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Post by sleepyqueenie on Oct 7, 2013 18:52:46 GMT
oh waw Nightwish news, it has been ages since I heard anything about them. I am going to the Metal Female Voices Fest this month. This has been a dream of mine for years. I am very excited. Nightwish is sadly not attending. Delain, Tarja, Leaves Eyes, Lacuna Coil and many others are.
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Post by himiko on Oct 9, 2013 23:03:21 GMT
Oooh, that's awesome! Hope you have lots of fun there ^^ In slightly Nightwish related news, Floor will be singing a duet with Tarja during her set at MFVF, apparently, so enjoy Also, Floor has now been officially announced as the permanent singer of Nightwish as of today. Troy Donockley (the guy who plays the flutes, some backing vocals and pipes on DPP and Imaginaerum, and tours with NW) has also been confirmed as a full time member of the band, meaning there are now 6 official fulltime members.
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Post by sleepyqueenie on Oct 17, 2013 7:20:57 GMT
Thank you It's in two days time. I will bring out report. I am glad to see the band complete again.
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Post by sleepyqueenie on Oct 23, 2013 9:15:57 GMT
Part one of the report. This is it. Metal Female Voices Fest. The event I have been wishing to go to since my early secondary school years when I took my first steps into the metal genre. The opening was last Friday night. This consisted of a performance by Liv Kristine, Eve's Apple and all of the singers appearing on stage together, that I heard was pretty spectacular. I could only attend on Saturday. Sunday I was bound for the FACTS convention, world of Fantasy and Sci Fi. I cosplayed as Ahès. I would include a picture here but I always struggle with how to put them onto this site so please have a look on my facebook for pictures of said cosplay. After a job exam in the morning I set out to the MFVF. I had expected to arrive around 2-3 o’clock. It started at 10 a.m. Approximately every hour a new band performed. I did not know most of the band performing before 7:30 p.m. and happily looked forward to getting to know new bands. I arrived ten to 4 p.m. due to a bit of a messy bus situation, only one bus an hour. I can’t really advise you to put much trust in the public transport when attending this event. I arrived at an inconspicuous village. I would have doubted I was in the right place hadn’t I been assured I was by the helpful busdriver. Every good story starts with a stranger arriving in a village overruled by a dark entity and see a few meters further there was a pub, I looked inside to see it filled with gothic people. I was in the right place. I swiftly walked on to find the parking lot and adjoining building, de Oktoberhallen. The people there were dressed in cheerful black. They hanged around at some food stands. I could faintly hear music as I validated my ticket and recognized it as being one of my favourite operatic numbers “Un Pensiero Nemico Di Pace”. It was in fact Chaostar performing their “Un Pensiero Per Il Destino”. The first people I saw inside were so kind as to inform me of who was performing. Sadly what I heard were the last notes to their final song. It was beautiful. Even so the effect was spectacular. The woman on stage was dressed in a very elegant vivid red dress, in perfect contrast and harmony with her long blonde hair. Due to this great first impression I bought the album Anomima of this band afterwards and am listening to it now. If you are, like me, into operatic metal this is music for you. We, the couple of met by chance MFVF attends and me, kept talking for a long while –I even showed them my cosplay for the next day how social is that?-, only to be interrupted every few seconds by myself recognizing the songs now being played in the background between performances (in this case Delain’s "see me in shadow" Lacuna Coil’s "to myself I turned") and getting superexcited by even trying to fathom the people here knew these songs and they were actually being played to please this many people. It overwhelmed me more than I could have expected. By that time I found my friends. They showed me around the festival. The room and crowd itself wasn’t as huge as I had expected. There were several shops selling clothes, official merchandise of the bands and cds. Among the clothes were some of the most awesome coats I have ever seen. The cds were cheap, except for the newest albums, hard to find anywhere but in this place and very much to my liking. I bought a pile. Drinks were also to be bought inside. There were of course pretty flyers of bands on the floor everywhere. It is like the floor is covered in relics. It makes you feel proud and powerful to walk past or over them. I found the signing place and schedule. I queued for Delain’s signing session. I had missed the other signing sessions to my interest. I watched the dressed in my style people, it is funny how they can head bang to anything. Delain’s signing time was over before I could get an autograph. Kobra and the Lotus, ASRAI and Kontrust were the next three bands performing. During which time I was busy exploring the place, buying albums, figuring out how the camera worked, doting on the girl on the huge posters ( ) and meeting people – a wonderful group invited me to join them, they recognized me from the Emilie Autumn concert last month. One band had an act with hand dolls. I have no idea what that was about but it looked like fun. A friend of mine was very enthusiastic about Kontrast. Their music was good but didn’t do much to me at that time. I walked through the then very calm lane of shops to see all of the sales persons stand on their tables and waving along with Kontrast’s final number. We took a meal around seven. There was plenty of food to be bought just outside. A new friend introduced me to Russian metal and I embraced another’s leg which said in black marker ‘free hugs’. Next time: from 19:30 onwards till the end of the day = Leaves’ Eyes, Delain featuring Sharon van den Adel and Lacuna Coil
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Post by sleepyqueenie on Oct 25, 2013 13:48:58 GMT
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Post by sleepyqueenie on Oct 29, 2013 9:26:25 GMT
I am going to offline territories for a week. I find myself in a lack of time to write the full second part of the report but don't want to leave you waiting. So here is a short version for now. We have reached the best part of my entire weekend. Leaves’ Eyes’ performance. To hear Liv Kristine, a voice I worshipped since I was about thirteen, live. It did not disappoint. I had an excellent view thanks to the lovely bunch I was with. They let me –being small and full of adoration- stand in front. I took in every second. The first song was one of five new songs they would play this night, from the Symphonies of the Night album due to come out next month. Their fb page announced there will be some Carmilla in there. :3 This introduction song was Galswintha. New but unmistakably their sound. It makes you want to sing along halfway through. Also lyrics as "mistress of cruelty" never fail to enchant me. During the first few songs I got soft hair thrown in my face several time by female person standing before me. Headbanging it is a strange phenomenon. It did not bother me. I saw the fun in it. I always love the metal hand. It’s very Miss Hardbroom. Metal fans seem to do all kind of signal codes with it. Back to Liv Kristine. Leaves' Eyes as a whole was perfect. I might not be an expert on music but I sense that much. The music, the voices it fit together perfectly. They had my hands up to my chest and sometimes face in adoration. When I sat down after the performance people said I looked spellbound/enchanted/ in love take your pick. . I could say much more on the subject. I shall have to leave this for later. The room was fully crowded by now. Ten minutes after Leaves' Eyes Delain took the stage. They got the full fireworks. And serpentine falling from the ceiling. One comment though, for the entire festival, too many flashing lights too often. They caused me to tear up during Delain's show. Charlotte, the songstress has a nasty witch tone down in her singing that is most becoming. She wore a very short white steampunk like outfit. Control the storm had me singing along. I normally mouth along when I want to sing. Since I don't want to miss the most important voices, the ones on stage, I can bellow along with the cd at home. As a special guest Sharon van den Adel appeared to duet with Delain. It was also her first time MFVF. She was the vision of a fairy. She then sang a solo: Restless. One of Within Temptation's older songs which I utterly adore and never thought they would still perform. My heart sours when her voice reaches a certain height, same as with Liv. It brought me back to the WT concert in Scotland. A performance so good it makes you forget to speak in English. And you start talking to dear mabforever in Dutch relying on the Pocahontas effect to translate for you. When Sharon left Charlotte returned on stage to reclaims our attention with a new dress. The final performance was Lacuna Coil. They were dressed in school like outfit and performed their entire album Carmacode. I was delighted to hear that their Depeche Mode cover Enjoy the silence is their big popular song. They had the entire festival shouting this song with them. It was a great moment. They then performed, as on extra, newer songs in black outfits. That was the end of the day. Everyone returned to their cars. MFVF was everything I expected and more. We drove home with Leaves' Eyes Njord cd playing. More pictures can be found on my facebook and all over the internet. This review has pretty ones as well: musiccredo.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/metal-female-voices-fest-quality-level-increased-on-eleventh-edition/So I did not see Tarja I hear her show the other day was spectacular. It is mostly renowned for the duet she did with Floor of Over the hills and far away. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAnVFJFmFx8
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Post by himiko on Oct 29, 2013 20:28:02 GMT
Sounds like you had a great time! And awesome that Sharon sang "Restless", it's one of my favourite WT songs, too Thanks very much for sharing
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Post by sleepyqueenie on Nov 13, 2013 15:53:43 GMT
You're very welcome. I had an excellent time
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Post by maellowyn on Jan 28, 2014 0:38:59 GMT
First new shows with Floor Jansen on vocals have taken place. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. She seems to be getting a pretty good reception amongst fans, too. I never thought after Tarjas leave I would enjoy their music again... but this time they made an excellent choice with Floor Jansen - I need to get that live album.... Live albums always have been my favourite from Nightwish - loved "From Wishes to Eternity" and "End of an Era" and I just might love "Showtime, Storytime"
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Post by himiko on Jan 29, 2014 23:38:08 GMT
I would thoroughly recommend it- Floor does an excellent job. She sings very well, and manages to put her own "stamp" on many of the songs, particularly more aggressive songs like Ghost River and Romanticide. There are maybe a couple of songs where Anette's lighter voice suited the mood of the song better ("I Want My Tears Back" jumps to mind), and Floor doesn't sound as strong as Tarja did when she sings classically, but she's certainly got a hell of a voice, and a very varied one.
Has anyone heard any of Floor's non - Nightwish work? She's primarily known for being the singer of After Forever (who split up a few years ago now), and she currently sings and writes lyrics (possibly some music, too?) for her band "Revamp". She's done a lot of guest work, notably on two "Ayreon" albums (Universal Migrator and 01011001), too. I own the Ayreon albums, and really enjoyed her work on these, and I have an After Forever album kicking about somewhere, but other than knowing she had a very impressive voice, I'd never followed her career in detail.
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Post by maellowyn on Jan 30, 2014 19:53:16 GMT
not yet so far.... but I am totally inclined to do so... I may adore Tarjas voice (she is a class of her own), but I just fell in love with Floors voice, so I am looking into it.
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Post by himiko on Mar 11, 2014 0:22:51 GMT
Not technically Nightwish material, but Nightwish related- Anette Olzon (former vocalist) is releasing her first solo album later this month. The title is "Shine", and from the samples and singles, it sounds like it's going to be a bit more of a pop/ pop-rock album than a metal album. It definitely seems to suit her voice better than some of the stuff she performed in Nightwish. Samples for the albumFirst single/ video - LiesLyric video for Falling
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Post by himiko on Mar 9, 2015 23:37:16 GMT
For those who haven't heard it, the new Nightwish single is out- it's not only the first studio release of their's to have Floor as the vocalist, they also have a new drummer (Jukka - their previous drummer- has had to retire from the band indefinitely due to really bad ongoing insomnia making it basically impossible for him to tour), and Troy Donockley (the guy on the pipes) is now an official band member, rather than a session musician.
Single- Elan (with music video)
And here is "Sagan", the single's B-Side- non album (I actually prefer this song to Elan, but ah well).
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Post by Lane of Magic on Mar 28, 2015 21:34:35 GMT
Thank you for posting, Himiko! I probably would’ve had no idea about the new single/album for another few months, without seeing your post here.
Elan is a different song… quite happy for NW, which I actually like. I was a bit underwhelmed upon first listen, but it has grown on me a looot since. Sagan is great too – I can’t see why this wasn’t on the album (both of these songs are really enjoyable).
Having listened to the whole album, I was once again underwhelmed. I’ve only listened to it once, so I might change my mind later, but… meh, I really don’t feel this one at all. There was not a song that captured my attention and Floor seemed really contained as opposed to what I am used to from her.
What do you guys think? Any favourite new songs for you?
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Post by himiko on Mar 31, 2015 0:52:11 GMT
I had a similar experience with Elan- it took me a while to really get into it, and now I like it a lot.
Overall, I definitely like the more upbeat, happy vibe of the album overall compared to previous albums. I also like that there's a bit more focus on the band here, rather than the orchestra being front and centre for most of the album. That said, it's definitely taken a few listens for some of the songs to grow on me, and I do wish that Floor had gone more "all out" in parts.
I think album wise, it's probably not going to get into my top 3 NW albums, but I prefer it to DPP and Once at the moment- time will tell where it settles.
Song wise, "My Walden" is by far my favourite- on the first listen through of the album, I found the whole thing a little disappointing to begin with, then this song kicked in and I ended up listening to it on repeat for some time before I got around to listening to the second half of the album... I also really like "Alpenglow", and "Edema Ruh" and the title track are also getting quite a bit of play compared to the rest of the album. The instrumental track is pretty, and pleasant to listen to (I really like Troy's vocals, they're folky and calm and I think they're a nice addition to the music) but it's also quite forgettable. "The Greatest Show on Earth" has grown on me, but it's so long, and there's so many parts where I sort of tune out, that I think it will generally be a song that I listen to when playing the whole album, rather than one I play on it's own.
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