“Oceanborn”, an album that brought to life the true identity of NIGHTWISH, always fueled by that supreme songwriter, called Tuomas Holopainen. It is true that the band became a giant after the release of “Wishmaster” (2000), but it was on “Oceanborn” when the quintet set its foundations. NIGHTWISH meant the revelation of Finnish metal in the late nineties.
One of the star tracks on that album is “Stargazers”, a great song that, thanks to the current vocalist, Floor Jansen, they recovered for the presentation tour of “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”. Jukka Nevalainen’s drums thundered powerfully, while Tarja’s voice bewitched us with her classic dark timbre: Feminine elegance applied to the archetypal canons of power metal! The biblical “Gethsemane” follows. The synergy between Tarja’s voice and Tuomas’s keyboards is total in it, and the flute, played by Esa Lethtinen, who incorporates the theme in its middle part, provides the perfect counterpoint. Both elements were going to define the sound of a band that would not stop evolving and growing from now on. “Devil & The Deep Dark Ocean”, for its part, is another succulent piece, very theatrical, accompanied by the deep voice of Tapio Wilska (at that time the vocalist of FINNTROLL). In my opinion, one of the best of “Oceanborn”.
As for “Sacrement Of Wilderness”, with the harpsichord as the protagonist, to say that it drinks a lot of STRATOVARIUS. It is a piece that could have been present in the previous “Angels Fall First”: atmospheric and power at the same time, with a double bass drum, a keyboard solo, catchy melodies in the chorus, and a spectacular work by Empu Vuorinen on the lead guitar. Instead, “Passion And The Opera” is quite a declaration of intent. A lot of attention to Tarja’s interpretation in this song. Also the cellos make it special. Without a doubt, we come across here another of the great cuts, and more original, of this “Oceanborn”. “Swanheart” is just the opposite: a relaxed song in the company of violins, violas and flutes, which calms things down for a few minutes, followed by the instrumental “Moondance”, with clear influences from traditional Russian music. Impossible not to move your feet with her.
Like “Swanheart”, “Walking In The Air” also puts the calm point on the album. It is an adaptation of the song composed by THE SHADOWS in 1987. “The Riddler”, “The Pharaoh Sails To Orion” and “Sleeping Sun” complete the list of songs on the album that we have dealt with in this report. Except for the last one, the other two cuts have gone somewhat unnoticed in the evolution of NIGHTWISH, and see that “The Pharaoh Sails To Orion” is the most succulent. In it, Tapio Wilska collaborates again on vocals, while Tuomas’s piano is hypnotic. A typical power metal cut, with the harpsichord incorporated, as the Holy Scriptures mark, and with Tarja’s voice and the flutes giving it a touch of originality. As I said, “Sleeping Sun” has also gone down in history, as the band has been performing it on stage for years, especially during Tarja’s stage. It even has official video. A nice way to close “Oceanborn”, an album that ages perfectly and that, as I said, paved the way for what would come later. Impossible to understand NIGHTWISH, or symphonic metal in general, without “Oceanborn”.