New front man (or front woman in this case) Anette Olzon is in critical spotlight here. Ten tons of steel pressure upon this band. Lot of expectations for Anette. Can they deliver (without Tarja) or will they be lost like post-Bruce era of Maiden and go total basket case?

Upon listening this album for the first time one would have a feeling that Anette lacks vocal power Tarja had, but after giving this album few whirls I am not so sure anymore. Her voice is little thinner and popier then Tarja’s for sure, but boy can she sing. Even though Anette is not your gallant opera singer, I have a feeling that she can belt it out Sarah Brightman style if needed (see first track at 4:50).

Since there was awful lot expectation here, lets do track by track inspection.

When you see 14 minute opening track, in most cases skip button is your best friend, but here you would miss awful lot of ear ecstasy. “The Poet and Pendulum” is a true symphonic feast. Part epic movie soundtrack, part melancholy sound scape primed for London Symphonic Orchestra or even Andrew Loyd Webber. Cross that with melodic death metal and with some Enya and you’ll get best track on the album.

“Bye Bye Beautiful” is your typical euro techno ala Rammstain riffing which I could see would appeal to lot of people, but song is simply average. Sang mostly by evil Viking looking Marco Tapani Hietala. Ok moving on…

“Amaranth” (I am still lost) is the first single and catchy one for that matter. I really like this one. Emotional keyboard intro is just excellently interrupted with wallop of a riff. Catchy chorus is really nicely complemented with Anette’s I am tempted to say sweet but powerful voice.

“Cadence of Her Last Breath” another great catchy piece. Mid tempo enigmatic and dizzying riffs followed by dramatic symphonic booms. You can really see emotions draining from Annette’s throat on this one.

“Master Passion Greed” futures truly great performance from Jukka Nevalainen on skins, although songs is part trash, part punk part symphony. Might work for some, but not for me. Kinetic riffing gets kind of dull after a while.

“Eva” is your typical Nightwish made for Tarja ballad. I have a feeling that Toumas wanted us to start cutting our wrists upon hearing emotions in this song but I think he failed. All it did for me is made me use a skip button few times.

“Sahara” is your groovy headbanger on this album and Anette’s attempt to sing really heavy song. She really soars here. This song actually almost convinced me that Anette is the right choice for this band (we still have to hear her belt out Tarja’s songs)

Another heavy hitter with “Whoever Brings the Night”. Non melodic toned down vocals and not half bad trashy axe work.

“For the Heart I Once Had” is the most melodic and most popier song on the album (excluding Eva), but for some strange reason I really dig it. That could be because of Anette’s sweet bumblebee vocals here. She starts of really like a she is singing a frickin lullaby, but then at chorus she really goes to the heaven leaving you wondering if you dropped your heart on the floor.

Am I hearing Jethro Tull here? That was the first thing came to my mind when I hear “The Islander”. It still is.

Cross Breavheart soundtrack with In Extremo and you’ll get “Last Of The Wilds” instrumental. This one might be just album filler but it is still amusing.

“7 Days To The Wolves” is my second favorite song on the album. Annette is sharing pipes with always convincing Marco quite beautifully. Some really good arrangements on this one.

Album closer “Meadows of Heaven” might not please some “death to the grind” fans, but I really cannot shake off my love of Scottish melodies (Breaveheart being one of all time favorite movies.), so I hold this one up really high. Just listen to the bridge at 3:32 and email me if you don’t get shivers down your spine.

“Escapist” is a bonus track and should be on the album maybe replacing Eva or Master Passion Greed. Just my $0.02

Album swells with beautiful music passages and great hooks that will make even Hans Zimmer question his creativity. Dark Passion Play being probably their most serious and mature release to date. If you go back to the beginning of their catalog you can see Toumas Holopainen (and the whole band for that matter) growing in a superb musician.

Question here is not if Annette delivers on this album (she does it effortlessly), but if she is up to the task of handling vocals on their older stuff. I will see that comes May 2008. Anette is a great replacement and if this gal handles older stuff well too, then I am ready to follow these guys to pits of hell. Album really hair short of par excellence record or even masterpiece. Really strong 4 stars.

What’s up with the gypsy look guys?

Rating:

Album Lineup

Anette Olzon – Vocals
Tuomas Holopainen – Keyboards
Emppu Vuorinen – Guitar
Marco Hietala – Bass, Vocals
Jukka Nevalainen – Drums

Track list

1. The Poet And the Pendulum
2. Bye Bye Beautiful
3. Amaranth
4. Cadence Of Her Last Breath
5. Master Passion Greed
6. Eva
7. Sahara
8. Whoever Brings the Night
9. For the Heart I Once Had
10. The Islander
11. Last Of the Wilds
12. 7 Days To the Wolves
13. Meadows Of Heaven