CENTURY CHILD

Why do I get the impression that I heard this before? Because "Century Child" is an "Onceanborn" - remastered version. Unlike the 1998 release this album has a far better production:loud guitar riffs, more natural keys and true drums. However the melodies don't seem to match the level of production. I am very disappointed by the heavy metal guitars that roam around the acoustic area:no complexity, no solos, no nothing. The vocals of Tarja prove her proficiency in operatic singing but I do not enjoy the way it practically makes a lot of references to the new age soundtrack of Lord of The Rings. In fact Toumas admits he is very influenced by this film to whom I don't particularly give credit that much. In spite of this fact, people still consider Nightwish a band with a symphonic atmosphere. Their entire discography, and this album as well, is not symphonic because firstly, musically, nothing reaches the complexity of symphony, secondly, no album (except "Once") was recorded using a orchestra and thirdly, the samplers are way to synthetic to be called symphonic. Actually, the style tends to be more power than gothic, because of the "happy" keyboard work by Tuomas Holopainen. There are some nice tracks thou, like "Slaying the Dreamer" (a true demonic, nasty, power/goth metal piece of music), "The Phantom of the Opera" (an adaptation of the theme used in the film). In conclusion, eh, way to happy for me this album... and undoubtedly NOT prog !!!