human Nature, and I'm glad the guitar tone is far less limp this time. The only part I didn't like was the ending, which felt unnecessary, and Troy's boring mumbly bumbly vocals offered absolutely nothing as usual; I'm a bit worried that Marco's departure means even more vocal parts for Troy on the upcoming album, when he shouldn't be going anywhere near a microphone.



If you like Wishmaster, you should definitely check out Oceanborn, Century Child and Once. They're even better.

This song really takes its time getting going with the two minutes of sound effects and shit, huh - then some more atmospheric noodling at the end. Really makes me appreciate when bands just get to the meat of it. Not opposed to a song trying to create some space and atmosphere, but I guess I've never been that big on this sort of ominous classical type of stuff.

Song is alright overall - it's more of this kind of stodgy industrial guitar pounding, and they don't really seem to care much about writing a memorable riff - it's a backdrop for the chorus, which sounds good; Floor definitely sounds good and they have more energy on here than the last few, but it's not really a sound I go that crazy for anymore.

Were there any metal riffs in the song? I just heard straight chugging during the heavy parts. Why not give some of the violin melodies to the guitars to make it more interesting? Oh well, this is the last time I'll complain about Nightwish not making metal music anymore. It is what it is, and for what it is it is a nice song. Tuomas knows how to write a catchy melody, and I found the vocal lines during the chorus incredibly fun.

I did not like this song, actually. It's so dry and unmemorable, like more than half of Human Nature.

Overall, not bad but also not really the sort of song that gets me pumped up for the new album. Apparently this is one of the longer songs on the album so it may be giving a skewed impression of what the album will be as a whole, but based on it alone this will likely be along the same lines as the last 2. If they could at least shorten these songs and focus a bit more on the heavy-ended grooves like on "Once", it would be an improvement, but Nightwish has basically been a glorified Tuomas Holopainen solo project since they kicked out Tarja.

So firstly, who was listening to AFF through Imaginarum and thought 'you know what this needs? Bagpipes!' Still don't get what they think Troy is bringing to the table.

Secondly what is with the mix drowning the vocals out? Listened to it on the way home on my earphones and thought it sounded terrible, like I came away not even having an opinion whether I enjoyed the song or not, could barely hear what was going on. Granted my earphones aren't exactly hi-fi quality, but I was listening to music beforehand, and played some earlier Nightwish afterwards and didn't have a problem. Just tried it on speakers when I got in and it was better but a band like this should be doing a much better job.

Now I've heard it again on a better system though it's still much better than anything on the last album and I'm a bit more hopeful the overall album will be decent.

I quite like what he brings to the table in terms of his instrumental contributions. I never quite understood why he was made a full-time member (he was around on Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerum as a guest performer) other than it just made things easier. The creative decision to make him a secondary vocalist (even when Marco was still in the band!) was pretty terrible, though. I've come across very few people who like his vocals, and while I appreciate Tuomas just wants to do what he wants to do, I'm having a hard time understanding how he can listen to Troy mumble his way through vocal parts and think 'mmm, yes, that's good, exactly what this song needs'.

He is in Auri with him too, so I guess he really likes him. There is no song I dislike more than Harvest on Nightwish history, I really don't get why he is a permanent member of the band.

I Want My Tears Back is likely my favourite track post-Tarja and the bagpipes make it was it is, so I completely understand why Troy has stuck around. That song is also made by Marko's strong, sturdy vocals and that is indeed something Troy does not have.

While "Harvest" isn't my least favorite NW song of all time necessarily, I'm not too fond of it either and Troy is just... not a lead vocalist. His singing is fine in small bursts (he fits the beginning of "My Walden" pretty well) but he cannot carry a whole song. Also, "Harvest" kind of sounds like a rejected song from "The Lion King" that wasn't even good enough to go in its direct-to-video sequel.

To me this felt like it was a mix of Imaginaerum and Human Nature (or whatever derpy way they spell it), i.e. my two least favorite NW albums. It's dreadfully boring. It's not beautiful, the orchestration isn't anything special, the mix is meh, it lack spower, it's not catchy, I wonder what it's trying to be even. I feel like there are parts where Markko's voice would have fit right in and added a bit of "oomph" to the song. Floor is buried, I listened to it again and again but everytime it just fades into the background and when I try to get my attention to it, I'm always bored, so I tune it out.

Might seem harsh, but Nightwish is one of the bands that got me into metal, and to see them devolve like that...

'Harvest' is up there with their worst songs for me, but I think that's partly due to Troy's singing bringing it down when really, Marco should have been singing it, even if the whole 'Africa' vibe was a bit silly too (I agree to the 'Lion King reject' feel).

I'll admit to being biased towards the intro to 'My Walden' as it's in Welsh, and acknowledge that Troy pretty much had to be the one to sing it, as it's extremely unlikely that Floor or Marco have any familiarity with the language, and trust me, they'd have struggled.