The departure of a band’s lead vocalist can either sound the death knell or signify a rebirth of a group. Without seeming rash, it looks and sounds as if Floor Jansen has all the requisite attributes to take Nightwish into the future.
Not a band to do things by halves, or indeed to do things too impetuously, Nightwish engaged Janson as a sessional replacement for Anette Olzon specifically for the Imaginarium World Tour. Jansen fitted the band’s specs so perfectly that she was invited to become their new lead vocalist. This production Showtime, Storytime marks Janson’s baptism of fire at the legendary Waken Open Air heavy metal festival in Germany.
Showtime, Storytime is an epic creation on many levels. Those who deign to purchase Showtime, Storytime get a whole lot of band for their buck. Firstly, there are two discs. Disc one contains live footage of the band’s performance at Wacken and is intended to celebrate the conclusion of the year-long Imaginarium World Tour. The Storytime disc holds a documentary about the tour and a couple of surprises. Held within the laser-cut grooves on this small disc is also a sixteen-minute Nightwish table hockey tournament and two music clips for ‘I Want My Tears Back’ and ‘Ghost Love Score’. Those punters who require visuals of their ‘faves’ are well and truly catered for and let’s face it, Nightwish is a very visual, theatrical band.
Showtime holds sixteen tracks that showcase the largesse of this band’s sound. There is not one song to dislike provided that you are an aficionado of this genre. Here is probably the only rub. Symphonic metal is very ‘samey’ and unless you love it, you would just think this offering held nothing new under the sun.
For those who love the big sound, however, this live L.P. could and should be marked as a classic.
In front of eighty-five thousand people (give or take a few), Jansen and Co. deliver an engaging and wholly professional set. From the first heavy guitar riffs of ‘Dark Chest of Wonders’ to the gentle instrumental sounds of ‘Outro’, listeners are taken on a carnival ride of emotive highs and lows and musical journeys under the cover of dark lyrics. If the instrumental ‘Last Ride Of the Day’ doesn’t make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, then I’m not certain what will.
The performance is not without its lighter moments, and an example of this is when ‘Romanticide’ is described as being a “love of sausages”. The vocals of Marco Hietala parry and dance with those of Jansen, and he is the wayward pirate to her graceful operatic soprano. Instrumentally the music has a fluency and vibrancy that is difficult to match in a studio. Definitely, this was the right forum to showcase this particular body of musical work.
This is not hyperbole. You need to listen to this L.P. if you are a fan of all things ‘metally’ symphonic. If you are not yet a fan, maybe you will be after hearing Nightwish’s Showtime, Storytime.
Nightwish: Facebook
Release Year: 2013
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Category: Album
Country: Finland
Reviewed by Sharon Brookes
