When Floor Jansen, known at that time for both AFTER FOREVER and REVAMP, came on board in 2012 (we all know the story, I believe), NIGHTWISH didn’t waste any time in showcasing her vocal abilities with some official live videos that eventually led to “Showtime, Storytime,” filmed at Wacked in August 2013 and released some months later. So, in light of this spectacular concert, how would her first studio outing with the band sound like? The answer came on March 25th, 2015, with the release of “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” via Nuclear Blast in Japan. The album was released in continental Europe on March 27th.
In a new line-up that saw the band having three vocalists – Floor Jansen, Marko Hietala, and Troy Donockley – and a new drummer in Kai Hahto expectations were high when it came to this album, with many hoping that NIGHTWISH would go back to their bombastic style of symphonic metal. To the chagrin of some (well, quite a few) Tuomas Holopainen had other ideas as he wanted to write songs about evolution, as theorized by Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins, and present them in a more accessible manner. Conceived as a tribute to science, reason, and the beauty of existence, the album bears a title that was taken from the writings of Charles Darwin and refers to the multitude of species and organisms that had evolved from one common ancestor. Songs like the title track, “Endless Forms Most Beautiful,” and especially the 24-minute long behemoth “The Greatest Show on Earth” are perfect examples of how the theme of evolution can be successfully put to music, while the likes of “My Walden” and “Shudder Before the Beautiful” describe the natural world in splendid metaphors.
Musically, the songs are beautifully orchestrated (once again by longtime collaborator Pip Williams) to push the melodies even more in the spotlight, alongside the vocals. This is not the symphonic metal of yesteryear, but a more polished, poppy version of it, with fewer operatic parts, but with many softer sections, lower vocals, and hushed tones from Floor Jansen. Their main focus was to service the songs and not show off, either vocally or instrumentally. However, like with any NIGHTWISH album, versatility is key, and she delivered on all accounts. Whereas a tender and delicate song like “Our Decades in the Sun” required her to sing in a more mellow, intimate manner to properly convey those emotions, a rougher song like “Yours is an Empty Hope” demanded some harsh vocals to not just match Marko Hietala’s wicked vocals but also to underpin the message of the lyrics. Otherwise, poppier tracks like “Élan” or “Alpenglow” needed a more buoyant approach that also worked wonderfully in a live setting (as apparent from the band’s official live videos collected under the title “Vehicle of Spirit”). Nonetheless, there’s a general feeling still rippling through the metal community that her (and Marko’s) vocals are highly restrained (to put it mildly).
For an album about biology and evolution, “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” left a lot of room for other topics and musical directions to take center stage and thus enrich the album’s lyrical content and expand its sound design, which also included a haunting instrumental piece in “The Eyes of Sharbat Gula.” The album’s heaviest tracks, “Weak Fantasy” and “Yours is an Empty Hope,” were primarily written by Marko Hietala and featured more preeminent bass and guitars that complement the angry lyrics that deal with the restrictiveness of religion and the idea of living in the present moment, respectively. Conversely, the then newly anointed member Troy Donockley also had his moments to shine both as a singer and as an instrumentalist, his uilleann pipes and low whistles bringing a bouncy melody to the likes of the Celtic-infused “My Walden” and the fantasy-inspired “Edema Ruh,” whereas his soft, light vocals brought a warmer feel to these songs. This opened up new avenues NIGHTWISH would fully embrace (for better or worse) in their subsequent releases “Human. :II: Nature.” (2020) and “Yestwewynde” (2024).
All-in-all, “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” is quite a diverse and entertaining album, with songs pulling in many different directions – from symphonic metal and folk metal to straight-up anthemic rock moments and big, cinematic pieces – that come together nicely to create a whimsical soundscape and a wondrous atmosphere. This in itself should be enough of a testament to the creative mind of Tuomas Holopainen and the technical abilities of his bandmates. Moreover, in delivering the grandeur and richness of sound that have made NIGHTWISH such an institution on the (symphonic) metal scene but skipping on the lyrical and musical drama of past albums, it was exactly what the band needed at that point in their career, which, in hindsight, is its main merit.
Written by Andrea Crow
Tracklist
1. Shudder Before the Beautiful
2. Weak Fantasy
3. Élan
4. Yours Is an Empty Hope
5. Our Decades in the Sun
6. My Walden
7. Endless Forms Most Beautiful
8. Edema Ruh
9. Alpenglow
10. The Eyes of Sharbat Gula
11. The Greatest Show On Earth
Lineup
- Floor Jansen – lead vocals
- Emppu Vuorinen – guitars
- Marko Hietala – bass, vocals
- Tuomas Holopainen – keyboards
- Troy Donockley – uilleann pipes, low whistles, bodhran, bouzouki, vocals
- Kai Hahto – drums
Label
Nuclear Blast
