Songs the Night Sings

The Dark Element is a collaboration between two marquee names from Northern Europe's metal scene - guitarist Jani Liimatainen (Cain's Offering, ex-Sonata Arctica) and Anette Olzon (ex-Nightwish). As one would expect from any band or project where Anette's vocals are front and centre and Jani is on guitar, this is metal with strong elements of both symphonic and pop that has its fair share of fleet-fingered guitar solos. Following a solid debut, they returned in 2019 with impressive follow-up Songs the Night Sings.

The material on offer here does bear a few things in common, lighter atmosphere aside, with Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerum, the two Nightwish albums featuring Anette as frontwoman, but Jani has his own style of songwriting and does the right thing here by not trying to emulate Tuomas Holopainen. In fact, Anette is completely in her element here; Jani appears to have offered her the freedom to fully express herself vocally and, given how natural this clearly was for her, she has honestly never sounded better. I'm of the opinion that she had far too rough a time of it during her five-year stint in Nightwish, with a large section of the fanbase refusing to accept her forsimply not being Tarja Turunen, and Tuomas clearly considering her not the vocalist he really wanted, but the best that he could get. She's an excellent singer and is clearly at her best when she's not restricted to doing what she's told.

Jani is also a very good songwriter; he's proven this before with Cain's Offering and his few songwriting credits for Sonata Arctica, to the point where some fans of the latter band even pinpoint his departure as beginning the decline of their studio album quality (I find it hard to really agree with this, though, as Tony Kakko has always been their main songwriter). To call this a straight up pop metal record would be unfair, as there's a good diversity of songs here, and six of the eleven tracks are over five minutes long. Jani also handles keyboard duties, with the majority of the songs featuring a mix of symphonic strings and orchestrations (all on keyboards though, no live orchestras or anything like that) and poppy synths, the latter often having a very 80s vibe. Bassist Jonas Kuhlberg adds some nice bass fills from time to time, and even has a fine bass solo in the title track, rather than merely following the root notes, while drummer Rolf Pilve pounds away energetically without ever getting too flashy. And of course, Jani's guitar work is as good as ever. Rather than chugging away at power chords like one would expect from this type of band, he whips out several typically impressive guitar solos and adds some nice riffs in where he can.

The opening song, 'Not Your Monster', sets the tone for the album very well - pounding rhythmic drums, distorted power chord sequences and riffs, and a synthesised orchestra all supporting Anette's powerful, emotive vocal delivery. Songs the Night Sings features a couple of songs that are essentially The Dark Element's take on the 'Nightwish hit single' playbook, such as the title track and 'Silence Between the Words'. Which is of course fine, as it was precisely these kind of tracks where Anette was usually found to be at her best in her former band. 'Pills on my Pillow' and 'The Pallbearer Walks Alone' bring some extra energy, the latter being the closest on this record that Jani comes to writing a power metal song. There are two very good, very different ballads too in the form of mid-number 'To Whatever End' and jazzy closer 'I Have To Go', and Anette absolutely nails both. A major highlight is the epic third track, 'When It All Comes Down', which is arguably the best song on the album and has a big, symphonic closing half minute that is guaranteed to invoke emotion in all but the most cold-hearted of listeners.

Lyrically, Jani is clearly writing about his personal experiences, good and bad. He has evidently gone through some difficult times, but he does show a some positivity at times here (see the title track, which is about wanting to travel the world playing his music) and the nature of the music often suggests a 'pick myself up and move on' attitude, rather than brooding on things. The lyrics might not exactly be poetry, but they're not bad either, and certainly good enough to work very well with both the music and Anette's voice.

There are a couple of missteps, however. 'Get Out of My Head' is a very catchy song (so much so that you probably won't be able to get it out of your head after hearing it), but it eschews the symphonic elements almost entirely in favour of the 80s-style synths, rather than in tandem, giving it a bit of an outdated disco feel. The mid-section, featuring an overly upbeat synthy keyboard lead melody, sounds like something I'd expect to hear on a Beast In Black album, and probably leans a bit too far in this direction compared to the rest of the material. 'If I Had a Heart' also isn't that great, featuring a chorus that sounds just a bit too one-dimensional. Neither song is bad, but I was left feeling like they both could have been better.

Overall, Songs the Night Sings is a very good symphonic pop metal album that showcases the best of Anette's voice and Jani's penchant for writing album of accomplished, memorable material. At the very least, it's an essential pickup for fans of Anette-era Nightwish and/or the poppier side of symphonic metal, and I can think of several similar bands who wish they could write an album even half this good.

Recommended tracks - 'When It All Comes Down', 'Not Your Monster', 'The Pallbearer Walks Alone'

Up until a few years ago I would have mocked a band like The Dark Element, and all the predecessor bands of the people involved in it. As fate would have it, a friend of mine shared a video of Nightwish with Floor singing Storytime at Wacken. Myself, thinking at the time, that a 6-foot tall amazon doing head whips looked pretty rad, regardless of the barely metal nature of the music. Having remembered hearing that there was controversy about singer replacements n such; I decided to listen to the studio recording. I quickly found out that I am, indeed, an Anette Olzon fan more than I am any power metal or symphonic metal fan. Anyway fast-forward to now, she is gone from Nightwish and is now two albums deep with The Dark Element.

The obvious comparisons to Nightwish are going to happen and there are definitely some elements of Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerum. But there are equally parts of Cain’s Offering, which makes sense, since Jani is the main songwriter in that band as well. There are even similarities to Anette’s solo material, which I can only assume is coming from Jani writing to Anette’s strengths. While it might be a combination of all those elements, it’s more like a dialed back mixture of all those elements. It’s Nightwish with toned down symphonic nuances of Tuomas. At times it is Cain’s Offering, with its power metal / major scale feel, is not as overbearing. Even Anette’s soloesque material is less electronic and more riffs. Don’t get me wrong it does have all those elements as well; it’s just not steeped in it, as to give this band its own personality. There are even some electronic elements more akin to a band like The Birthday Massacre, thrown in for spice.

The album is paced quite well with songs like ‘Not Your Monster’ and the Imaginaerum tinged ‘Songs The Night Sings’ declaring that this will be a metal album off the line. The surprising ‘When It All Comes Down,’ with Jani’s signature riffing and slick lead work, brings forward one of the best songs on the album. ‘Silence Between The Words,’ and ‘Pills On My Pillow’ are good, and give the album a bit of a rock element, but with a heavy edge. ‘To Whatever End’ is by far the best song on the album, actually giving it the claim to be a symphonic power metal record. ‘To Whatever End’ permits Anette the opportunity to do what she does best. We get the full range of her voice, including the innocent child tone that gave her Nightwish material such character, while being backed up by some sombre violin. ‘The Pallbearer Walks Alone’ lets everyone involved in this band finally show their skill set; some more than others of course. The song structure is unique, it’s fast and heavy, with a sweet lead break, and Rolf gets to spice it up with some nice double kick work.

‘Get Out Of My Head,’ and ‘If I Had A Heart’ have the unfortunate job of following the two best songs on the album. Both are good songs in their own right, the latter having one of the best leads on the album; though I wish they would have left out that annoying synth part in ‘Get Out Of My Head.’ The dance beat thing in the middle section, straight up sucks! ‘You Will Learn’ is a great mid-pacer with an epic feel that again gives us some cool drum and lead work; Anette is right on point with her soaring highs. ‘I have To Go’ is good and has that Slow, Love Slow-esque feel to it. I am just not sure it feels right being tacked on the end of the album like it is.

I love this album, but it does have its downsides. While everyone does great work, they are capable of so much more. Anette puts on an amazing performance; I just wish that they could’ve utilized her softer voice more, like she did on songs like Poet And The Pendulum, Eva, or Cold Outside. She has a great range and there aren’t many like her in metal that have the tonal character and unique timbre that she does. It’s just a shame that it’s used as sparingly as it is. Jani’s talents are without question; I mean the guy is a beast of a guitar player; not to mention a great clean voice. Both skills should have been used to their max potential. Rolf Pilve is an insanely good drummer, and I am not asking for him to do Marduk blast beats here. However some more intricate fill work and chance to let loose would have added a little more dynamics to the pacing of the songs. The fact that the guitars themselves feel like they take a lesser role to the synth, which at times detracts from, or even completely undermines the heaviness of the album. Coupled with the sparse lead work, I find it brings the album down a bit. The songs on this album are long enough, with only one song being under 4 ½ minutes, and the majority being 5 plus, that they could have slotted in more leads and still not made the album a shred fest.

All in all it’s an awesome album and I wanted to give it a 90, but there are just a few elements that just make you wonder what is holding them back. Hopefully they keep doing what they have been doing but swing for the fences on the next one. What do they have to lose by throwing it all on the table...

Jani and Anette got off to a good start with their 2017 debut, a record that was quite obviously Jani’s attempt to fill the void for fans of Anette’s run in Nightwish. I had hopes the follow up would do for this project what ‘Stormcrow’ did for Cain’s Offering, but that’s not what happened. What we did get was a better version of the first album, more leveled-out and consistent, with a higher level of songwriting craft and Anette’s best ever vocal performance, so I can’t complain too loudly. Jani also brought Rolf Pilve into the fold, Strato’s current drummer and skin-blaster for Smackbound, who tread a similar path to this. Rolf keeps the double-bass on low but infuses these songs with a varied dynamic, with deft drops, creative fills, and more punch, which, along with the superior production, makes this more impressive right off the bat.

Song wise, this is a similar batch that switches between mid-paced Nightwish anthems, tender ballads, and songs that mix both with a progressive flair. Jani is improving as a songwriter, and each cut demonstrates this; even the lyrics are better, though he’s still no Wordsworth. ‘Not Your Monster’ kicks things off on a rapturous note, with a chorus that is worth the wait, even though you have no idea when it’s going to kick in. The title track has the greatest hook on the album, and is probably the best thing Jani’s written for this project, even though it’s not quite as catchy as ‘My Sweet Mystery’. ‘When It All Comes Down’ closes out a glorious opening trio, the most intricate track here with a chorus that grinds way the fuck down in a move I can only attribute to Rolf. Sounds killer, though. ‘To Whatever End’ might be Jani’s best ballad, with a moody streak that crops up in a number of other places, and the driving riff of ‘The Pallbearer Walks Alone’ is the closest The Dark Element have come to power metal territory, but it’s still very much a Nightwish-esque tune that is admittedly pimped up with a riff of that style. Elsewhere, they touch upon ‘Slow, Love, Slow’ with closer ‘If I Have To Go’, and ‘Get Out Of My Head’ is aptly titled, being infectious as hell, dumb as it is.

Jani doesn’t get to show off as much here, with the programmed keys taking way more than the lion’s share, but his riffs are more inventive within the pop-metal realm, and the songs go through more changes than before, so you don’t really need the solos to dazzle you with dexterity. I know most people just want this guy to play the shit he did back in Sonata Arctica, but that was a lot of years ago, and even ‘Stormcrow’ was more along the lines of this than, say, ‘Winterheart’s Guild’. Anette is the star of the show, as you can imagine, and I swear she has never sounded this good. Studio magic be damned; if she sang like this under Tuomas’s instruction, we might not have ‘Songs The Night Sings’ at all. Her highs are piercing as hell, and even her diction has improved. I’m not sure Kotipelto could’ve done half as well.

It remains to be seen how long this band will stick around, but it stands proud in the symphonic metal scene for at least sticking to its guns. Jani and Anette are a good team, and they take their working relationship to a better place here. It’s not a level up, per se, but they have more HP than before, and better songs to boot.