ONCE

After the disappointing "Century Child", I was expecting something better from Nightwish and indeed this album is a lot better. The duets Marco/Tarja work a lot better and the orchestral arrangements are much more present.

The opening "Dark Chest Of Wonders" is a great Nightwish song - the spirit of "Wishmaster" is back! "Wish I Had An Angel" is a good heavy song, maybe a little repetitive (not worth making it a single in my opinion). "Nemo" is classic Nightwish, very catchy music with the keys really present. "Planet Hell" is the "beauty and the beast" track of the album. And then comes masterpiece #1: "Creek Mary's Blood" - a beautiful power ballad with native american music/narration (nothing else to say - just hear that amazing track and get ready to be blown away). "The Siren" is another beautiful track, at the same time very heavy and very melodic with cellos, violins and Marco's voice really bringing something to the song. "Dead Gardens" and "Romanticide" are rather boring heavy tracks, the second one having an abrupt ending riff as if the band didn't know how to end that song. Then comes masterpiece #2: "Ghost Love Score" - an epic song, like "Beauty Of The Beast" on the previous album, but with even a higher quality... everything seems to fit perfectly - guitar, keys, vocals, choir, orchestra... simply a masterpiece of operatic metal. "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" is beautiful beyond imagination... I don't know a more beautiful song apart from Theatre Of Tragedy's "A distance there is" and My Dying Bride's "For My Fallen Angel". "Higher Than Hope" is a nice power ballad to close the album.

Rating: 90/100