Genre: Symphonic Metal

Label: Nuclear Blast

Date of Release: 20th September 2024

Line Up:

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

Yesterwynde, the 10th studio album from Finnish Symphonic Metal royalty Nightwish, has been three and a half years in the making. Tuomas Holopainen explained, “The new album was intensively worked on for 3.5 years. My ambition and piety really skyrocketed, and I just couldn’t let go of the creative process – and didn’t want to. Along the way, Yesterwynde became both an exhilarating obsession and a comforting haven for me. All aspects of the making – compositions, lyrics, arrangements, cover art, videos, mixing, and so on – were given more attention than ever before.”

The full album is preceded by the single “An Ocean of Strange Islands”, released earlier this week, which is a nine-and-a-half-minute epic. The song commences with an ethereal vocal intro before being joined by the band’s trademark sound of pounding drums and guitar stylings followed by the injection of Floor Jansen’s operatic vocals. The singing is intertwined with instrumental sections, and the overriding feel is that of a story being played out through the music, concluding with a Celtic-feeling outro that Nightwish is well known for.

This storytelling is firmly entrenched throughout the whole album. The lyrics and accompanying music paint a picture for the listener, whether it is the exploration incorporated into “An Ocean of Strange Islands”, the haunting and emotion of “The Antikythera Mechanism”, or the ancestry depicted in “The Perfume of the Timeless”. The band is well renowned for this style of music and has been something that has drawn me to them ever since I first heard the track “Nemo” that was released over 20 years ago.

Explaining the meaning behind “Perfume Of The Timeless”, Tuomas Holopainen states: “You are the result of an unbroken chain of millions of ancestors and their loves. ‘Perfume Of The Timeless’ reminds us all of this amazing fact. And if you’re not amazed, listen to it again, because it’s important.”

The record includes a wide variety of music from the soft “Sway”, which features more acoustic folk instruments, to the heavy double pedaling in “The Weave”, adding interest to the whole album. “The Children of ‘Ata” is a prime example of the variation of the group’s work, starting with synths before proceeding with the band’s heavier metal sound, followed by a more pop-sounding section and later having vocal stylings that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Rammstein track.

The album seems more conceptual than many of its predecessors, explaining the long wait since the 2020 release Human: II Nature. There is less metal and more symphony in this album, and if that is the area of the band’s repertoire that appeals to you, then this album is for you.

The band has decided that this album will not be accompanied by a world tour for personal reasons but stressed that they have a multi-album deal with Nuclear Blast records and there is more to come from them.